Hand-held Smoker

[kayb]

Watching a cooking show on TV tonight (I lead a very exciting life), and this guy is using a hand-held smoker to smoke vegetables for gazpacho, which, on the face of it, sounds like a pretty intriguing idea to me. So I betook myself to amazon.com, to see what such a creature might cost, and it's about $100, which is not out of reach but more than I want to spend knowing no more than I do about it.

 

Do any of you have any experience with such a device? Worthwhile? Not worthwhile? Does it work?

 

I will confess that my confidence level is not increased by the fact the host of this show looks like he could be the brother of the guy who used to paint the "happy little trees" on the painting show on Saturday mornings. My children used to cry to watch "happy trees."

[gfron1]

AT $100 I assume you are talking about the Smoking Gun. I used mine for a year or so and it just got so gunked up that I couldn't use it. I pulled it all apart (not easily) cleaned it, and it worked for another few months until the same thing. All throughout it put out decent smoke, but not great. Also, my hose mount broke off very early on and the stand was never very useful...I have not looked to see if they've upgraded any of this.

 

I then splurged and bought an Aladin smoker from Koerner & Co in New Orleans. Much higher output of smoke. The design minimizes the gunk buildup, and easier to clean. Downside besides price is the batteries are tricky to get in and out, but it pumps out the smoke.

 

Summary - light use, just make your own smoker in the oven. Medium use - Smoking Gun. High use or disposable income - the Aladin.

[Smithy]

Rummaging around in the depths of the forums I found this topic on how to make your own Hand Held Smoker.

[kayb]

Thanks, @Smithy and @gfron1. On reflection, it appearing I can get a small chamber electric smoker for close to the same price, I think I'll go that route.

[Shelby]

I have one that languishes in a drawer.  I can't remember where I got it.  Williams-Sonoma?  I dunno.  Anyway, we used it a few times and, like Rob said, it got totally gunked up and I think it even started on fire once lol.  I think you would definitely be happier getting a chamber one.

[Martin Fisher]

I posted this previously but there's a problem with the images in the original post.

A different design with essentially the same results.

 

"I came up with this idea a [few] years ago.

Less than $20 invested.

The following is how I cold smoke inside......

A stainless steel colander flipped over the target helps concentrate the smoke if needed.

My vent hood doesn't vent to the outside, I open the window and use a box fan.

From my old blog.......

"Small Batch Indoor Cold smoking."

"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."

 

"Applewood 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.

 

It's habit forming!!!!!""

 

 

Edited January 16, 2016 by DiggingDogFarm (log)

[weedy]

as a friend of mine is fond of saying: "I'm going the other way"

 

I love my smoking gun and use it frequently.

 

not hard to keep clean (you just SHOULD clean out the screen after each use, so it never gets 'gunked up'; as any dedicated hashish user from the 60's would already know <g>)

 

works great, and it's flexibility means I can shoot smoke into the air space in a blender or food processor for integrating smoke into salsas and dips and soups and cocktails and so on... things you cant really do as well in a smoking 'chamber'...and withOUT any heat added

Edited January 16, 2016 by weedy (log)

[cyalexa]

I would love to try that cold smoker set-up! Do you think it could be done in my outside grill or my Masterbuilt Smoker instead of my oven? I like my Masterbuilt but it's overkill for something small and a bit of effort to clean when used in the traditional manner. I think I would be embarrassed buying the papers, if they are even available around here. Maybe I can order them on Amazon!

[weedy]

smoked raw cuttlefish 'noodles' with salsa mexicana

smoked swordfish dip

smoked coriander infused (ISI whip) mescal margaritas

smoked gazpacho

 

all things I made in the last month

 

it's certainly not" sitting in my drawer"

Edited January 19, 2016 by weedy (log)

[Martin Fisher]

3 minutes ago, cyalexa said:

Do you think it could be done in my outside grill or my Masterbuilt Smoker instead of my oven?

 

Sure!

 

[gfron1]

37 minutes ago, weedy said:

not hard to keep clean (you just SHOULD clean out the screen after each use, so it never gets 'gunked up'; as any dedicated hashish user from the 60's would already know <g>)

I agree with this, but I would also add the caveat that different woods cause different levels of gunk, and it has more to do with the particles in the smoke that those large enough to be caught in the screen. Even for my Aladin I have replaced their screen and put in one that I chose from the hardware store that suits my needs better.

[scubadoo97]

50 minutes ago, cyalexa said:

I would love to try that cold smoker set-up! Do you think it could be done in my outside grill or my Masterbuilt Smoker instead of my oven? I like my Masterbuilt but it's overkill for something small and a bit of effort to clean when used in the traditional manner. I think I would be embarrassed buying the papers, if they are even available around here. Maybe I can order them on Amazon!

Here is my cold smoke generator used in my Materbuit smoker

 

[kayb]

3 hours ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

I posted this previously but there's a problem with the images in the original post.

A different design with essentially the same results.

 

"I came up with this idea a [few] years ago.

Less than $20 invested.

The following is how I cold smoke inside......

A stainless steel colander flipped over the target helps concentrate the smoke if needed.

My vent hood doesn't vent to the outside, I open the window and use a box fan.

From my old blog.......

"Small Batch Indoor Cold smoking."

"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."

 

"Applewood 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.

 

It's habit forming!!!!!""

 

Now THIS sounds like it has potential. I found at Sam's today an upright propane smoker for $108; would prefer an electric, but would take propane. I'll watch there the next several months, as they rotate their spring merchandise in. I've just ordered Ruhlman and Polcyn's Charcuterie, and I think the chamber smoker will be more useful for that, but I would like to have the small one just for things like you mention -- dips and such. Also going to look into how to build a cold smoker, and let my son-in-law the welder do that for me for my birthday.

 

Thanks, everyone, for your input.

 

[Shelby]

Kay, you will really enjoy that Charcuterie book.  I know we have  

[cyalexa]

@scubadoo97

Thanks for the pics but that looks too complicated for me to do myself.

Edited January 17, 2016 by cyalexa
correction (log)

[FeChef]

I bought an AMAZE N PELLET SMOKER for my MES-30 and never looked back. I do a 50/50 blend of Apple and Alder pellets for just about everything. Family members fight over my Salmon.

[btbyrd]

I have both an AMAZEN tube smoker and a smoking gun. Smoking Guns are best for special plating effects or infusing smoke flavor into liquids. Cheese and butter also take the Smoking Gun well, but they can end up oversmoked and ashy in the blink of an eye. It's somewhat expensive and has limited applications unless you do a lot of smoked soups, salsas, or drinks. (I had a great drink at The Aviary featuring tequilla in a giant crystal decanter that was filled with cigar smoke -- an awesome application.) The Smoking Gun is no substitute for an actual smoker when it comes to adding smoked flavor to meat.

The Amazen tube smoker is, dollar for dollar, the best purchase I've ever made for my kitchen. It's super cheap and works for extended cold and hot smoking. Combined with my Weber gas grill, I no longer feel the need for a dedicated smoker. Great for cold-smoking cheese, fish, or meat designated for the sous vide bath. Fantastic for hot smoking pork shoulder, ribs, pastrami... whatever. I get about 4 hours of smoke at 225F from my 12" smoker... just set it and forget it. A great value for a tool that excels at most traditional hot and cold smoking tasks.

[FeChef]

16 minutes ago, btbyrd said:

I have both an AMAZEN tube smoker and a smoking gun. Smoking Guns are best for special plating effects or infusing smoke flavor into liquids. Cheese and butter also take the Smoking Gun well, but they can end up oversmoked and ashy in the blink of an eye. It's somewhat expensive and has limited applications unless you do a lot of smoked soups, salsas, or drinks. (I had a great drink at The Aviary featuring tequilla in a giant crystal decanter that was filled with cigar smoke -- an awesome application.) The Smoking Gun is no substitute for an actual smoker when it comes to adding smoked flavor to meat.

The Amazen tube smoker is, dollar for dollar, the best purchase I've ever made for my kitchen. It's super cheap and works for extended cold and hot smoking. Combined with my Weber gas grill, I no longer feel the need for a dedicated smoker. Great for cold-smoking cheese, fish, or meat designated for the sous vide bath. Fantastic for hot smoking pork shoulder, ribs, pastrami... whatever. I get about 4 hours of smoke at 225F from my 12" smoker... just set it and forget it. A great value for a tool that excels at most traditional hot and cold smoking tasks.

I dare you to tell the difference from a smoking gun smoked soup and a soup with a few drops of Wrights all natural liquid smoke.

And yes i bought a smoking gun from Williams Sonoma and returned it a few days later.

Edited January 17, 2016 by FeChef (log)

[gfweb]

I put a $10 hotplate in my Weber gas grill...put a small bundle of twigs trimmed from apple trees wrapped tightly in foil on the plate..and smoke away.

 

The temp in the grill is roughly the ambient temp.

 

Each foil packet lasts about 20 minutes.

 

It takes a little fiddling to find the right hotplate setting. On mine it is about 50% max.

 

It is smokey as hell. A turkey breast will get all smoked up in about 40 minutes. Any more than that is too much smoke taste.

 

Edited January 17, 2016 by gfweb (log)

[FeChef]

3 minutes ago, gfweb said:

It is smokey as hell. A turkey breast will get all smoked up in about 40 minutes. Any more than that is too much smoke taste.

 

You probably don't want to hear this, but your smoke is too thick. You want thin blue smoke (TBS). Pony up and get a amaze n pellet smoker and put it into an old metal mail box and use an aluminum dryer hose to direct the smoke to a smoke box.

[Ann_T]

I found this thread after the fact.   Bought a pellet smoker tube and tried it for the first time yesterday.

Did a rack of baby back ribs using a Texas mix for the wood pellets and was more than pleasantly surprised at how good they were.

Way more smoke flavour than I was expecting.

 

There was still more than an hours worth of smoke in the tube, I decided to test smoking a piece of cheddar.

 

[scubadoo97]

Those tubes work really well.  I developed my cold smoke generator before those hit the market place