Cold Smoking Salt?

JMSetzler

JMSetzler

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My A-MAZEN-Smoker showed up Monday and I put some Hickory dust in it today, lit it up, and put it on the charcoal grate in my kettle. I put a pan of coarse sea salt on the grill grate and closed it up. It has been going for about 90 minutes now. How long should I let it smoke?
 
deguerre said:
Don't know about the salt, but how do you like the generator? I'm loving mine.
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So far so good... I lit it up and it's doing what it's supposed to do. I haven't had the time to build my custom cold smoker box yet but I have the materials for it ready to go. I'm looking forward to smoking some cheese, but the internal temp on my kettle right now with the cold smoker going is still 130F. It's 94 degrees outside and I moved the kettle into the shade... lol
 
deguerre said:
LOL is right! I could poach an egg in it's shell inside the car today. If I could stay up til 1 and then smoke 'til dawn guess I'd be ok but...
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That's not an entirely bad idea. I could put cheese on the smoker before I go to bed and take it off in the morning maybe... I'm not sure I'd want to leave it out for 6 hours or longer though... might risk contamination? Six hours is probably too long to smoke cheese anyway...
 
I've cold smoked salt and left it in the smoker for 1 1/2 hours stirring the salt every once in a while. It came out very nice.

With my set up I think I could have gone 2 hours and maybe even more.

I used an aluminum pie tin but I've read where the best is to put the salt in a double layer of muslin cloth and squish it around once in a while.

Six hours of smoke for cheese sounds like a bit much. I've smoked sharp cheddar for 3 hours and that was plenty of time for a great flavor.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yep, I've read 2 to 3 hours depending on the smoke wood and cheese involved, The hardest thing to do is vacuum bag it and let it sit for two to several more weeks. The last time (smoked for 2 1/2 hours) I left one for over 8 weeks and it was awesome.
 
BlueHowler said:
I used an aluminum pie tin but I've read where the best is to put the salt in a double layer of muslin cloth and squish it around once in a while.
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I was thinking about this too... I might make a wooden frame with some fine screen inside of it for the purpose of smoking salt. Might make several of them actually. The custom cold smoker I'm gonna build will have six racks in it so I could do a bunch of salt at once...
 
The wooden screen with stainless steel mesh is the way to go. Use a silicone paddle to shuffle it around occasionally. I smoke for 3 to 4 hours in a cold smoker cabinet running around 90F. I use alder (cause my BIL has a whole shed of it). As for time, around 3 hours, the salt starts to get a nice rich tan, then it is a matter of tasting until it is almost right. Remove, cool and vacuum pack or store airtight.
 
landarc said:
The wooden screen with stainless steel mesh is the way to go. Use a silicone paddle to shuffle it around occasionally. I smoke for 3 to 4 hours in a cold smoker cabinet running around 90F. I use alder (cause my BIL has a whole shed of it). As for time, around 3 hours, the salt starts to get a nice rich tan, then it is a matter of tasting until it is almost right. Remove, cool and vacuum pack or store airtight.
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What size steel mesh will work with kosher sized salt grains? Can it be bought at local hardware stores or be ordered online?
 
I like mine potent, I usually go 12 hours or more and lay it on thick so I get a rich brown color and don't need to use much salt to bring out the smoke flavor.

http://neverstopsmoking.com/salt.php
6.jpg
 
Since salt IS what it IS, I wonder if the temperature of the smoke would have any effect on the process of smoking it?
 
I use a fine stainless steel mesh dipper I got from the Japanese food store. I imagine it can be found online. I make small batches as I find it does lose potency over time. I sort of doubt temperature makes a differnce, after all, it is a rock. But, higher temps equals more fuel.
 
JMSetzler said:
So far so good... I lit it up and it's doing what it's supposed to do. I haven't had the time to build my custom cold smoker box yet but I have the materials for it ready to go. I'm looking forward to smoking some cheese, but the internal temp on my kettle right now with the cold smoker going is still 130F. It's 94 degrees outside and I moved the kettle into the shade... lol
Click to expand...

I've cold smoked in the heat of day before by adding a foil tray to my kettle with a block of ice in it - seemed to keep the temperatures down OK for a couple of hours. The blalck enamel doesn't help much though!
 
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