Whats the highest (air ) temperature you could cold smoke bacon at?

[DougE]

At Keith's suggestion, I have been running dust in my tubes for awhile now, and I really like the results! Cleaner smoke and the burning dust generates less heat than pellets.

You do have to pack the dust in the tube pretty tight with a stick or something, and I put a gob of pellets in at the end you light to get it all burning nicely.

 

[DougE]

Thanks boys, I really appreciate the help.

I know I have a broken 40lb bag of hardwood sawdust in the leanto, I bought it years ago but never got around to using it, hopefully will be some usable still in it, otherwise I have a week to find more.

Thank again!

cheers

I make my own from the pellets I already have on hand. Just enough water to make them disintegrate, fluff the lumps out, and lay the dust out to dry in a thin layer.

 

[kilohertz]

I make my own from the pellets I already have on hand. Just enough water to make them disintegrate, fluff the lumps out, and lay the dust out to dry in a thin layer.

Okay that's cool! I have 7 different flavors of pellets..I'll just dry them on a cookie sheet on the wood stove. Excellent!

thx

 

[DougE]

Okay that's cool! I have 7 different flavors of pellets..I'll just dry them on a cookie sheet on the wood stove. Excellent!

thx

That will work perfectly!

 

[DougE]

Okay that's cool! I have 7 different flavors of pellets..I'll just dry them on a cookie sheet on the wood stove. Excellent!

thx

I'd suggest cherry and either pecan or hickory in a 50 50 blend. Cherry will give your bacon that intense red color so you definitely want that in the blend.

 

[kilohertz]

Thank Doug,

So I have a question re: pellets. I did a fair amount of smoking/drying hot peppers this last fall and exclusively used pellets. I used 4 or 5 different flavors and honestly, I could not smell the difference between woods, they all smelled the same, and not all that good. But when I put branch trimmings from my cherry tree on top of the pellets it smelled yummy and reminded my of my offset stick burner smells. Same with burning cherry bark, smelled great.

What's up with the pellets? Is it all marketing or was I using them incorrectly?

cheers

 

[DougE]

Thank Doug,

So I have a question re: pellets. I did a fair amount of smoking/drying hot peppers this last fall and exclusively used pellets. I used 4 or 5 different flavors and honestly, I could nor smell the difference between woods, they all smelled the same, and not all that good. But when I put branch trimmings from my cherry tree on top of the pellets it smelled yummy and reminded my of my offset stick burner smells. Same with burning cherry bark, smelled great.

What's up with the pellets? Is it all marketing or was I using them incorrectly?

cheers

Nothing will substitute actual wood, but pellets made from 100% wood are the next best thing. Another option would to be to mix some chips in the tube along with the pellet dust. I haven't done that, but other members have posted about having done it.

 

[kilohertz]

I may shovel off the 2' of snow off my BBQ wood and find a section of cherry tree, slice a few rounds and burn them directly on the stove element.

I should start a new thread, I seem to have dragged this one off course.

cheers

 

[tallbm]

Thank Doug,

So I have a question re: pellets. I did a fair amount of smoking/drying hot peppers this last fall and exclusively used pellets. I used 4 or 5 different flavors and honestly, I could not smell the difference between woods, they all smelled the same, and not all that good. But when I put branch trimmings from my cherry tree on top of the pellets it smelled yummy and reminded my of my offset stick burner smells. Same with burning cherry bark, smelled great.

What's up with the pellets? Is it all marketing or was I using them incorrectly?

cheers

Very few brands of pellets use 100% of the wood on the label. They do blends with like 20-35% of the wood on the label and the rest is usually either Oak or Alder. This may be the reason.

I only buy brands that are 100% of the wood on the label unless I specifically want a blend :)

 

[kilohertz]

I have PB, Traeger and Vermont Castings...will have to read the labels more closely.

Thx

 

[DougE]

Very few brands of pellets use 100% of the wood on the label. They do blends with like 20-35% of the wood on the label and the rest is usually either Oak or Alder. This may be the reason.

I only buy brands that are 100% of the wood on the label unless I specifically want a blend :)

I meant to say pellets made from 100% of the flavoring wood, not just wood in general. Most brands are blends with a few exceptions.

 

[tallbm]

I have PB, Traeger and Vermont Castings...will have to read the labels more closely.

Thx

Never heard of Vermont Castings but the other two are definitely brands that only blend. Heck I think Traeger uses a "flavoring" oil and not any of the wood on the label.

Brands that will use 100% of the wood on the label or will clearly tell you when they blend are Lumberjack, Perfect Pellet (cookingpellets.com), and Kingsford for the ones that come immediately to mind.

I buy PB Comp Blend and then I beef it up with 100% Hickory from Perfect Pellets.

 

[DougE]

I can't get Lumberjack anymore because RK stopped carrying them so I pay premium money for the Kingsford. I'm not much of a fan of the rest of their stuff, but Kingsford pellets are my favorite next to LJ.

 

[kilohertz]

I can already hear that chainsaw...come on real cherry wood. If I get a tarp underneath I can collect the shavings from the cuts and stuff those in the tube....Mmmmmmm?

 

[DougE]

I can already hear that chainsaw...come on real cherry wood. If I get a tarp underneath I can collect the shavings from the cuts and stuff those in the tube....Mmmmmmm?

Just part of a stash of cherry I have ready for the stick burner, and plenty more where that came from. No lack of cherry trees on my farm, and plenty of hickory and sugar maple, too. Not much oak on my property, but plenty around the area.

 

[kilohertz]

I'll see your two buckets of cherry and raise you 3,800lbs of fruit and hardwood (behind my lathe in the pic). Cherry, oak, maple and apple. Hauled it from the coast when I moved to the interior, it has over 400 kms on it now. Yup, I'm a little nuts.

cheers

 

[DougE]

I'll take that, but I gave most of this away.

 

[kilohertz]

Holy crap! Ok, you win. ha!

That's amazing. We have no hickory in this part of the world, just fruit trees and pine and fir.

Too much fun. Great group of people here, glad I found this site.

I had to fire up a 3rd freezer today, pork bellies were on sale...too many meats to smoke, brine, cure, eat. And I was planning on losing a few pounds this year, ha! ya right.

cheers

 

[indaswamp]

Thank Doug,

So I have a question re: pellets. I did a fair amount of smoking/drying hot peppers this last fall and exclusively used pellets. I used 4 or 5 different flavors and honestly, I could not smell the difference between woods, they all smelled the same, and not all that good. But when I put branch trimmings from my cherry tree on top of the pellets it smelled yummy and reminded my of my offset stick burner smells. Same with burning cherry bark, smelled great.

What's up with the pellets? Is it all marketing or was I using them incorrectly?

cheers

The cambrian layer which is part of the bark is where most of the aromatic flavor compounds are in a tree. Flavor is also concentrated in the limbs smaller than about 1.5" in diameter where new growth occurs.

 

[kilohertz]

Okay boys and girls,

The first belly is done, pelicle formed and it's on the smoker for the first cold smoke.

It was mentioned to let the meat rest in the fridge for a day between smokes to let the flavour develop, should it be wrapped in plastic or left uncovered? Reason for the q is it's 32F outside right now and 42F in the smoker. Can I just let the smoke tube run out and leave it in there overnight as the "rest period" or do I need to stay up and pull it out before midnight, or before I fall asleep?

Thanks!

PS I moved the smoke show to the PB820, the BGE was getting too warm.