New to cold smoking and need help

[landis]

I'm am currently I pa and have a master built with the cold smoker attach and want to do smoked sloppy joe for my kid bday party and don't know anything about how to cold smoke the ground burger that you would buy in the store any help will be appreciate thanks

 

[SmokinAl]

Welcome to SMF!

I would hot smoke it, you can use the cold smoke attachment for hot smoking too.

Just make one big pattie about 3/4" thick & smoke it until the IT (internal meat temp) is 160.

Then mix it in with the sloppy joe sauce.

Al

 

[chef jimmyj]

Welcome from West/Central PA. Quite a few PA guys around here. Look into the free 5-Day Ecourse. Some Safety info...Cold smoking is best reserved for Cured stuff like Kielbasa, Ham etc with a few advanced techniques that we can get into when you have some more experience. Cold smoking ground meat is risky because any bacteria is mixed throughout the meat and in the Cool smoke temps, 70-100°F, can grow rapidly. You can do as Al suggested or for more smoke flavor, crumble it evenly and smoke at 225°F until no longer pink. Place in a pot, add sauce and simmer to desired thickness and serve...JJ

 

[mdgirlinfl]

Hi i have to agree with chef Jim j and smokin al. Ground meat is super susceptible to bacteria growth. Unless it is cured and dried or temps kept in the safe zones (think refrigerator or quickly cooked) you risk food poisoning.

I have the same set up and I use the cold smoke attachment with heat to smoke over long periods of time without having to feed it every hour, like pork shoulder for pulled pork. It is also useful to cold smoke cheeses and cured meats. But if the outside temperatures are too warm, you won't be cold smoking anyway.

I season with smoked salt to add a little extra flavor
-Cindy

 

[landis]

Thanks for the tips I did cold smoke ground beef I did it in the morning while it was like below 40 or lil colder I forget but only smoke it for 30-45 mins it did turn out good but my next question is how do u cure it without cooking it first

 

[chef jimmyj]

Cold smoking uncured meat below 40 is ok. To cure ground meat you add 1 teaspoon of Cure #1 per 5 pounds of meat or use this Calculator by weight,,,http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/124590/universal-cure-calculator

The cure keeps the meat pink even when fully cooked and gives a Hammy flavor to meat. In the case of Ground beef it will taste similar to Corned Beef or with additional spices and smoke, Pastrami. Uncured meats need to be smoked at 225 or higher. Cured meats allow smoking in the 100 to 170 range without dangerous bacteria growth...JJ

 

[landis]

Ok we're do I buy cure at and as far as salt do I need table salt

 

[chef jimmyj]

Cure #1 aka Pink Salt, Prague Powder #1, can be gotten online. You only use 1 teaspoon for 5 pounds of meat so don't order a huge amount. Measure salt by weight if possible. Here is why...

By Volume

1C Table Salt about 10oz

1C Morton Kosher about 7.5oz

1C Diamond Kosher about 5oz.

So, I figure if the recipe call for 1T Salt with Morton I should be good with maybe only slightly too little or too much...JJ 

 

[landis]

Ok thanks you so much