DIY or inexpensive smoking techniques

[rotuts]

In the past, here and there on the forum, there have been ingenious methods for adding smoke to your BBQ, Webber, Egg.

Im, thinking of the post that had a youtube file with a new clean soldering iron in a can, and the 'Sawdust Maze' with a candle or something to start that sawdust off.

I cant find these two, but i bet there are others, and would very much like to see what various people have come up with.

many thanks.

i hope to do the Soldering Iron in a can for some Corned Beef on the webber ( cold ) after SV to try to make Hot Smoked Meat ie smoky pastrami

thanks again!

[dcarch]

Not exactly what you are looking for, but it is a DIY smoker.

I have a very complicated smoker which I built. It cold/hot smokes from 32F to 180F, PID controlled, moisture controlled, convection smokes, a 4.5 cu. ft. smoker smokes indoors. Yes, I can cold smoke salmon, cheese etc. on a hot summer day. Yes, I can smoke big time in the winter indoors without driving people out of the house and smoke alarms going off.

dcarch

Part of the system:

Edited March 31, 2013 by dcarch (log)

[rotuts]

Wow!

[Simon Lewinson]

Not exactly what you are looking for, but it is a DIY smoker.

I have a very complicated smoker which I built. It cold/hot smokes from 32F to 180F, PID controlled, moisture controlled, convection smokes, a 4.5 cu. ft. smoker smokes indoors. Yes, I can cold smoke salmon, cheese etc. on a hot summer day. Yes, I can smoke big time in the winter indoors without driving people out of the house and smoke alarms going off.

WOW!!

Would love some more info on the system design as I am considering building a smoker.

Simon

[gfweb]

Woof!

[mgaretz]

It doesn't take much to add smoke as long as you can set up your gill for indirect heat. Simply wrap 2ozs of wood chips in foil and puncture the top. Have two of these so you can replace the first one when it stops producing smoke. It goes over the hot part and the food on the cool part. This will normally provide 1-2 hours of smoke, which is all you really need as hardly any smoke will be absorbed into the food after that. Great instruction for most any grill type at http://www.amazingribs.com. Meatheads Memphis Dust from that site is also a great rub recipe.

Edited March 31, 2013 by mgaretz (log)

[Martin Fisher]

I spent several weeks looking for a reliable and inexpensive way to do indoor cold smoking.
I settled on rolled cigarettes (LOL) heated with a soldering iron because it’s possible to smoke with pure tea leaves, herbs, sawdust, etc. without the fuel burning up too rapidly.
I invested about $20 in the cigarette roller, papers, soldering iron, spring and clamp.

Below is some rosemary being rolled.

Maple smoked butter, rosemary smoked foccacia, tea smoked hard-boiled eggs….the possibilities are endless.

The cigarette must be able to slide freely inside the spring. The soldering iron raises the temperature inside the cold oven only about 10 degrees above room temperature. Each cigarette smokes for about 30-40 minutes. A vent hood is recommended. My vent hood doesn’t vent to the outside, but that wasn’t a problem with a window open and the ceiling fan running. : )

Note: Placing a bowl over the targeted food does help to concentrate the smoke.

It's habit forming!!!!!

For consistant and reliable smoke in the smoker, I highly recommend the A-Maze-N smoke generators. I have all of their models, they work great.

~Martin

Edited March 31, 2013 by DiggingDogFarm (log)

[scubadoo97]

I made a soldering iron/can smoker for cold smoking. Each can of chips will smoke for about 2 hours. I added an air supply to actively pump the smoke into my smoker and it helps in the burning of the chips<br /><br />

[Ttogull]

I'm not 100% sure I follow. Hot smoking on a Weber seems to be straightforward.

I've watched a couple of Heston Blumenthal episodes where he does cold smoking on a Weber kettle. I haven't tried the method myself. Three aluminum pans. One holds the wood chips. One holds the item to be smoked. The third has ice. The pan with ice is put below the pan with the item to be smoked (on the charcoal grate). The pan with the item to be smoked is put on the above grill grate directly above hte pan with ice. The wood chip pan is put on the charcoal grate beside the item to be smoked. The wood chips are hit with heat - IIRC, this is something like a blowtorch. Once the chips are smoking, the cover to the grill is put on. As I recall, this is done up to 4 times, every 15 minutes.

As I said, I haven't tried it. But I can't see why it would not work.

[dcarch]

Here is the variable density cold smoke generator being tested:

And the finished generator:

dcarch

Edited April 1, 2013 by dcarch (log)

[rotuts]

Smokey IV :

total cost: $ 3.00 plus tax:

harbor freight brand new soldering iron: $ 3.99 - 25 %

Chinese Tea Can ( N.B. these have two 'lids )

Tea Can and lids 'tempered' on the Weber for 15 min full burner ( 550 F + ) to burn off any paint, and bad JuJu.

hole drilled for the Soldering Iron, (L) and the outer lid ( far L ) which acts as a Heat Shield for the plastic parts of the S.I.

several holes drilled on the inner lid ( not shown ) for the smoke to escape.

works fine 'cold'

position in the pic is for Hot Smoke: SI placed in the cut out for the rotisserie attachement outside the Weber. balanced on a brick to keep the S VI level

will try for hot smoke on the BBChicken Ill do this week.

when done, an outer lid goes over the device on the R ( I have plenty of these ) to stop the burning.

if the Heat Shield works, great. if not back, to work.

If you try to make one of these yourself, make sure you use Eye Protection and maybe gloves. tiny tin slivers are nasty in your eye or you thumb.

but great fun to dig out of your thumb under a 40 x loop: pretend you are a Micro Surgeon ! no joke about the eye protection!

(Full disclosure : harbor freight liked me so much they gave me a free tape measure !)

Edited April 1, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[Will]

Foil-lined wok , with the food on top of chopsticks going across the top, works pretty well for me.

[judiu]

See Alton Brown's Good Eats:The Early Years for a cheap smoking rig. Cardboard box, wooden dowls and an old computer fan...

[Baselerd]

Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but a good smoking technique that requires no extra investment (from Eleven Madison Park Cookbook):

• Soak wood chips in cold water for ten minutes, then drain
• line the inside of an iron skillet with aluminum foil, throw some charcoal on top
• Set the pan over high heat until charcoal is ignited and white-hot
• Add the wood chips ontop of the charcoals
• Once the chips begin to smoke, place in your skillet in your grill/oven on the opposite side from your food
• You may have to replenish the wood chips every hour or two, as needed

Obviously a system that requires no charcoal is more convenient, but I've had fun trying this out - it works pretty well.

[gfweb]

I know that everyone soaks their chips, but I think that this makes an acrid smoke. I tend to keep them dry and wrapped in foil with a few holes poked in it. I put that packet on the grill burner. A sweeter smoke.

[rotuts]

very interesting point, gf. Something Ive thought about for some time. I think the idea of the soaking is to prevent full ignition, but that's taken care of by keeping the oxygen supply as low as possible.

chris schlesinger has always claimed that the smoke must come from true charcoal as all the 'bad bits' have been burnt off elsewhere and wont be in your food.

not those bick-etts!

[Baselerd]

That always seems to be a controversial subject - to soak or not to soak. I've read arguments for both sides of the argument that seem pretty convincing.

I think it seems well agreed upon that if you can control the combustion by limiting airflow that is a better approach. I've also seen some material that claims soaking seasoned wood has negligible effect since the water can't penetrate more than a few millimeters for any reasonable soaking period.

Edited April 9, 2013 by Baselerd (log)

[HungryC]

I never soak wood chips but simply add them in a spiral pattern atop the coals in my BGE (before lighting). You don't need foil, a smoker box, or anything else--as the fire burns down then outward, additional chips will ignite.

[rotuts]

Well I have a wood stove and a lot for that wood stove.

you can soak any wood to your to any point you like.

not that you might want to or not want to do this.

wood is very porous !

[scubadoo97]

I know that everyone soaks their chips, but I think that this makes an acrid smoke. I tend to keep them dry and wrapped in foil with a few holes poked in it. I put that packet on the grill burner. A sweeter smoke.

Not me. No soaking chips for the smoker. The only thing that might be even a little wet is bourbon barrel char which I add to the smoker and even a small handful tossed on the grill adds a little flavor

[Ttogull]

I don't soak. Don't use chips either. Just chunks.

The way I see it, chips and chunks are just like split firewood on a smaller scale. I've put wet firewood into the fireplace before. Burns terribly. Until it dries out, it just puts off steam and doesn't burn correctly, no matter how hot the fire. Whistles just like a tea kettle.

That being said, I met an old-time Texas BBQ guy selling wood one time. Guy never stopped talking about building his own pits, etc. I told him I was look for smoking wood. He got all excited and took me all around his lot. His point was that smoking wood cannot be dried out - the wood needs weight or heft. It needs to be seasoned, but not wet or dry. If its light and airy, then the smoke won't be as flavorful. He took me all around his lot showing me the good and the bad, and then gave me a bunch for free. Good stuff.

Every bit of wood I've seen in chain stores has been beenfar too dry according to what this guy said. Like styrofoam. Maybe soaking helps a little in this regard by correcting poor quality wood.

I smoke on my Weber kettle all the time. I just throw a chunk on the coals. If the lid is on, the wood won't burn, for long anyway. Don't put the food directly above the wood. I get beautiful thin blue smoke every time.