Cold Smoke thin blue?

[mph33]

i started this bacon about 3 hours ago in my WSM 22. the temp is consistent at 64 degrees. its weird seeing smoke coming out the top of my lid, cool to the touch. like... very weird. im using amaze'n-maze with apple pellets with a pinch or two of hickory and sassafras. my concerns: too much smoke. its not bellowing pure white chalky smoke but its a little thicker than thin blue like im used to doing briskets and ribs. this is my first cold smoke. right now i have my Auber Temp Control fan inside the smoke to circulate air and i have all the vents open. i dont know... i was hoping for a very fine thin blue smoke. maybe im being paranoid. my plan was to do two 12 hour cold smokes at night and let it rest in the fridge for 2 weeks before slicing. im new to making my own bacon lol

 

[thirdeye]

64° pit temp is perfect. Pellets make a lot of smoke, cold smoking needs a little smoke over 4, 5, 6 hours, and if you want... smoke your bacon then cool the slabs overnight and give them another round smoke the next day. The key to cold smoking is "less is more better". You are not trying to cook the bacon at this point, nor do you want to coat the outside with a bitter film.

I'm not familiar with that brand, but the first thing you want to check is that they are 100% flavor wood. Not 100% 'hardwood', because that can mean if you bought 'apple flavor' for example thinking it was 100% apple...., they might have 50% oak (or alder) and 50% apple. The filler wood is there for heat to run a pellet smoker. A pellet or sawdust generator needs to run a cool as possible. The A-Maze-N pellets or dust is 100% flavor, no fillers. The dust produces very little heat, and the pellets do produce some heat.

Next, you want all your vents wide open. and I often block open the top. You can leave the top off, or put a mesh screen on if you have a lot of birds in the neighborhood. :mrgreen: I tried my Guru for cold smoking in my BGE but it increased the burn. Pellets and dust burn fine on their own.

 

[woodbutcher1]

Turn of the temp controller, to many burning pellets> heavy smoke.
This is my setup. NO Pellets, homemade Sawdust.
T.B.S. all vents open.

 

[mph33]

64° pit temp is perfect. Pellets make a lot of smoke, cold smoking needs a little smoke over 4, 5, 6 hours, and if you want... smoke your bacon then cool the slabs overnight and give them another round smoke the next day. The key to cold smoking is "less is more better". You are not trying to cook the bacon at this point, nor do you want to coat the outside with a bitter film.

I'm not familiar with that brand, but the first thing you want to check is that they are 100% flavor wood. Not 100% 'hardwood', because that can mean if you bought 'apple flavor' for example thinking it was 100% apple...., they might have 50% oak (or alder) and 50% apple. The filler wood is there for heat to run a pellet smoker. A pellet or sawdust generator needs to run a cool as possible. The A-Maze-N pellets or dust is 100% flavor, no fillers. The dust produces very little heat, and the pellets do produce some heat.

Next, you want all your vents wide open. and I often block open the top. You can leave the top off, or put a mesh screen on if you have a lot of birds in the neighborhood. :mrgreen: I tried my Guru for cold smoking in my BGE but it increased the burn. Pellets and dust burn fine on their own.

I only run the temperature control fan just to circulate the smoke inside the chamber. Of course, this was an experiment. It wasn't used to keep the pellets lit. as far as the choice of pellets I use I've always been under the impression that these were very good pellets. I do see that there is some filler and they're not 100% flavor

 

[mcyork28]

Curious to see how this turns out. I have wanted to try bacon for a quite a while but never get around to it.

 

[mph33]

Curious to see how this turns out. I have wanted to try bacon for a quite a while but never get around to it.

i know my fridge smells like a smoke house lol. now that i know how to keep the temps down, gotta figure out how to get a fine blue smoke. i was told to put the pellets in the microwave for 1 minute to get some of the moisture out. we will see tonight. gonna do another 8 hour smoke ... 2nd round for these pork bellies

 

[thirdeye]

In one of the other posts I mentioned breaking down the pellets to a coarse dust, I would experiment with that. It knocks the amount of smoke way down.

 

[mph33]

In one of the other posts I mentioned breaking down the pellets to a coarse dust, I would experiment with that. It knocks the amount of smoke way down.

hmmm. like getting the pellets wet then drying it out in the oven?

 

[thirdeye]

hmmm. like getting the pellets wet then drying it out in the oven?

Yes. Spread them out on a tray. Mist them lightly. In a few minutes they swell and you can crumble them out. I usually sun dry initially, then microwave or a few minutes at 170° in the oven. You now have a coarse dust. I have a cheap mini blender that works too. I think you will like the lighter smoke delivery and resulting flavor.

 

[woodbutcher1]

mph33
another thing to consider is this. You don't want to do back to back smoke sessions. You mentioned that you are getting 12 hrs .of smoke. That's fine, now let the bacon rest for 24 hrs. before starting your second smoke session. If the outdoor temps are below 70*F day and night leave it hang to rest right in your
WSM. The desired color you want on your bacon will determine how many 10-12 hrs. of smoke sessions you will need.

3-5 Thin smoke applications are much better than 1 or 2 heavy sessions. But the meat must have a rest between them.
Good luck.

 

[thirdeye]

mph33
another thing to consider is this. You don't want to do back to back smoke sessions. You mentioned that you are getting 12 hrs .of smoke. That's fine, now let the bacon rest for 24 hrs. before starting your second smoke session. If the outdoor temps are below 70*F day and night leave it hang to rest right in your
WSM. The desired color you want on your bacon will determine how many 10-12 hrs. of smoke sessions you will need.

3-5 Thin smoke applications are much better than 1 or 2 heavy sessions. But the meat must have a rest between them.
Good luck.

Good point about using the smoke time as a basis for the rest time. I prefer 5 to 6 hours of cold smoke one day, with a 12 to 16 hour rest. Then repeat for day 2 and/or day 3. So 12 hours of smoke and 24 resting hours makes sense. Sometimes I can leave bacon hanging in my smoker, but other days my overnight temps are too cold, but my pit temps stay in the 40's during the daylight hours.