Smoking Kosher & Sea Salts

[distre]

Hi everyone! I'm a newbie down here in TX and I am interested in smoking some Kosher & Sea Salt with my A-Maze-N-Smoker. Any suggestions on time, wood or anything. My thought was 2 batches, fill the AMS w/ hickory and light both ends. Take one batch out and repeat the process w/ the batch still in the smoker. This way I can test both batches, to see how they differ and what I like. I would appreciate any tips or advice anyone has. Thanks to all and Happy Smoking...

 

[scarbelly]

I have tried smoking salt on two occasions - the first I got very minimal results as I only smoked it for an hour - on my second attenmpt I smoked at 200 for 3 hours with some Hickory and the salt did take on the smoke flavor but it fades even when stored in an airtight unit

I think I will try it with the AMS with some pecan and see how it goes -

I talked to someone at Dean and Delucas who sells a very good smoked salt and they told me that the company that makes it uses liquid smoke then dries it -

There was a post from Squirrel a while back where she smoked some salt and she might be able to tell you how long her flavor lasted

 

[mythmaster]

I just did some with my AMNS, too -- I put kosher salt in a paper plate, lit the AMNS at both ends with some hickory, and let it go for 4+ hours at 80-100*.  I stirred it occasionally so all of it would get some smoke.  I wouldn't worry too much about the temp though like you would with cheese because salt can handle much higher temps than cheese without dissolving.  It was over 100* here and I think my smoker was probably around 105-110*.

Just don't put anything else in with it because it will soak in the flavor.

You can actually leave it in for as long as you want, too, depending on how "smoky" you want it to taste.  This guy does his for 7-24 hours: http://chilefire.ning.com/group/smokingsalt/forum/topics/salt-smoking-methods

 

[mythmaster]

I did mine a little over a week ago and it's still smoky.  It's in a small plastic container with a snap-on lid.
 

I have tried smoking salt on two occasions - the first I got very minimal results as I only smoked it for an hour - on my second attenmpt I smoked at 200 for 3 hours with some Hickory and the salt did take on the smoke flavor but it fades even when stored in an airtight unit

I think I will try it with the AMS with some pecan and see how it goes -

I talked to someone at Dean and Delucas who sells a very good smoked salt and they told me that the company that makes it uses liquid smoke then dries it -

There was a post from Squirrel a while back where she smoked some salt and she might be able to tell you how long her flavor lasted

 

[distre]

Thanks Scarbelly & mythmaster. I love pecan and that is my main wood of choice. When I bought my AMS, which this will be my first use, I also got pecan, apple , and oak wine barrel dust. I thought I would use the hickory that came with the AMS since it has a stronger flavor than the pecan. I can't do any cheese yet, I'm in TX and it's way too hot for cold smoking cheese. I've read that the heat we have here won't be a problem with the salt if I'm cold smoking in our hot temps. I also heard it take a long time to smoke salt since the smoke doesn't penetrate the salt, but actually leaves a resin on the salt for flavor. Not that I know this, just what I have read from research. Thanks.

 

[mythmaster]

Pecan sounds good -- I'm gonna have to order some for the AMNS.

Depending on how large your smoker is you might be able to get away with smoking some cheese.  It was over 100* here when I did mine last week.  I froze some water in a milk jug and put it in the smoker to help keep the temp down (you can use as many of these as space will allow) and started it around 3am when it was a little bit cooler outside.  Even then it still wanted to climb up over 100*, so I'd open the door and let it cool back down to around 85-90*.  Also, I put the cheeses on top of some cheese cloth just in case they started to melt.  The cheddar and pepper jack were just fine, but the mozzarella started to sag some.  It turned out fine, though, but I still have about a week before I can taste them.

 

 

[distre]

The waiting is the hardest part on the cheese. I understand what your saying about the smoker, I have a Brinkman 4 burner grill w/ side burner. I tried to put a gal jug of ice, but it didn't help it stayed about 150 degrees with the ice jug. I have a smoker I built that holds about 6-8 briskets, that was rolled from 1/4" flat steel w/ fire box. I opened it up and it doesn't seem to be as hot as the Brink. I guess it is too thick to get too hot. Your in Guthrie, OK, so it's just as hot for you, just more humidity down here. I guess I'll be smoking cheese sooner than I thought. Thanks.