New Member's Mistake

willbrewer · December 05, 2005, 10:15:42 PM

Hi everyone,
I found this forum not too long ago when I was thinking about buying (or building) a cold smoker. I don't have one yet...I'm not sure which route to take. Buy or build. There sure is a lot of good info here. I'm glad I found this forum.
I thought I'd share a mistake I made smoking venison. I like to experiment with new recipes, and decided to try injecting a venison roast with a Jim Beam, spice, and oil mixture. I mixed the whiskey and oil, about half and half, and a little salt and pepper. I injected it into the venison till it was squirting back out at me, and I let it marinate in the rest of the liquid for a couple of hours, then smoked it.
To make a long story short, I should've just drunk the Jim Beam. The venison tasted awful. Even chased with coke.
Talk at you later,

Bill
____
http://www.smoker-cooking.com

Hit it like ya live...fast and hard!
But smoke it slow and low.

tsquared · December 06, 2005, 04:51:32 AM

Will-have you bought a Bradley? If not, you convert one into a great coldsmoker for less than $20 using the box it came in, some dryer hose and a bit of duct tape.
T2

willbrewer · December 06, 2005, 02:14:46 PM

Hey T2,

Could I do the same thing if I just got one of the smoke generators? And build a smoke chamber for it?

Bill
____
http://www.smoker-cooking.com

Hit it like ya live...fast and hard!
But smoke it slow and low.

jaeger · December 07, 2005, 04:32:54 AM

willbrewer,
If you are smoking venison I doubt if you would want a cold smoker. I would suggest buying a Bradley and then you are set up if you want to smoke or cold smoke.

Doug

willbrewer · December 07, 2005, 08:19:58 PM

Hey Doug,

No, I'm not planning on cold smoking venison. I want something for cold smoking salmon that I can forget about while it's working.

How much separation would it take from the generator to the smoke chamber to smoke @ 70 degrees F or so.

A better question, what is the temperature of the smoke as it's leaving the generator? Knowing that, I could judge how far to stretch the dryer vent depending on how cold it is outside.
Thanks,

Bill
____
http://www.smoker-cooking.com

Hit it like ya live...fast and hard!
But smoke it slow and low.

jaeger · December 08, 2005, 05:43:16 PM

Bill,
I have only cold smoked cheese. I use a cardboard box and connect with a dryer vent. I am not positive on the temp because I only have the door thermometer of the Bradley. The last time I cold smoked cheese it was about 60F out and the door temp went to 70F. The cheese did not sweat at all and was cooler than room temp when done at 2 1/2 hours of smoke. Next time I will put an oven thermometer in the cabinet to get an accurate temp.
Hope this helps.

Doug

iceman · December 08, 2005, 06:49:47 PM

Hey there Doug; What kind of cheeses have you smoked? I've done medium cheddar, sharp ceddar and swiss. They turned out OK but I'd like to try others. Has anyone tried almonds? I love those Blue Diamond smoked almonds and want to try to duplicate them.[?]

jaeger · December 09, 2005, 03:16:43 AM

iceman,
I have smoked medium cheddar, colby, cojack, muenster, pepperjack, white cheddar, sharp cheddar and monterey jack. I like the sharp cheeses and pepperjack the most. My wife and daughter like the medium and cojack. Whenever I get ready to smoke cheese I give my neighbor a little notice and he brings over about 5 pounds of varieties.
I haven't tried almonds but like you, smoked almonds are my favorite!

I have cold smoked hard boiled eggs and made deviled eggs out of these. I prefered the eggs whole as opposed to deviled. A lot of smokers here add the egg to other salads (ie:tuna or chicken salad).

Doug

iceman · December 09, 2005, 04:33:43 PM

Thanks Doug. I never thought about pepperjack. That sounds good. Off to the store I go.<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by jaeger
 iceman,
I have smoked medium cheddar, colby, cojack, muenster, pepperjack, white cheddar, sharp cheddar and monterey jack. I like the sharp cheeses and pepperjack the most. My wife and daughter like the medium and cojack. Whenever I get ready to smoke cheese I give my neighbor a little notice and he brings over about 5 pounds of varieties.
I haven't tried almonds but like you, smoked almonds are my favorite!

I have cold smoked hard boiled eggs and made deviled eggs out of these. I prefered the eggs whole as opposed to deviled. A lot of smokers here add the egg to other salads (ie:tuna or chicken salad).

Doug

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">