Smoky Autumn – cold smoking in the cool season
Cold smoking is one of the oldest methods of preservation in the world and is not particularly complicated. FIRE&FOOD tells you what equipment you need for cold smoking, how to proceed and what you should pay attention to during the various steps.
The easiest way to produce cold smoke is with a special cold smoke generator, such as Elmar's FIRE&FOOD smoking spiral . This will soon be available in the FIRE&FOOD shop.
When cold smoking, you are not dependent on a heat source; the smoked food is preserved by smoking it over a longer period of time at a temperature of 15 - 25 °C. This preservation means that smoked food is still edible even after weeks. But cold smoking not only extends the shelf life, the taste of fish or meat is also positively influenced by the smoke.
Cold smoking is a longer process thanhot smoking because of the low temperatures involved. It can take from several hours to several days and even weeks, depending on the type of food, the thickness of the smoked item, the smoke itself and the amount of salt and spices used in the curing process. This is because before cold smoking, the meat must be marinated in brine or salt.
When cold smoking, the fire should be at a considerable distance from the food. only a small ember exists. It is also important that the ventilation openings of the smoke chamber are open so that the smoke can circulate. The aim is to create a cool, even and smoke-rich air flow. The easiest way to achieve this is with a smoke chamber and a special cold smoke generator, such as Elmar's FIRE&FOOD smoking spiral . And that brings us to the equipment required.
Equipment for cold smoking
For cold smoking, you need a chamber in which you can hang and smoke your meat. There are professional smoking grills and ovens for this, such as the Borniak (in which you can also hot smoke). For cold smoking only, however, ahomemade smoking chamber made of cardboard also works .
It is important that the chamber is tight and stable and can hold enough smoke over a longer period of time. It should have an exhaust opening at the top so that the smoke can flow from bottom to top. You hang the smoked goods directly in the smoke stream on racks, poles or rafters. To achieve the longest possible smoking time, you need a cold smoke generator. Elmar's FIRE&FOOD smoking spiral is ideal because it can produce smoke for up to 16 hours. Since wood chips are not suitable for cold smoking, the smoking spiral filled with smoking powder or smoking chips is the ideal choice for cold smoking. As far as the type of starting wood is concerned, you can rely entirely on your own taste. The only important thing is that non-resinous woods such as beech, oak, alder, willow, birch and other hardwoods (e.g. fruit and walnut woods) are used. Everything else is up to personal preference.
Preparing the food for smoking
Do you have all your equipment? Great, now you can prepare the food to be smoked. Almost all types of meat can be cold smoked. The most popular are ham, bacon, salami and liver sausage. But you can also cold smoke other sausages, fish (e.g. salmon or mackerel), duck and goose breast and even hard cheese. If you want to cold smoke food, it must always be cured beforehand! There is a dry and wet curing method to choose from.
When dry curing, you add between 2.5% - 4% = 25 - 40g of salt per kilo of meat/fish and massage it in. You can also add spices of your choice. The meat is then packed in an airtight container and placed in the fridge for a few days. The thicker the meat, the longer. The meat is then "cured" again in the fridge on a rack for the same amount of time. This process distributes the salt evenly and the meat loses liquid.
With wet curing, you make a brine to marinate the meat in. For a 10% brine, you need the following for one liter of liquid: 1 liter of water, 111 g of curing salt, 1 tablespoon of sugar and spices of your choice. The smoked goods are then marinated in this brine for the same amount of time as with the dry curing variant. In both cases, the meat must be allowed to marinate well, only then can the actual cold smoking begin.
During dry curing, fish/meat is preserved with salt.
Before cold smoking, the meat must always be cured.
The smoking process
Have you cured your meat? Now it's time to smoke it. Hang your food to be smoked in the smoke chamber and prepare Elmar's smoking spiral or another cold smoke generator. Fill it with smoking powder and light it with a tea light. Then close the chamber and let the meat hang in the smoke. The perfect temperature for cold smoking is between 15 - 25 °C. The temperature must not exceed this value! Therefore, pay attention to the outside temperature. In summer at 30 °C, cold smoking must be done in the cellar or in a cooler place, otherwise the food can spoil. During the smoking process, also pay attention to any condensation that forms. This should not drip onto the food to be smoked.
The smoking time depends on the meat in question or the recipe. For longer smoking processes, the meat should be allowed to rest for a maximum of 12 hours. If the smoker is not sufficiently protected from insects, it is better to store the smoked goods in the refrigerator or a cold room to rest. The smoking and resting process can be repeated several times until the desired smoking time is reached. The aroma develops best when the room is well ventilated.
Smoked goods should always be left to mature after smoking. The process dries out the meat further, giving it a firmer consistency and a darker color. The maturing should take place in a well-ventilated room at around 15 °C. The longer the subsequent storage time, the more mature and stronger the flavor. The minimum maturing time corresponds to the smoking time. As soon as the desired degree of maturity is reached, the smoked goods should be eaten immediately or vacuum-packed to prevent further drying out. Have fun trying it out!
Cold smoking takes too long for you? You can of course smoke cod, flounder or wild boar shoulder ham more quickly. There are even more smoking recipes in our FIRE&FOOD recipe database . For hot smoking we also recommend Elmar's FIRE&FOOD smoking chunks (coming soon)!
