In a post someone suggested using aluminium dryer hose, great suggestion, but what happens to the hot ash from the biscs, do you cut a hole to allow them to fall out or just let them accumalte in the pipe and hope they dont damage the smoke unit?.
I have done / and am doing some smoked salmon and the temp always goes too high to get the shiny near see through texture of real smoked salmon. any ideas ?. regards Julian
Julian,
Have you tried putting icecubes instead of water in your water pan? Also make sure your smoker is in the shade, not out in the sun.
http://www.chezbubba.com
Julian:
I have found that if you put a bowl of ice on the bottom shelf it will cool the smoke right down. Be sure to use a metal bowl as this conducts the cold better. Also keep your top vent open. [}:)]
cold smoke
i have been experimenting a lot to cold smoke salmon and it is impossible with the bradley smoker as it is designed now to keep inside temperature of the smoker around 80 degrees F or 25 celsius.
This is the temp at which salmon should be smoked if you want to achieve the same results as you expect when you order smoked slamon in a restaurant.
to solve the problem I have attached the smoke generator to a used stainless steel tub and running an aluminum dryer hose to the smoker
gets me perfect results.
I sell the finished product in my restaurant in Quebec city and I get rave reviews
I dry cure it for 24 hrs and after washing the salt,sugar and spices from the salmon i brush it with a mixture of equal part of port wine maple syrup and water, smoke it for 4 to 6 hrs to taste
thanks Michel, sounds like a sound idea, will give it a try, what is the name of ytour restaurant, next time i am in Quebec City i will agive it a try,
Julian..
I have been using a smoker which I can consistanly get 110-120 f out of. I am looking at the Bradley smoker.I would like to cold smoke lox so I need 80-90 f fairly consistantly . Can any of you guys tell me based on your experience if I can achieve this with a Bradley smoker??
also can any one tell me what your min-max temps on these units are.
Thanks !!! Booker
Hi All
I have have cold smoked sockeye,pinks and arctic char. Another forum member told me how to keep the smoke cool. Build a dummy box and put the smoke generator in it, run a flexable dryer hose out the top of the box. Put the Bradley about 3 feet higher than the generator. I put the Bradley up on a table and the generator on the floor. Works good. I have also found that if I wait for the ambient air temp to drop to below -4C, I can get away with using the Bradley and the generator the proper way with the bowl full of ice cubes.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by BOOKER</i>
<br />I have been using a smoker which I can consistanly get 110-120 f out of. I am looking at the Bradley smoker.I would like to cold smoke lox so I need 80-90 f fairly consistantly . Can any of you guys tell me based on your experience if I can achieve this with a Bradley smoker??
also can any one tell me what your min-max temps on these units are.
Thanks !!! Booker
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Booker,
In my experience the Bradley unit will only produce about 50 degrees F plus ambient temp if you have the heat disconnected & are only using the smoke generator. This can change by about 20 degrees if it is sunny & no wind.
I have never smoked lox & don't know how long it needs to smoke, what I've cold smoked has only been 2-4 hours. Maybe the temp can increase more than my experience if you have to do it for a lot longer time and you're a good boy & don't open the door every hour to check on it!
Cheapy, nice to "see" you again. You've got the right idea with the ice thing, it will work wonders on the hotter days.
http://www.chezbubba.com
HEY,THANKS FOR THE INFO, i JUST DID AN EXCELLENT !!! BATCH ON THE WEEKEND OF LOX,i PURCHASED A BRADLEY HOWEVER AFTER TESTING COULD NOT KEEP THE TEMP BEOW 100 F . i NEED 70-90 F . i PURCHASED A PIECE OF SPLIT RIGID METAL TUBING ,ALMOST LIKE STOVEPIPE FROM HOME DEPOT, IT IS APPROX 4 FEET LONG,I HOOKED THAT UP BETWEEN THE SMOKER UNIT AND THE BOX AND WAS ABLE TO MAINTAIN AN EVEN 80F. THE AMBIENT HERE IS -10 DEGREES C. i WILL BE ANXIOUS TO TRY THIS IN THE SUMMER TO SEE IF i CAN MAINTAIN THE PROPER TEMP FOR COLD SMOKING.
I cold smoked 8 humpback fillets yesterday.1 pound fillets. I think that pinks smoke up nice. Actually I am glad I have found a use for pinks. You can buy whole frozen pinks for 5 bucks.The texture is very pate like. I smoked them for 12 hours. I used party ice in the bowl. You have to babysit the whole time as you have to put new ice in the bowl every hour. I used 10 pounds of ice. I tried big chunks of ice in the bowl and it does not work as well as the party ice or ice cubes. I also kept the draft open. The ambient air was just above freezing. Next I am buying a remote thermometer. Right now I am using a dairy thermometer, they read very low temps. The brine I use for this amount of fish is 1 and a half cups of kosher salt, 2 cups demerara sugar, pressed garlic,dill, and 1 and a half gallons of water. I brined them for 12 hours. The night before the smoking I air dried them all night in the cold room on racks with a small fan blowing on them. Today I am smoking atlantic salmon, which are not really salmon they are more closley related to trout. I think atlantics taste just like brook trout.
OK, I'm really at a loss now. The only time I've cold smoked and the temp neared 100d F was when we were invited to cook at a cooking college and it was indoors at 70d F ambient.
Do you guys (& gals) slide the rheostat all the way to the left?
If so, have you tried unplugging the smoke box from the smoke generator? I haven't experienced it but one of our customers claimed that if you don't, the bulb will still produce heat. It's on my "gotta check out next time list".
I cold smoked duck breast for 3 1/2 hours. During that time the temp never got above 85d F. I had the water bowl full of cubed ice & only changed it once. Don't know what to say, but it is only my experience.
Happy smokin' all,
Kirk
http://www.chezbubba.com
[?]I just had the worst luck cold smoking atalntic salmon fillets. I cold smoked them for 18 hours and they were so oily! So I decided to hot smoke them. I gradually incearsed the temp. starting at 80 degrees to 140. I hot smoked for 8 hours. Too long. The fish is dry. So what now. Nothing. I will probably huck them out. My depression lasted for a day. Now I am about to move on. I still have 15 pounds of atlantic salmon fillets to deal with. I am wondering if instead of laying the fillets on the racks, I hang them vertically using wire to hook them to the undersides of the racks. I am thinking that by hanging the fish during the cold smoke process that the oil will drip, kinda like a natural trough. Before I do this I need feed back. I love the forum, has been a great inspiration for me. The people that have answered my letters are nice. The smoker world is certaily interesting. [:X]
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by michel</i>
<br />cold smoke
i have been experimenting a lot to cold smoke salmon and it is impossible with the bradley smoker as it is designed now to keep inside temperature of the smoker around 80 degrees F or 25 celsius.
This is the temp at which salmon should be smoked if you want to achieve the same results as you expect when you order smoked slamon in a restaurant.
to solve the problem I have attached the smoke generator to a used stainless steel tub and running an aluminum dryer hose to the smoker
gets me perfect results.
I sell the finished product in my restaurant in Quebec city and I get rave reviews
I dry cure it for 24 hrs and after washing the salt,sugar and spices from the salmon i brush it with a mixture of equal part of port wine maple syrup and water, smoke it for 4 to 6 hrs to taste
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">[?]
ichel can you tell me where in Quebec city you buy your bisquettes for the Bradley smoker? Thanks. Carol
I smoked chedder ans swiss chees the other day. The temp in the smoker never got above 60 F. I used to temp sensors to verify the temp results just for my own knowledge. I put ice in the bowl and two more bread pans of ice on the lowest rack. Outside temp was about 55 F and I had only the smoke generator on.
The cheese was great!
BrentK
Grand Forks, ND
Not to jack this thread, but cold smoke what a joke....I live in Florida! When it is 90F plus outside the only thing cold is the beer in my hand! Even then you better drink it quick. [:D]
I have thought about cooling the smoke in a secondary box with an small A/C unit.... however with my luck I would make the smoke too cold and it would fall to the bottom of the box.
Aw, come on Olds, there a some days when you could get a cold smoke in. You know, those odd days when the temp drops down into the 60's & you all throw on your down jackets. Just look for us kooky northern visitors to be the only people in shorts![:D]
http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?
Well I think I too willhave the same trouble when I move to Abilene TX come August.... However to get around this I intend to install mine in the utility room venting out the smoke using a high capacity kitchen exhaust hood.
When in doubt smoke it.
My rig for cold smoking uses a tumble dryer hose and a cardboard box. With this setup, shown with pictures at http://www.johnwatkins.co.uk/personalpages/coldsmoking.htm , I can achieve virtually no increase above the ambient temperature within the cabinet. Its helpful that there is no conducted heat along the pipe and its a really low cost solution. So now our cold smoked trout and salmon is so simple to produce with about 4 hours smoking. Enjoy ! regards John
John Watkins
UK Distribution Partner
Board Administator
Has anyone tried using dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) to cool the Bradley for cold smoking?
I would think that would work very good.
I'm certainly not in a capacity to answer this question:
Would that amount of CO2 prevent the bisquette from smoldering??
http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?
I have several smokers. Is the Bradley the best.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by tileman324</i>
<br />I have several smokers. Is the Bradley the best.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">Yes.
http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by tileman324</i>
<br />I have several smokers. Is the Bradley the best.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
<i><font color="blue">On any day of the week it is.</font id="blue"> </i>
SmokeOn,
mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie
If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know. But...
To the earlier dry ice question,
I tried it last weekend smoking some cheese. The temp stayed down real well it apeared that the smoke was fine but that could have been the vapors from the dry ice. Upon examining the spent bisquettes seemed to have been considerably more intact than usual. also during the smoke even with the vent full open the smoke was coming out of the generater, too cold for the smoke to rise. So in closing I don't think I will try using it again.
CO2 will keep the pucks from burning properly. You have taken away the ability of complete combustion to occure by introducing the C02. ::)
QuoteUpon examining the spent bisquettes seemed to have been considerably more intact than usual.
Iceman is correct (as always! :D), the introduction of CO2 will reduce the amount of oxygen available which is needed to burn the pucks....... this would explain why the pucks were more intact than usual.
Hello,
I would like to smoke some Nova lox. I have been reading that a few methods are used. Use ice in the metal bowl. 2. Add more ice on the racks. 3. Buy tubing to extend from smoker to smoke box.
I have bought tubing but am afraid that it may be poisonous. It is made from a hard plastic. Is this a bad idea? What is a good size diameter of tubing that other guys used?
Has anyone been successful w/ just Bradley and Ice to make smoke cool enough for cold smoking?
As always, Appreciate all comments,
David
By the way, I'm in Miami where Global Warming is daily. Hot as hell!
IMHO I would shy away from using the plastic tubing. Some are food safe and some are not. As hot as the weather is down there I think your going to have to use the tubing trick. Most folks I've seen use the expandable 4" aluminum dryer hose. A few of the posts here showed the smoke generator mounted on a remote box with the dryer hose running into the back of the Bradley smoker. Old's here on the forum might have some ideas for you. He lives down that way so he would know more about the heat than I would.
Ice didn't work for me. The easiest way to keep the temp<100*F(assuming the ambient is a civilized 70-75*) is to pull the plug to the cabinet and crack the door open about a 1/4". I'm not sure what you're planning to do with a piece of rigid plastic tube ???
This method uses non rigid plastic tumble dryer hose, by it's very nature it has to withstand/be inert to the elevated temperatures of a tumble dryer exhaust which is likely to be higher than most ambient temperatures.
http://www.johnwatkins.co.uk/personalpages/coldsmoking.htm
I have used the above method extensively and never had a problem with the tube melting, giving off any burning odour or anything else untoward. It gets coated pretty rapidly with the same tar like substance that coats the inside of the BS smoker cabinet pretty in any case.
I would imagine aluminium hose would serve the same purpose but plastic is cheaper!
However, several reference I have come across refer to the fact that cold smoking it just impossible in some climates!
Maybe a combination of the above method plus ice pack in the smoker cabinet? Smoke late at night?
Or ask your better half if you can cut a couple of holes in the fridge to let the smoke in and out and turn it into the cardboard box in the above picture!! Try and keep a straight face when you ask!! ;D
Thank you all for your replies,
I went to Home Depot looking for that 4" diameter hose in the UK pic. Didnt have any luck. Any suggestions where to go for a hose like that in Miami, FL?
Also, Oldman, what is your technique for cold smoking salmon or the likes? We both live in same hot climate.
Thanks again for all the generous help,
David
Some smokers will do anything to be cool 8) 8) 8)
(http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b241/xlb/rem.jpg)
(http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b241/xlb/rem1.jpg)
Plastic dryer hose has been outlawed in most states, so the standard in many states is the aluminum.
One other tip, keep the smoker out of the sun.
QuotePlastic dryer hose has been outlawed in most states
That's interesting, certainly not the case on this side of the pond as yet? Presumably aluminium hose is widely available?
Quote from: manxman on June 13, 2006, 02:06:51 PM
QuotePlastic dryer hose has been outlawed in most states
That's interesting, certainly not the case on this side of the pond as yet? Presumably aluminium hose is widely available?
I know here in Wasilla plastic is not allowed on gas dryers but still on electric but is frowned on by the building inspecters. Every hardware store up here has aluminum but very few carry plastic anymore.