Cold smoker

[243deer]

Having snaffled a very cheap, decent table saw off fb I am now able to rip down some of my 6 x 2 stock into more usable thicknesses hence finally getting around to my cold smoker project.

Not seasoned yet but I have a few brined trout fillets just drying off in the new dry store that I will smoke tonight. With the doors open at both ends it is a decent wind tunnel in the new store and it certainly feels cold enough.

 

[Walker570]

OOOOOOOOOWWWWW!!!   They look good enough to eat

[Pangolin]

Awesome, needs some after pics of those.

I split a load of wood yesterday for a brisket smoke at the end of the month.

[Walker570]

I have a pile of plum and apple which is well dry which I will cut into chunks for a future smoking session.  I do brisket in a home made hot smoker and there is never any left for sandwiches next day.   Now just as an aside, where do you actually live 243deer....not much traffic at dead of night

[Morkin]

Looks a good job that smoker and the trout looks good ,do you catch your own ?.

[243deer]

3 hours ago, Walker570 said:

I have a pile of plum and apple which is well dry which I will cut into chunks for a future smoking session.  I do brisket in a home made hot smoker and there is never any left for sandwiches next day.   Now just as an aside, where do you actually live 243deer....not much traffic at dead of night

A friend has lent me his hot smoker so I might give some brisket a go, how long do you give it? I am using a mixture of oak and apple for the trout.

[Pangolin]

9 minutes ago, 243deer said:

A friend has lent me his hot smoker so I might give some brisket a go, how long do you give it? I am using a mixture of oak and apple for the trout.

It really depends on how well the smoker holds the heat and the weight of the cut.

I did a 6kg beef brisket and a 6kg pork shoulder at the same time in my offset made from oil drums (thin metal) and it took about 16hrs to do the two at the same time.

Probably about 12hrs for a large brisket in mine without anything else in the chamber @120c.

@Walker570 is yours oil drum or thick steel?

 

Edited May 6, 2021 by Pangolin

[243deer]

1 hour ago, Morkin said:

Looks a good job that smoker and the trout looks good ,do you catch your own ?.

I went to Black Dyke fishery yesterday, only half an hour from me. Took 3, let another 4 go and missed 4. Could not get touch on buzzers or nymphs so went 'feathering' with a couple of cats whiskers and a long tailed olive damsel and had a double hook up straight away. After catching 6 I put a team of 3 dries on as there was a tiny sedge hatch and caught 1 and missed 2. All this in 5 hours, it felt a lot colder than the 8 degrees hende the relatively short time

[Pangolin]

@243deerget on youtube, have a look a brisket smoking, you'll be down a rabbit hole of brisket, burnt ends and Texas crutch in no time, haha.

[243deer]

1 minute ago, Pangolin said:

@243deerget on youtube, have a look a brisket smoking, you'll be down a rabbit hole of brisket, burnt ends and Texas crutch in no time, haha.

I must admit that as I mainly eat game and venison for meat the idea of brisket now and again does appeal.

[Pangolin]

2 minutes ago, 243deer said:

I must admit that as I mainly eat game and venison for meat the idea of brisket now and again does appeal.

Im doing the same again this month for a bbq on 22nd, I'll be starting the cook at 4pm on the 21st with an alarm on the temp gauge to wake me up and put more wood on through the night.

I mostly use my smoker to do wood fired spatchcock chickens, they're lovely.

 

[Walker570]

Mine goes on about 7am and plan to slice and eat it about 6pm. The last 4hrs I will wrap it in foil.  The meat is on a tray/rack about 2ft above the charcoal and I run the temp as near 230-240 as possible.    I use a rub pn the meat the night before and it will sit in the fridge until it goes in the broiler/smoker. If we have friends in I will do a whole brisket and very little if any will be left.   Very basic but it seems to work. Just watched ranch hands cooking up brisket and stuff in Texas and my approach is very similar but they would be using mesquite collected from the ranch.

Edited May 6, 2021 by Walker570

[243deer]

After a couple of false starts, getting the level of the dust right and removing the top hanging bar to create a couple of extra inches of ventilation a full burn was achieved last night. I will be taking the dremmel to the adjustable ventilators today to take out some of the mesh. Minus 2 here overnight so everything stayed lovely and cool.

[243deer]

Pin boned, skinned (I love the way this process sets the scales to the skin), trimmed and packed.

The trimmings are going in a omelet with spinach and spring onions for lunch.

The sneaky taste preview I have had reminds me of the proper sides of wild smoked salmon from my teenage years, good flavour and a lovely firm texture.

The only question I am asking myself was why I did not make the effort to get this done years ago!

[Walker570]

Looks brilliant.  We have started buying smoked trout from Aldi in preference to smoked salmon as it has a much better taste. BUT home produced is going to be even better.