[Mitna]

Anyone use the method of cold smoking to add flavor to meats?
I think I'm going to build a little cold smoker to smoke some of this seasons deer sausage.

 

[dlskidmore]

I've not done it, but I want to build a cold smoker some day. It's a great method of preservation too.

 

[1shotwade]

Hot smoking is used to add flavor to meats. Cold smoking is used to cure meats. It uses a lower temp. and takes a lot longer but at the end your meat can hang for years and still be good without keeping it cold. There's a lot of good info on youtube.

Wade

 

[Mitna]

I was under the impression that Cold smoking was to infuse the smoke flavor into the meat, then you can freeze it and cook it at your convenience? I guess that could be the same thing as curing? Either way, i'm building one out of the red cedars from our land and going to give this method a try.

 

[jwal10]

I use cold smoking to flavor things. Most times things that will be cooked or have been cooked or will be canned or dry cured. Hot smoking cooks and flavors. You need to be careful with cold smoking because it is done at temperatures that can allow botulism to grow. I cold smoke eggs, cheese and meats that will be cooked such as hams and fish that will be canned. I hot smoke jerky dry hams, and dry sausages....James

 

[nobrabbit]

We cold smoke our home cured bacon out in the garden in the fall/winter. We dig a fire pit, trench it over about 8 feet and place a barrel over it. The barrel has a hole drilled out on either side that we run a broom stick through and hang the bacon off of. A pipe gets laid in the trench and covered with dirt.

We burn dried hickory and cover the firepit with a sheet of metal. The smoke travels through the pipe and cold smokes the bacon. It's wonderful!

 

[Horsecreeker]

You should only cold smoke meat that has been cured. Otherwise you are setting yourself up for a good case of botulism as jwal10 pointed out. Good luck.