Cooking Shellfish On A Bullet Smoker

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sotv

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Feb 11, 2017
103
16
Not a lot of info on cooking techniques etc out there for Shellfish on a smoker. But ProQ seem to recommend this for their bullet smokers https://hotsmoked.co.uk/smoker-basket.html  


Anyone had any experience with these types of baskets or recommend something else that would allow a mixture of different types of shellfish to be smoked together. Also any hints or tip on the best way for say, clams, mussels, crab legs and langoustines  to be all cooked together with timings and temperatures. I would imagine from cooking these sort of things conventionally, some would take a bit longer than others to cook and maybe the water pan would be as beneficial as heat when it comes to cooking these sort of shellfish.
 
For my own personal needs a basket would be better I think, for containing the shellfish and giving them a shake during cooking. I can see a chip pan basket working. But they are usually quite small in diameter (but deeper) and with a large handle, coming out the side, so may not be as practical as the style of basket in my OP?
 
I am thinking I am going to have to start at an even lower temperature than meat smoking, for shellfish? around the 60-80C mark perhaps. What is the best way to achieve this sort of temperature on a bullet smoker.

Close the vents  after the coals have taken would that bring the temp down?  or put the coals on and let the temperature drop over a period of hours to the temperature required or put a few hot coals on and add a few fresh ones on top so the temperature starts very low and builds up slowly for the hour of cooking time needed. 

Going to be doing probably Crab Claws, Mussels, Clams, Scallops and Tiger Prawns for 5 so not sure if they should all be chucked on together or some require a shorter time to cook than others?

Any help greatly appreciated, guests bringing the shellfish from Brixham next week so don't want to ruin what they have bought.
 
I would have thought you would either just light less coals in your chimney starter if you are using the Minion method, or you could make a snake out of briquettes and add only a few lit coals to one end. Then keep your vents fairly well closed down.

I don't own a bullet smoker, so can't verify that these methods will work. On my kamado when I need low temperatures I just light a smaller amount of charcoal in the basket, and let it come up to temperature fairly slowly to avoid overshoots.
 
 
I would have thought you would either just light less coals in your chimney starter if you are using the Minion method, or you could make a snake out of briquettes and add only a few lit coals to one end. Then keep your vents fairly well closed down.

I don't own a bullet smoker, so can't verify that these methods will work. On my kamado when I need low temperatures I just light a smaller amount of charcoal in the basket, and let it come up to temperature fairly slowly to avoid overshoots.
Thanks, think I will try the minion method with about 8-10 heat beads in the chimney starter with some warm tap water in the pan and hopefully that will keep the temperature down enough.
 
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