Cold Smoking Ground Beef?

[CLAREGO]

depending where one lives keeping temps under 40 can only be achieved in winter time. and cold smoking adapter with no heat in the cabinet. smoke still creates heat id try it if we ever got a real cold winter  ::)

[Quarlow]

I have to agree with the "L" word on this one. Liquid smoke which is actual smoke.
And for those who may not know and I can use a refresher, perhaps someone could remind us why not to use wet wood or chips.

[devo]

I have to agree with the "L" word on this one. Liquid smoke which is actual smoke.
And for those who may not know and I can use a refresher, perhaps someone could remind us why not to use wet wood or chips.

Taken from http://www.amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/mythbusting_soaking_wood.html

Mythbusting: Do I Have To Soak My Wood?

It is conventional wisdom that you should soak wood chips and chunks before using them in a charcoal or gas grill or smoker. All the books say so. All the TV shows say so.

To test the concept, I began by weighing two handsful of wood chips, and two handsful of wood chunks on a digital scale. Both bags were labeled "apple". Then I soaked them in room temp water for 12 hours. I then took them out, shook off much of the surface water, patted the exterior lightly with paper towels and weighed them to see just how much was actually absorbed. Chunks gained about 3% by weight and chips about 6%. That's not much. Chips absorbed more because there was so much more surface area than chunks.

DOH! That must be why they make boats out of wood! Wood doesn't absorb much water!

Let's say the coals or gas jets on your grill are 1,100°F an the surface of the coal or jets. If the wood surface is wet the wood cannot heat much beyond 212°F, the boiling point, until the water evaporates by turning to steam. The temp sticks there. It is the same principle as boiling potatoes in a pot water. No matter how much heat you apply to the pot, the potatoes cannot rise above 212°F until all the water is gone. Then, when they hit the bottom of the pan, they will get hotter and hotter as the water is driven out of them.

In a grill or smoker, after the water is driven off, the wood starts to warm from the outside in. When the surface hits 575°F (approximately), it begins giving off combustible gases. They may then burst into flame and the wood will be consumed rapidly. But if the wood is starved for oxygen, as it is when placed in a foil packet or a smoke box, gases and smoke particles emerge slowly and the wood will not burst into flame. It will smolder and emit smoke.

Soaked wood can slow the time of combustion slightly and, that can cause problems. You might see "smoke" but much of it may be steam. You may think the wood is smoldering properly, when it isn't. If you walk away and come back in an hour you may find the wood is not smoking. Or it has burst into flame and been totally consumed. Now some cooks use this to their advantage. On their cookers they have found that the wood bursts into flame when they add it mid cook, so adding wet wood prevents this until they can close the door and restrict the airflow again.

In addition, if you toss dripping wet wood on hot coals, the water on the surface can cool off the coals when the goal is to hold the coals at a steady temp. According to Blonder "Getting the air/wood mixture right is the most important thing."

[Quarlow]

Thank you. :)

[Swim Dad]

The problem is liquid smoke just isn't as fun.  But spices and the L word might have to do.  I have been out of town and not been able to experiment. I miss my Bradley.  Just a couple more weeks.

This fall I am going to rip apart my weber and give it good scrubbing and clean out the burners.   I might have better luck with getting wood to burn well.  The Amazing Rib guy has some good suggestions for the weber. But he does not seem to think very highly of our methods over here. 

I do need to start grinding my own meat.  I like my burgers to moo very loudly. 

Another idea. Cold smoke some chuck or whatever for an hour. Then grind???  If I did that could I then freeze the some patties?   Has anyone ground up a packer brisket for hamburger?