Cold smokers

[bigal80ak]

I was wondering if there's any pellet cold smokers?
my dad has a cold smoker master built seems to leak quite a bit of smoke.

 

[Steve H]

You mean a store bought unit dedicated for cold smoking?
As far as a smoker leaking. It can be sealed up if it is too bad.

 

[thirdeye]

I've seen more smoke generators that convert existing smokers to cold smokers than I have a dedicated cold smoker. There are some dandy plans for building a permanent cold smoker in your backyard, one friend built a plywood one that breaks down and stores flat. I've seen some people use a large moving box, they are $3 or $4 at Home depot.

My ideal cold smoker is my drum smoker. It's 40" tall, slightly taller than a 55 gallon model, has excellent draw and draft, and a lot of volume... which is critical when using a pellet generator. It has a hanging rack for sausage, bacon, ham etc., and a regular cooking grate. With the hanging option I've never come close to filling it to capacity. I can use a pellet or sawdust generator.


When I use a pellet generator, I can even block the lid open in order to maintain a near perfect flow of smoke. Cold smoking is all about quality and delivery of smoke.


Second in line is my Mini WSM. It can hold a slab of bacon or a shoulder ham, but it excels for smoked cheese and butter when combined with a sawdust smoke generator. Hands down the best combination I've used in over 40 years of experimenting. And it's so portable I can easily follow the shade, or hide from the wind for the 4 or 5 hours of smoking time I use for cheese. The photo below is 4# of cheese, but it will hold 6#.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Just seal it up.
Otherwise, A-Maze-N, pellet tubes or tray will make any enclosed space into a cold smoker using pellets.

 

[1MoreFord]

The Savannah Stoker controller offers a fan only setting for cold smoking to provide convection flow for use with a smoke generator.

IIRC there is a factory PG that offers this option too.

 

[kurt boutin]

I've got a Camp Chef pellet smoker, but really, when I cold smoke cheese, I just use a tube and use the Camp Chef just as an enclosed space. And it was awesome. :)

 

[2008RN]

I agree with SmokinEdge, the A-Maze-N smokers are great for cold smoking. I get about a 5-7 degree increase from ambient temps. I prefer the the tube smokers. I use them both in the Yoder and my Fridge smoker.

 

[yahoot]

You mean a store bought unit dedicated for cold smoking?
As far as a smoker leaking. It can be sealed up if it is too bad.

I think you would get poor results if you sealed it up.
Smoke needs to flow through the smoker and then get out. If it is "trapped", the creosote in the smoke will end up condensing on the food and you will get a bitter taste.

We have an old masterbuilt electric smoker that we use as a cold smoker with the masterbuilt smoke generator (Masterbuilt MB20100112 Slow Smoker). We never even turn the smoker on - but we have to open up all the vents to let the smoke out.

 

[Steve H]

I think you would get poor results if you sealed it up.
Smoke needs to flow through the smoker and then get out. If it is "trapped", the creosote in the smoke will end up condensing on the food and you will get a bitter taste.

We have an old masterbuilt electric smoker that we use as a cold smoker with the masterbuilt smoke generator (Masterbuilt MB20100112 Slow Smoker). We never even turn the smoker on - but we have to open up all the vents to let the smoke out.

Too much smoke leakage could also cause longer smoke times. And wasted pellets. A lot of people complain about smoke leaking from the doors.

 

[UrbanCowgill]

I've seen more smoke generators that convert existing smokers to cold smokers than I have a dedicated cold smoker. There are some dandy plans for building a permanent cold smoker in your backyard, one friend built a plywood one that breaks down and stores flat. I've seen some people use a large moving box, they are $3 or $4 at Home depot.

My ideal cold smoker is my drum smoker. It's 40" tall, slightly taller than a 55 gallon model, has excellent draw and draft, and a lot of volume... which is critical when using a pellet generator. It has a hanging rack for sausage, bacon, ham etc., and a regular cooking grate. With the hanging option I've never come close to filling it to capacity. I can use a pellet or sawdust generator.
View attachment 467224
View attachment 467227
When I use a pellet generator, I can even block the lid open in order to maintain a near perfect flow of smoke. Cold smoking is all about quality and delivery of smoke.
View attachment 467228

Second in line is my Mini WSM. It can hold a slab of bacon or a shoulder ham, but it excels for smoked cheese and butter when combined with a sawdust smoke generator. Hands down the best combination I've used in over 40 years of experimenting. And it's so portable I can easily follow the shade, or hide from the wind for the 4 or 5 hours of smoking time I use for cheese. The photo below is 4# of cheese, but it will hold 6#.
View attachment 467225
View attachment 467226

Hey Thirdeye! Love the WSM tall boy! I think Ive been thru two or three of those little jewels. I also wanted to thank you guys for the discussion on air flow. I cold smoked some 1lb pork sausage chubs yesterday and at first had issues with the fire being too hot and smokey. Opening my smoker up cured all the issues and kept the temp down. Great discussion and advice, thanks again! Urban Cowgill

 

[doughboysigep]

My Pit Boss Copperhead says it will do cheese but I have not tried it (& likely won't). I see no way that the unit will stay under 90, let alone the 60-70 I shoot for. However, my MES 30/40 work perfect for cold smoking - as long as you use a mailbox attachment. I actually turn unit on briefly occasionally (depending on the outside temps). Keeps it at that optimum 60-70 degrees and help it draw smoke thru.