Marianski, Stanley; Marianski, Adam. The Art of Making Fermented Sausages (Kindle Locations 2216-2222). Bookmagic LLC. Kindle Edition.
Mystery of Cold Smoking
The majority of hobbyists think of cold smoking as some mysterious preservation technique that will produce a unique and superb quality product. What makes matters worse is that they start to experiment with different smoke temperatures and establish their own rules which then spread around and are repeated by newcomers into the field of smoking meats. In most German, Polish or Russian meat technology books the upper limit for cold smoking is 71° F (22° C). Let’s put some facts straight: cold smoking is not a preservation method, it will not preserve meat unless the meat will be dried. the higher amount of salt is added to meat that would be smoked to inhibit the growth of spoilage bacteria. cold smoking is an additional safety hurdle that helps to achieve microbiological safety of meat. Cold smoking was nothing else but a drying method whose purpose was to eliminate moisture so that bacteria would not grow. This technique developed in North Eastern European countries where the climate was harsh and winters severe. When meats were cold smoked for 2-3 weeks, yes, the meat became preserved, but it was drying that made the meat safe. If the same meat was dried at 54° F (12° C) without any smoke present, it would be preserved all the same. The pigs were traditionally slaughtered for Christmas and the meat had to last until the summer. Noble cuts were cooked or salted, but trimmings were made into sausages that were dried which was not an easy task to accomplish with freezing temperatures outside. The only way to heat up storage facilities was to burn wood and that produced smoke. They were two choices: hang meats 5 feet above a small smoldering fire OR burn wood in a firebox that was located outside. The firebox was connected with the smokehouse by an underground channel that would supply heat and smoke at the same time.
As the temperature had to be higher than freezing temperatures outside, the slowly burning fire provided suitable temperatures for drying. It is common knowledge that fire produces smoke so the meats and sausages were dried and smoked at the same time. They were just flavored with cold smoke which not only helped to preserve the product but gave it a wonderful aroma. In addition it prevented molds from growing on the surface. Those advantages of applying smoke were not ignored by our ancestors and smoking became an art in itself. The meat, however, was preserved by drying and the benefits of smoke flavor was just an added bonus. A large smokehouse was also a storage facility where smoked meats hung in a different area where they continued to receive some smoke, although on a much smaller scale. This prevented any mold from growing on the surfaces of hams or sausages, as molds need oxygen to grow.
It was established that meats dried best when the temperatures were somewhere between 10-15° C (50–60° F) and although the temperature of the smoke leaving the firebox was higher, it would be just right by the time it made contact with meat. Whole logs of wood were burnt. The fire was allowed to die out as people went to sleep. The meats hung until the morning and the fire would be re-started again. So when you see an old recipe saying that ham or sausage was smoked for 2 weeks, well it really was not, as it probably received smoke for about 1/3 of the time. Those meats were not cooked, they were dried and could be considered fermented products. Italians and Spaniards were blessed with a climate that provided cool prevailing winds at right temperatures. There was no need to burn wood to warm up the drying chambers. As a result products did not acquire a smoky flavor. For this reason people in the Mediterranean basin are not particularly fond of smoked products, and people in Germany, Poland, Russia, Lithuania love them, but don’t generally like uncooked air dried products. The majority of all processed meat products in Northern Europe are of smoked variety. There is little difference about Italian salami, Hungarian salami or Polish Cold Smoked Sausage. Italian salami is dried without smoke and Hungarian salami or Polish sausage were dried with cold smoke. The product was drying out and the smoke happened to be there. Preservation was on people’s mind rather than creating cold smoked flavor. Very few products are cold smoked today, notably cold smoked salmon known as “lox.” The texture of cold smoked products is firmer and they can be sliced paper thin. The taste is a different story, you must acquire a liking for cold smoked products. In the past people already knew what we know today, that hot smoked products taste better. Cold smoking was our answer to the lack of refrigeration in the past. Do you think we would have bothered to smoke meats for weeks if refrigeration had been present? No, we would hot smoke them for a few hours and then they would end up in the refrigerator. Cold smoking is performed with a thin smoke, 52-71°F (12-22°C), 70-80% humidity, from 1 - 14 days, and a good air ventilation to remove excess moisture. Cold smoking is not a continuous process, it is stopped a few times to allow fresh air into the smoker. Often recipes call for 3-4 days of cold smoking, but that does not mean
that the smoking is continuous. Applying a heavy continuous smoke for such a long period (even at a low temperature) may impart a bitter taste to the product. Cold smoking slows down the spoilage of fats, which increases the shelf life of meat. The product is drier and saltier with a more pronounced smoky flavor. The color varies from yellow to dark brown on the surface and dark red inside. Cold smoked products are not submitted to the cooking process. Cold smoking assures us of total smoke penetration inside of the meat. The loss of moisture is uniform in all areas and the total weight loss falls within 5-20% depending largely on the smoking time. It is obvious that you cannot produce cold smoke if the outside temperature is 90° F (32° C), unless you can cool it down, which is what some industrial smokers do. In tropical areas like Florida you are limited to the winter months only and the smoking must be done at night when temperatures drop to 40 - 60° F (4-16° C) or even lower. The question arises to how to continue cold smoking when temperature increases to 80° F (27° C) at day time? Well, do not smoke, move meat to the area of 50° F (10° C) or refrigerate. Then when the temperature drops in the evening, start smoking again.
Marianski, Stanley; Marianski, Adam. The Art of Making Fermented Sausages (Kindle Locations 2243-2253). Bookmagic LLC. Kindle Edition.
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Mystery of Cold Smoking
The majority of hobbyists think of cold smoking as some mysterious preservation technique that will produce a unique and superb quality product. What makes matters worse is that they start to experiment with different smoke temperatures and establish their own rules which then spread around and are repeated by newcomers into the field of smoking meats. In most German, Polish or Russian meat technology books the upper limit for cold smoking is 71° F (22° C). Let’s put some facts straight: cold smoking is not a preservation method, it will not preserve meat unless the meat will be dried. the higher amount of salt is added to meat that would be smoked to inhibit the growth of spoilage bacteria. cold smoking is an additional safety hurdle that helps to achieve microbiological safety of meat. Cold smoking was nothing else but a drying method whose purpose was to eliminate moisture so that bacteria would not grow. This technique developed in North Eastern European countries where the climate was harsh and winters severe. When meats were cold smoked for 2-3 weeks, yes, the meat became preserved, but it was drying that made the meat safe. If the same meat was dried at 54° F (12° C) without any smoke present, it would be preserved all the same. The pigs were traditionally slaughtered for Christmas and the meat had to last until the summer. Noble cuts were cooked or salted, but trimmings were made into sausages that were dried which was not an easy task to accomplish with freezing temperatures outside. The only way to heat up storage facilities was to burn wood and that produced smoke. They were two choices: hang meats 5 feet above a small smoldering fire OR burn wood in a firebox that was located outside. The firebox was connected with the smokehouse by an underground channel that would supply heat and smoke at the same time.
As the temperature had to be higher than freezing temperatures outside, the slowly burning fire provided suitable temperatures for drying. It is common knowledge that fire produces smoke so the meats and sausages were dried and smoked at the same time. They were just flavored with cold smoke which not only helped to preserve the product but gave it a wonderful aroma. In addition it prevented molds from growing on the surface. Those advantages of applying smoke were not ignored by our ancestors and smoking became an art in itself. The meat, however, was preserved by drying and the benefits of smoke flavor was just an added bonus. A large smokehouse was also a storage facility where smoked meats hung in a different area where they continued to receive some smoke, although on a much smaller scale. This prevented any mold from growing on the surfaces of hams or sausages, as molds need oxygen to grow.
It was established that meats dried best when the temperatures were somewhere between 10-15° C (50–60° F) and although the temperature of the smoke leaving the firebox was higher, it would be just right by the time it made contact with meat. Whole logs of wood were burnt. The fire was allowed to die out as people went to sleep. The meats hung until the morning and the fire would be re-started again. So when you see an old recipe saying that ham or sausage was smoked for 2 weeks, well it really was not, as it probably received smoke for about 1/3 of the time. Those meats were not cooked, they were dried and could be considered fermented products. Italians and Spaniards were blessed with a climate that provided cool prevailing winds at right temperatures. There was no need to burn wood to warm up the drying chambers. As a result products did not acquire a smoky flavor. For this reason people in the Mediterranean basin are not particularly fond of smoked products, and people in Germany, Poland, Russia, Lithuania love them, but don’t generally like uncooked air dried products. The majority of all processed meat products in Northern Europe are of smoked variety. There is little difference about Italian salami, Hungarian salami or Polish Cold Smoked Sausage. Italian salami is dried without smoke and Hungarian salami or Polish sausage were dried with cold smoke. The product was drying out and the smoke happened to be there. Preservation was on people’s mind rather than creating cold smoked flavor. Very few products are cold smoked today, notably cold smoked salmon known as “lox.” The texture of cold smoked products is firmer and they can be sliced paper thin. The taste is a different story, you must acquire a liking for cold smoked products. In the past people already knew what we know today, that hot smoked products taste better. Cold smoking was our answer to the lack of refrigeration in the past. Do you think we would have bothered to smoke meats for weeks if refrigeration had been present? No, we would hot smoke them for a few hours and then they would end up in the refrigerator. Cold smoking is performed with a thin smoke, 52-71°F (12-22°C), 70-80% humidity, from 1 - 14 days, and a good air ventilation to remove excess moisture. Cold smoking is not a continuous process, it is stopped a few times to allow fresh air into the smoker. Often recipes call for 3-4 days of cold smoking, but that does not mean
that the smoking is continuous. Applying a heavy continuous smoke for such a long period (even at a low temperature) may impart a bitter taste to the product. Cold smoking slows down the spoilage of fats, which increases the shelf life of meat. The product is drier and saltier with a more pronounced smoky flavor. The color varies from yellow to dark brown on the surface and dark red inside. Cold smoked products are not submitted to the cooking process. Cold smoking assures us of total smoke penetration inside of the meat. The loss of moisture is uniform in all areas and the total weight loss falls within 5-20% depending largely on the smoking time. It is obvious that you cannot produce cold smoke if the outside temperature is 90° F (32° C), unless you can cool it down, which is what some industrial smokers do. In tropical areas like Florida you are limited to the winter months only and the smoking must be done at night when temperatures drop to 40 - 60° F (4-16° C) or even lower. The question arises to how to continue cold smoking when temperature increases to 80° F (27° C) at day time? Well, do not smoke, move meat to the area of 50° F (10° C) or refrigerate. Then when the temperature drops in the evening, start smoking again.
Marianski, Stanley; Marianski, Adam. The Art of Making Fermented Sausages (Kindle Locations 2243-2253). Bookmagic LLC. Kindle Edition.
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