Nohippychicks
Is lookin for wood to cook with.
I've been wanting to take my sausage making a step further and build a cold smoker. I started reading up about them...regrettably, the majority of the information I've found is anecdotal and not really much about what really needs to be considered for a quality product.
Be that as it may, I happened upon the good fortune of getting my booger hooks on an old stainless food service cart. The inside measurements are (about) 25"x35"x40", two doors and a bunch of racks for holding baking trays. It even has a drain in the bottom!
I think it's going to be the new cold smoker! It's huge AND it has wheels on it, so it's got a lot going for it.
From here, though, I'm not sure what direction to take, or how to evaluate exactly what I need.
The only thing I'd be using it for right now is sausage and bacon, but maybe that'll change in the future.
Having said that, I feel like I've got a grasp on what I need 'till I start actually thinking of hanging sausage in there, and then I go into a fog of "What about this, what about that."
SO:
For the smoke source, what should I consider?
What I tried yesterday as a dry run was a pair of new soldering pens stuffed into a can full of hickory twigs. It worked well as a proof of concept, I think. There was tons of nice smoke coming out of the space around the doors, but I'm not 100% how much smoke is desirable for something like a Polish sausage or bacon.
Moving beyond that, how do I figure out if I need to add a damper or a vent somewhere on the side of the thing?
Should I ALSO consider (either in addition to, or in place of the soldering irons) a heat plate inside? Or maybe outside in a different vessel and a length of metalized tube to pipe the smoke into the food cart?
Is insulation something I should look into? I wouldn't think so, as cold smoking should be pretty 'till the outside temperature gets around 100*F, right?
Is there anything else that should be a consideration that I'm not thinking of?
Am I way off target starting with this as the base?
Enjoy a few pictures I took the other day!
Be that as it may, I happened upon the good fortune of getting my booger hooks on an old stainless food service cart. The inside measurements are (about) 25"x35"x40", two doors and a bunch of racks for holding baking trays. It even has a drain in the bottom!
I think it's going to be the new cold smoker! It's huge AND it has wheels on it, so it's got a lot going for it.
From here, though, I'm not sure what direction to take, or how to evaluate exactly what I need.
The only thing I'd be using it for right now is sausage and bacon, but maybe that'll change in the future.
Having said that, I feel like I've got a grasp on what I need 'till I start actually thinking of hanging sausage in there, and then I go into a fog of "What about this, what about that."
SO:
For the smoke source, what should I consider?
What I tried yesterday as a dry run was a pair of new soldering pens stuffed into a can full of hickory twigs. It worked well as a proof of concept, I think. There was tons of nice smoke coming out of the space around the doors, but I'm not 100% how much smoke is desirable for something like a Polish sausage or bacon.
Moving beyond that, how do I figure out if I need to add a damper or a vent somewhere on the side of the thing?
Should I ALSO consider (either in addition to, or in place of the soldering irons) a heat plate inside? Or maybe outside in a different vessel and a length of metalized tube to pipe the smoke into the food cart?
Is insulation something I should look into? I wouldn't think so, as cold smoking should be pretty 'till the outside temperature gets around 100*F, right?
Is there anything else that should be a consideration that I'm not thinking of?
Am I way off target starting with this as the base?
Enjoy a few pictures I took the other day!