Planning to smoke at sub 40 temps, need some advice...

[spoolinaz]

Doing another Hog Maw and am going to cold smoke it for the flavor and cook it next day in the roaster. For those not familiar, its a sausage and potato mixture stuffed in a pigs stomach. I'm using fresh home made sausage, and don't want to add cure for fear of changing the flavor too much. My idea was to use the wonderful Amaz'n tube and cold smoke it at night, when the temps are below 40 degrees to avoid food safety issues. Anyone tried something like this before? Not sure how good smoke penetration is at that low of a temp.

 

[daveomak]

Never seen a "hog maw".... what is the size ??  Volleyball ??  If so, how are you going to get the IT in the center to 140 in 4 hours ??  

Seems like a recipe for  something going wrong....   I would have concerns using fresh ground pork and the safety zone time/temp thing....  

Dave

 

[spoolinaz]

More like a football. It will be cooked in a roaster the next day. And I'm planning to smoke in a sub 40 degree environment, so there are no safety issues. More interestred in knowing if the actual smoking will be effective on something that cold.

 

[smokinhusker]

I had a guy on the SMForums Facebook Page ask about cold smoking a turkey at outside temps in the 30's. Not wanting to give a wrong answer and make someone sick, I asked Chef Jimmy and this was his reply:

"As long as the outside temps are sufficiently low enough that even with the heat generated by the AMNPS or other source the Smoker temp stays below 40*F you can safely cold smoke anything as long as you wish. This is the exact reason the annual hog slaughter took place in Oct/Nov as it is cold enough to get all the processing, curing and aging done while it is cold...JJ"

No cure or anything, the fella just wanted to cold smoke his turkey and then roast it in the oven. 

 

[jarjarchef]

Jimmy is spot on. Is long as the cook chamber and food product stays below 40 you are good to go.

The only thing that I am courious about is the smoke penetration. With it that cold the fat will be more solid and the muscle fibers tight, so may cause issues or just take longer.