ottawa foodies

Hello to the smokers out there (no not that kind):

I recognize that it is nearly impossible to achieve proper cold smoking with standard home equipment, as you require temperatures lower than about 5C to infuse the meat with smoke without cooking it. However, I have been recently considering what it would be like to operate a hot-smoker in the deep of winter (ie: right now). Could you achieve this low temperature with a very low fire and -17 ambient temperature? Has anyone tried this, or is it simply to much work to trudge through two feet of snow to tend a fire...

you might be able to achieve this if you had a large smoker shack, but forget about it if you're trying to use a BBQ. even if it's freezing outside i think the heat source will generate too much for cold smoking. there's very little control over heat using both of these methods.

in summation - buy a Bradley :)

Can you get cold-smoking temperatures with a Bradley and without modding it?

yes!

the Bradley cabinet is essentially a refrigerator with a vent, and a heating element. the heating element heats up the cabinet when hot smoking/bbqing.

smoke is produced through the smoke generator - Bradley wood "pucks" are burned on a small element which produces the intense smoke.

both the cabinet and smoke generator can run independently. when cold smoking, you only turn on the smoke generator. essentially the only heat in cabinet is from the small element smoldering the pucks. since the cabinet is insulated, it also hold a very steady temperature.

the only "mod" you might have to do is buy their cold smoke adaptor. this separates the smoke generator a little further from the cabinet. see photo. this can be easily rigged. i don't use it since i cold smoke at 80F or so which is doable without the adaptor.

i think username Da Butcher owns a Bradley smoke generator that he has rigged to a fridge or some other cabinet for the very purpose of cold smoking. hopefully he can chime in here!

see my post from when i bought the OBS, it has a few photos

ottawafoodies.com/forum/2190

Nice, I wasn't aware of the cold smoking adapter, that makes sense now. Perhaps a bradley will be in my future some day...

I use a bradley as well, without the cold smoke adapter. The key is too put 1 or 2 trays of ice between coals and meat/fish/cheese/paprika. Also you said you will have a "low fire" have you tried using coals heated up on fire then put in your cabin with wood chips, might keep temp down as well. I use to throw my coals in the salamander at work.

Cold smoking these days is pretty easy. The hard thing is getting the smoker heated up to do a roast beef. I got this for Christmas.
www.zenreich.com
Supposed to be warmer this weekend going to give it a try.

I saw some Bradley Smokers this weeked at Canadian Tire, I read the outside of the box with interest after all the posts here this past year (including the excellent one by Monty that he referenced above). I came away with the impression that one can use the smoker easily outdoors year round, regardless of the weather. The pictures on the box of Hams and great slabs of Cheese (cold smoking) had me drooling!

Tracinho - it's a great product and an even better investment! it's so versatile. i'm pretty happy with it...i think you've got the hint by now ;P

Eastcostchef - how do you hold the paprika? do you put it in a coffee filter? how does it turn out vs store bought smoked paprika?

Ken - i preheat like crazy so when i open the cabinet and put in the load, the temp drops down closer to optimal temperature. heat recovery is the key. one trick i learned from the Bradley forums is to add some mass to the cabinet - wrap up a clean brick with aluminum foil and place it in the bottom right hand side of the cabinet beside the water bowl. really helps with recovery. oh and those Maverick/Redi-Chek thermometers are awesome! i have the same one.

i'm looking into getting a PID controller - it's a plug and play device which controls the heat digitally. you can program a temperature (ex 215F) and it will hold the temperature to within 1 degree. it can also be programmed to ramp up when smoking fish (ie cook at 80F for 1 hour, 120F for 2 hours, 160F for 30 minutes). the new ones can even be set to shut-off once the internal temperature of your meat is hit! pretty cool stuff. check it out:

www.auberins.com

F&T - it's electric powered so you have to be careful. i live in an old neighborhood but fortunately i have a carport ("car-hole" lol) to protect my Bradley from the elements. the biggest problem at this time of year is the length of time to preheat, and also the wind factor. it will really hold the temperature down.

Monty, I usually just make a bed/container out of tin foil. I think it tastes great, obviously it is going to taste differently depending on the wood chips and length of smoking. Usually 2.5 - 4 hours is what i normally smoke stuff for

yo yo yo

You can buy the bradley smoker with out the chamber. Ie: just the smoke generator and attach it to whatever you want. As Monty said above, I attached it two a old cook/hold unit (bascally like a old heavy insulated stainless steal fridge) for cold smoking. works awsome

heres another old school trick. works well, you could also use this trick in a bradley smoker in the summer for the same effect. what what!

From the sausage thread, you stated that you own a Weber Kettle. I would look for a cheap charcoal bbq and use it for the fire. Buy some duct tubing from a hardware store. Attach one end of the duct tubing to the top vent of the cheap bbq and attach the other end to the bottom vent of the Weber. In the winter, the hot air will cool quickly in the tubing as the smoke enters the Weber.

Here’s a link to cold smoking with a Weber Smoker and a homemade, cardboard box, smoking chamber: www.virtualweberbullet.com

I have a cold spot in my smoker for cheeses and nuts but I’m thinking of buying a Bradley for my cold smoking needs.

Great ideas guys. Ed: it was that Weber mod that got me thinking about this winter cold smoking in the first place!

Make sure not to use galvanized duct tubing - nasty stuff in there that could transfer to your food!

I know people who smoked in an old dishwasher. Just had fire in a chimnay, and hooked up duct tubing to take the smoke into the back of the dishwasher...it worked!