Which portable food smoker hot Or cold?

[Grendel]

I quite like the idea of making my own smoked meats or cheese and have dabbled with a small biscuit tin and gas stove with oak chips to a rather over cooked heavily smoked mess but I presume you can’t hot smoke cheese or it melts and you cant cold smoke meat or it stays raw so where do I start?

It would have to be a transportable smoker since I have a communal garden so cant build anything semi permanent. I have tried those smoking bags you put in the oven which quite frankly where rubbish and all they did was set the smoke alarms off and the meat tasted the same.

 

[Rod Paradise]

That's a hell of a question Grendel - smoker & transportable makes a difficult combination.

For hot smoking (or real american style BBQ) you can do it with a kettle BBQ like this

- you stack the charcoal at one side and smoke on the other side - the BBQ Pit Boys on youtube [video=youtube;Pxrf9AU5Pzc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxrf9AU5Pzc&feature=sh_e_se&list=SL[/video]show a good amount of this - early seasons being the ones where there's more use of the kettle grill. You'll need a good thermometer (I use an electronic one with a dual probe - one for the smoker temp & one for the meat temp). This type of smoking doesn't preserve the meat, but it tastes great - brisket and ribs being favourites.

Thing is if you use a Pro-Q cold smoke generator you can cold smoke in them as well (or in a wooden box, steel bin, old fling cabinet whatever) -

however if you are cold smoking you need to cure the meat (preserve using salt & nitrates) first. I'd heartily recommend getting some good books on proper smoking and preserving meats as botulism isn't fun & good temp control is needed.

Any advice on the hot-smoking fire away - I've gone from a Landman Tenessee

(thin metal - tough to keep the temps right, madse some nice BBQ though), to a home-made 'Ugly Drum Smoker' (made from an oil-drum - far better temp control, but still needed a lot of attention), to finally a small electric, which I can set and forget (which I like to do with things like brisket which I'll start at night & smoke for 12-14 hours).

 

[mountainm]

Check out Askaris range of smoking ovens

http://www.askari-fishing.co.uk:80/...g/camping-boats-1/smoking-grilling/detail.jsf

 

[Grendel]

What I’m looking for is something I can put anything from a large meat joint in to sausages and fish then be able to slowly hot smoke them and not worry about so the electric smoker sounds appealing

Must admit that ProQ Cold Smoke Generator looks fairly idiot proof for me just need to cook the meat after I presume?

 

[Rod Paradise]

What I’m looking for is something I can put anything from a large meat joint in to sausages and fish then be able to slowly hot smoke them and not worry about so the electric smoker sounds appealing

The most popular electric smoker easily available in the UK is a Bradley, I got a smokette on ebay (was still £250 - I've a decent poker win to thank for it).

http://store.cookshack.com/p-113-model-sm009-2-smokette-original.aspx

Must admit that ProQ Cold Smoke Generator looks fairly idiot proof for me just need to cook the meat after I presume?

TBH I don't know - danger is that you'd be leaving the meat in a warmish environment for a few hours to smoke - which is a dangerous thing to do. I only use the smoke generator for cold smoking, (cheese, salt, and cured fish, plan on trying bacon as well). The point being that the curing process allows the meat to sit and smoke without bacteria taking over.

For the hot smoking I chuck wood chunks in the box at the bottom of the smoker and they smoke throughout the cooking time (I cook at just above boiling point - low and slow is the BBQ smoking mantra).

If you go to the SMF (Smoking Meat Forum) there are loads of different builds where guys talk through the process - I'd recommend it.

 

[Grendel]

Been a while but looks like Hot smoking isnt needed yet so have just bought a ProQ Cold Smoke Generator.

 

[Grendel]

Been on the Smoking Meat Forum and they all recomend Curing the beef before i cold or hot smoke which makes sence the more i read about smoking.

Just bought 200g Prague Powder #1 - Cure #1 off e-bay so i presume i just cure the beef steak first then cold smoke with the ProQ then dry in dehydrator?

 

[Dan J]

Sorry if this is a bit late but for cold smoking the method i've used is pretty cheap/simple. its just an old tin can with a few holes punched in it, filled with saw dust. then light a charcoal stick for one of those old fasioned hand warmers and drop this on top of the shavings.
Built my self a small smoke house from offcuts of plywood
As long as its in an enclosed space it should burn cool enough and long enough to smoke anything you want.
Have done cheese, salmon and garlic successfully. Deej