Selling Cold Smoked (but uncooked/uncured) Meats??

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CZN

Newbie
Original poster
Nov 24, 2013
24
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Last night I was taking to a friend about cold smoking. He lives in Asia and in interested in selling packaged meats online that he prepares in his restaurant. He wants to sell meats that are cold smoked, uncured and uncooked. He has asked me for some advice about this.

Everything I've seen online for sale are meats that have been smoked and fully cooked (I'm assuming for safety reasons). Is there a way that he could do this at scale? He was talking about cold smoking chicken thighs, pork loins, pork shoulder, steaks,etc, then vacuum sealing and freezing them.

At home I would have no problem cold smoking a couple steaks for an hour or two then freezing them for later use, but meats that are for sale commercially are a different story.

Does anyone know of any places that sell cold smoked but uncooked meats? Would it be possible to pump in cold smoke to a walk-in fridge that's full of meat?

Any advice or insights on this is appreciated! Thank you!
 
First, contact your friendly local Federal Meat Inspection Office for any and all advice on regulations concerning your commercial endeavor. This website does not portend to be any authority whatsoever on State/Federal regulations; it is strictly a site for smoking enthusiasts and amateur endeavors sharing ideas, tips, recipes and 'how-to's of smoking meats for personal enjoyment.
Second, find out, through them, what requirements are for commercial equipment, specifications, operation, procedures, etc.
Third, what regulations are necessary for the meats chosen to cook outdoors or in an inspected kitchen or facility - do they have to have a Federal Grading Stamp on them like USDA Select, Choice, Prime, or is No Roll acceptable? These are all rules and regulations that must be met and adhered to.
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to read and learn about your quest and accomplishments! The above has to be stated to avoid our website in being complicit with advice on commercial operation endeavors.
 
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Your firiend lives in Asia - will his market be local? If yes, the quasi-legal 2c advice you get here is useless.

I have never heard of cold smoked uncured meats sold on line.

I am not sure if there is a market for such product where your firiend lives, but cold smoked, cured, air dried neats would be more appropriate for ecommerce. Long shelf life, verified recipes.

As for the logistics of such operation - i imagine it would be expensive: dry ice, special packaging, express shipping.

Honestly i am not sure i'd buy frozen meat (or food in general) from an online retailer unless is well known. Actually i am sure: i wouldn't.
 
1) You’re friend lives in Asia. Is he selling this product local to him? Or internationally?
2) The main reason for curing meat with nitrite/nitrates is to control Clostridium botulinum that can grow rapidly at cold smoke temperatures.
3) Without cure, there is no way I would buy any cold smoked meat.
 
Thanks for everyone's replies. Currently he sells smoked and fully cooked meats online locally, not out of country. He sells pulled pork, brisket, chicken legs, etc that are fully cooked. He was curious about pumping smoke into a working walk-in cooler, keeping the raw and fresh meat cold while applying smoke for a couple hours. Then, immediately vacuum sealing the meat and putting it into his walk-in freezer.

I suggested to him that he sticks with the cooked products that he has been doing, but he was just curious whether or not fresh and raw meats could be cold smoked (while meat is kept cold out of the danger zone) and then sold frozen to a customer who could cook and prepare it however they choose and still get some smokey goodness.

I've seen a couple threads on here where people have converted small working bar fridges into cold smokers. This is what he was thinking about, but with a larger working walk-in.



All in all though, it seems a little risky and dangerous to me and as I did before, I will suggest to him that he continues on with fully cooked meats as he has been doing.

I appreciate everyone's replies and input. Cheers!
 
I can't speak on if he can Sell it, but....
From a Food Safety point of view, He can ABSOLUTELY Smoke Raw Uncured Meat under Refrigeration. As long as the meat is kept under 40°F, there is ZERO difference between Uncured meat, Beef, Pork, Chicken or Fish, sitting in a 36°F Refer for a couple of days and sitting in a 36°F Refer, full of Pumped In Smoke, for a couple of days, then packaged and frozen...JJ
 
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I can't speak on if he can Sell it, but....
From a Food Safety point of view, He can ABSOLUTELY Smoke Raw Uncured Meat under Refrigeration. As long as the meat is kept under 40°F, there is ZERO difference between Uncured meat, Beef, Pork, Chicken or Fish, sitting in a 36°F Refer for a couple of days and sitting in a 36°F Refer, full of Pumped In Smoke, for a couple of days, then packaged and frozen...JJ

Thank you for your reply Chef! I wasn't exactly sure as I haven't seen smoked, uncooked meats before. What you say makes total sense. I appreciate you taking the time to reply. Cheers.
 
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