Hello everyone, Montreal Canada - with a new cold smoking setup based on ideas here

Well, the soldering can generator worked out well for the first smoke, still a little refinement needed so I can leave it in the smoker when I bring the smoker online and up to temp (275F max, electric smoker).   I smoked several chili peppers from the garden and tested a piece of cheese (3 hours over an ice bath, no significant sagging noticed, but 3 hours was a bit much as far as smokiness goes on the cheese).  I then continued to use it while bringing the smoker up to 120F for some sausages for dinner.  I ramped up the temp to 250F by the end of that 5 hour smoke, and by that time I had smoke from both the can and the smoker pan.  I noticed the wires and poor marrettes starting to sag just a little.  I tell you the salsa today made with those smoked peppers is to die for.

For fish smoking brine, I used to use kosher salt in say, 1/2 gallon of water up to a concentration of salt where a raw egg in the shell starts to want to float, then perhaps 1/2 cup of brown sugar, maybe some garlic or herbs in there.  I have in the past used a lemon zest and/or maple syrup rub prior to going into the smoker.  I forgot this last time that it was the drying time (pellicule formation) that I wanted to extend to a full 24 hours, not the brining time and the drying time.  I think that's how I ended up with a salty mess.

Well.  Just a little bit has happened since this original thread.

1) the "float an egg" theory for brine seems to be WAY off. 

With my new smoker modifications, I smoked some trout the other week at 12% Brix (1/2 Kosher salt, 1/2 brown sugar), measured with a refractometer, 2 hours in brine - rinse with cold water, smoke at 125F for 6 hours, ramp to 135 for 3 hours.  Maple wood + apple mixed.   Wow.  Just awesome.

2) soldering iron can - not sure if it's because I took the tips off the soldering irons, or they aren't meant to be plugged in for hours and hours on end, but I went through 3 of them (burning them out) before I gave up on that idea.

3) I never liked the way the MES "controls" temperature.  I converted mine to a PID controller with an SSR controlling heating power.  It now holds temp at +/- 1 degree, even lower if I take the time to tune it properly.  I still had issues with smoke generation at low temperatures though.

4) COOLING fan - that's right, I built a little box with a large computer style fan inside (120V), that sucks the air out of the vent hole.  It has two settings (well, three if you include un-plugging it):  always on, or inverse of heating power - so if my heater is at 30% power to hold temp, my fan is at 70% power.  This has allowed me to get consistent smoke generation down as low as 125F, while still letting me heat all the way up into the high 200's.

I can't wait to find something else to smoke, but so far, the trout was awesome, and my ribs were probably about the best ever.  I used a 6-3-2-0.25 method:  Dry rub overnight, 6 hour smoke with maple + apple + oak at 125F -[basting with apple juice and olive oil every hour or so], 3 hour smoke while ramping from 125F to 150F [again with the basting], wrap in aluminum foil with apple juice and place back for 2 hours @ 200F, finish on the grill with sauce (only 15 minutes or less, just to caramelize the sauce).  There wasn't a scrap left after dinner.  My four-year-old probably ate 3 or 4 ribs, whereas he would usually not even finish one.