Cant beat the heat

[Oldman]

Smoking foods is an investment if you want to be better than the average back yard smoker. IMO a person could create an effective cold box for $100.00 or less. Using a used refrigerator grants you the power to monitor just how cold you want the box to get.

If cold smoking' was important to me I would convert a working used refrigerator. Why settle for less? Plus you could cold smoke so much more that way.

Let's say you want to cure, smoke and age a ham for a year or two--without a set up like this it would not happen--or hard /  Genoa Salami. This is the only way in warm climates this type of smoking can be done.

Olds

[iceman]

The easiest and most effective way to cold smoke in hot weather is to run a aluminum dryer vent from the top of the Bradley into the side of a small dorm style refrigerator that has a vent hole cut in the top. Put the refrigerator on a table so it's higher than the top of the Bradley. The refer will keep at about 50 degrees at an ambient temp of 80. Not to bad at all. I have picked these refers up for as little as $ 30.00 at DRMO auctions on base. New they run at about $100.00 Sams Club / Costco / Walmart / etc. I can probably dig up some old pictures if need be. An ice chest full of ice doesn't work because the melting ice forms to much moisture in the air and it settles on the fish making it sticky on the outer layer.

[Jezziebella]

Uh oh,
   After reading this topic I'm getting worried guys.  I'm an hour and a half into dry brining to smoke some lox tomorrow morning.  I was going to ask about the drying process.  Spyguy only dries for an hour (in or out of the fridge?)  As I read again my impression is out.  But as I read down Mary Veithurst talks about air drying for 6 to 12 hours.  I thought that by starting my smoker and using the ice method early tomorrow morning I'd be able to keep the temp okay.  It could be 70 degrees by that time.  I just checked the current temp and it's 93 in the shade.  I'm freezing a block of ice as we speak and sort of expect a mess, but tell me it can be done.  Should I freeze some more and put it on all the rackes but the one the fillet is on?  Even if I had the inclination, I haven't the time to rig up one of your interesting contraptions.  This is the first fresh caught salmon I've had all season.  Fortunately because of my lack of confidence I only am trying one half of one side of a 14 pounder.

The lady is in distress! :-*

[iceman]

Jezz;
Depending on what you used to dry brine you might consider kippered smoking instead of lox at that high of an ambient temp. I'm not so sure your going to be able to get enough moisture out of the box at that temp even with the vent open and door cracked open. At 93 degrees I think I'd be drying the fish in the fridge or air conditioned house for lox. For kippering it wouldn't matter because your hot smoking anyhow. Sorry I don't have more time for details. Good luck.

[Habanero Smoker]

Jezz;

If you set up your smoker so the generator is not attached to the cabinet, it may be possible to keep the cabinet temperature below 80°F. Can you wait until early morning or late evening, when the temperature will go down. If you are unsure that you can keep the cabinet below that temperature, another member did cure his salmon and smoked it at a latter date with not deterioration of flavor of texture.

How many trays are you smoking? If you set it up so the generator will be detached from the cabinet, you can take out the V-drip pan and place a large pan of ice at the bottom of the cabinet. If you can spare shelf space place another pan of ice on the top shelf. Let the cabinet cool down first before placing your fish in, and have extra ice available, but you will not be smoking for a very long time, so you may not need it. If you place a tray of ice on the top tray the cold air may force some of the smoke out of the bottom of the door, but don't worry about that.

Took me awhile to find this http://www.johnwatkins.co.uk/personalpages/coldsmoking.htm It's instructions on how to set up your BS for cold smoking.

[Jezziebella]

Iceman,
  Thanks for the reply, but I don't know what kippered smoking is.  Also, although it's 93 now, I won't be (attempting) to cold smoke 'til tomorrow a.m. when the temp's around 70 (I'm keeping my fingers crossed) or less.  Are you saying I would be better off drying in the fridge because of the temp thing inside the smoker meaning the fish will be less likely to overheat if it's starting temp is lower or outside the smoker meaning the fish might spoil before a pellicle forms?  Again, it won't be that hot in the a.m., also, I do have a fan if you think that would dry it quicker....and timing for the drying ???

Thanks again :-*

Habanero,
      I was typing the above when your post came in.  I will be only using one rack. (Too paranoid to ruin a whole salmon first time out.)   I will be waiting 'til the early a.m.  I'm not quite sure what you mean by the generator not being attached to the smoker.  Do you mean a hose contraption like in the pictures?  Anyway, I have plenty of room for ice, and as you say, won't be smoking for very long.  And what are your thoughts on the drying time/process?

[Jezziebella]

Sorry Habanero,
   Didn't check out the attachment until after I'd posted.  Guess I'll be sending my hubby to Orchard Supply tonight.
Fortunately my BS is already on a table under the open back porch for the air flow thing.  Any idea what you think the highest ambient temp could be with plenty of ice and not doing the box thing?  I have visions of the box going up in flames.   :-*

[Habanero Smoker]

Had to log off for awhile. I have two butts smoking and the alarm on the Guru went off. Sorry I misunderstood your question about air drying. I have never had any luck in getting pellicle to form in an hour, so I air dry in the fridge over night.

The last time I cold smoke, the ambient temperature was 72°F. With ice on the bottom and another tray of ice on top, the cabinet temperature I believe never got over 54°F; it was the low 50's anyway. That was during a two hour smoke, and I did not have to add any more ice, but I had some ready just in case. The BS is insulated so it act like a cooler, so the ice does a good job in keeping the temperature down.  Like I said earlier, place the ice in the BS to bring down the temperature prior to smoking; at least 20 minutes before placing the.

One thing I forgot to mention is if you place a tray of ice above the fish, line the tray with several paper towels or a cloth towel, and place the ice fill pan on the towels. if you don't set the pan on some towels to absorb the moisture, when there is ice above the fish condensation forms on the pan and water will drip down on the fish.

The box won't catch on fire. Just make sure that the heating pad is fully inserted into the box and is is not touching any cardboard. Also make sure that slot you cut in the cardboard is wide enough not to touch the any part of the bisquette feed arm. It may be too hot to touch, but the arm doesn't get hot enough by the generator end that is would ignite the cardboard.

A

[asa]

Jezziebella -
I haven't tried cold smoking yet, and this may be too late for you tomorrow, but someone here a while back suggested using "blue" ice packs instead of real ice to cool the BS. You might want to keep that in mind for next time, or throw them in tomorrow if you have (or your neighbor has) some stored in a freezer. The reasons for using them are to cut down on the mess of real ice melting and to cut down on the water vapor released into the BS; I also believe that they are engineered to have more heat capacity than plain ice, although I could be wrong about that. You could also consider putting your ice inside plastic freezer bags to cut down on the melted icewater you have to deal with inside the BS.  Good luck.  I'll be trying this as soon as our ambient temps fall to a more reasonable level.

[Jezziebella]

Asa,
   Thanks for the tip.  Although I don't have the "blue ice" I do have some of the ice gel packs that come when you order meat online in the freezer...lots in fact.  Great idea, glad I checked back in.  :-*

[Habanero Smoker]

Jezziebella -
I haven't tried cold smoking yet, and this may be too late for you tomorrow, but someone here a while back suggested using "blue" ice packs instead of real ice to cool the BS. You might want to keep that in mind for next time, or throw them in tomorrow if you have (or your neighbor has) some stored in a freezer. The reasons for using them are to cut down on the mess of real ice melting and to cut down on the water vapor released into the BS; I also believe that they are engineered to have more heat capacity than plain ice, although I could be wrong about that. You could also consider putting your ice inside plastic freezer bags to cut down on the melted icewater you have to deal with inside the BS.  Good luck.  I'll be trying this as soon as our ambient temps fall to a more reasonable level.

For my last smoke I used the blue ice packs on the top shelve. There are two types of ice packs on the market. One type contains a gel, but most just contains sterile water. If you use the blue ice pack, don't do what I did and just put them in the BS. They get stained with smoke, and the plastic absorbed a strong smoke smell, that did not clean off. If you use them place them in plastic sealable bags to protect the packs from the smoke. The ones I used in the smoker, I now have to put them in freezer type sealable bags before I put them in the freezer, or used them in a cooler, to prevent the smoke odor from contaminating other foods.

Vapor release is not a problem when cold smoking; it's the condensation that you need to watch out for in the BS. I just make one more recommendation, if you place ice in sealable bags, I would still place it in aluminum, just incase the seal breaks. I have had several seals break, when a liquid start sloshing around in sealable bags when they are being handle. Now I just place ice in disposable deep half size steam table aluminum pans. The only clean you have is to just dump out the water and throw away the pan, but the pans clean up easy and can be reused.

[asa]

Thanks HS for the additions/corrections. All of what you say certainly makes sense. I'll keep it in mind for the future.

[Jezziebella]

Yahoo! mission accomplished.
   Thanks to all for your help.  The lox is in the fridge-can't wait to try it.  Everybody's suggestions really helped the process.  My hubby just couldn't get over the cardboard box so we fashioned an aluminum contraption out of metal dryer (I think) duct and sort of a T fitting.  One hole fit over the bisquette advance, the top held the hose, and we just covered the 3rd hole with a double layer of heavy duty foil.  (We used the "T" upside down.) The ashes just dropped off into the fitting which seemed okay, no room for a water pan.  I removed the foil cover once to make sure nothing funky was going on and there seemed no need to remove any ash.  Perhaps this would be a problem for extended smoking, but was fine for this.  The "T" was proppped up by a metal grill basket and we used a few pieces of duct tape to secure it to the generator.
   I used a combo of block ice (I had frozen the night before), gel ice packs (in freezer bags) and cubes.  The block was on the tray with the holes funneling to the bowl underneath.  The other stuff above the fish on cloth towel lined racks in bags in foil trays. (Can't be too careful  ;D)  I smoked for 1 1/2 hours (right in the middle of the 1 to 3 hour range that spyguy recommended).  The temp inside the smoker stayed between 64 and 66 degrees although by the time I was done it was probably 75 outside.  No need to add ice or empty the bowl.
    As for the drying time, I reread spyguy's recipe and he said he only dried for an hour or until the flesh side felt a little sticky.  Mine ended up in the fridge on the rack for about an two hours.  (In the fridge because my cats were all too interested in the process.)  This timing worked for my schedule.  Had to do the Orchard Supply run this morning at 7a.m. because I had to beautify myself for dance class last night after signing off and stores were closed when it was over. (I can just see you guys all shaking your heads and thinking I need to get my priorities straight, right?  :-*)
   Anyway, I'll let you know what I think about the taste and texture.  Thank you again!
I knew I could count on you all. :-*
     

[Habanero Smoker]

Asa;
Most of my knowledge is gained from past failures. I recently heard an express, from this group that likes to periodically rephrase how wording is used. Instead of the word "failure" they want teachers to use the phrase "deferred success". That is now my mantra.

Jezz;
I'm impressed. It doesn't look as if you needed as much help as you thought.

[iceman]

Sounds like you pulled it off without to much trouble Jezz. ;D Always glad to hear it when folks get excited about what they can do with the Bradley. :)