Home made Cold Smoking Salmon and Cheddar

[megimoo]

Smoked Cheddar Cheese

The smoker temperature has to remain under 90 degrees Fahrenheit for the duration of the smoking process. There are a couple of ways to do this.

One way is to use a large cardboard box as the primary smoke chamber, heating the wood on an electric hotplate. Flexible aluminum clothes dryer vent ducting is used to route the smoke from the box to the smoker or grill. It takes a little bit of figuring out and a little duct tape, but it can be done successfully.

An easier method of cold smoking requires that you have an empty tin can, a new soldering iron and a few smoker pellets. Pellets are placed in the can, the soldering iron is inserted then plugged in. See how it works in the following video presentation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sivMM...layer_embedded

While you're at it live life a wee bit larger.Smoke a little cold smoked salmon and/or steel head trout .
Smoked turkey and Duck breast sliced very thinly with cheery sauce .These smoked fish delicacies are easy to make once you build your cold smoker and planning your menu.

Served with Swedish Limpa rye rounds, sour cream,capers and dill sound's tasty .


I placed about one-half cup of pellets in the can, and it produced smoke for a half hour. There were unburned pellets remaining, so it could have gone longer.

The temperature inside the grill went from 35 degrees Fahrenheit (the outdoor temperature) up to about 60 degrees after one-half hour, which is perfect for cold smoking. I put the tarp over the grill to help keep the smoke in, since it was a windy day.

"For the best taste always go with apple wood !"

The pellets I used tasted like hickory, which also made for a too-intense flavor. I'll look for apple or alder for making the next recipe of smoked cheddar cheese. The cheese is improved by allowing it to set at room temperature for one day, then refrigerating for a couple more. That'll give the smokiness a chance to permeate deep into the cheese.

[Rockntractor]

I take an old freezer and cut a hole through the back with a 4" hole saw and take a 50 gallon drum with removable lid and bore a hole in the side the same height. I use four sections of 4" dia stove pipe between the barrel (my firebox), and the freezer. Remove the seal at the top of the freezer door to allow smoke to escape. You can fit up to about 200 pounds of cured meat in the freezer at a time. I generally smoke meats 72 hrs.

[megimoo]

I take an old freezer and cut a hole through the back with a 4" hole saw and take a 50 gallon drum with removable lid and bore a hole in the side the same height. I use four sections of 4" dia stove pipe between the barrel (my firebox), and the freezer. Remove the seal at the top of the freezer door to allow smoke to escape. You can fit up to about 200 pounds of cured meat in the freezer at a time. I generally smoke meats 72 hrs.

Sounds as if you should go into the commercial smoked food business.Have you ever tried smoking goat to make goat jerky ?If you investigated the potential market and came up with a viable business plan you could branch out into a new business endeavor ?

[Rockntractor]

Sounds as if you should go into the commercial smoked food business.Have you ever tried smoking goat to make goat jerky ?If you investigated the potential market and came up with a viable business plan you could branch out into a new business endeavor ?

My neighbor has a jerky business, the federal inspections are getting more demanding all the time, he wouldn't do it again.

[Gingersnap]

Or save yourself the trouble and make gravlax:

Gravlax

(Swedish cured salmon)

Gravlax--also spelled gravlaks, gravadlax, or gravadlaks — is a classic Swedish way to preserve salmon. It is often served as part of the first course of a smörgåsbord. Gravlax is delicious on a slice of rye bread with a bit of hovmästarsås or a squeeze of lemon.

Makes 20 to 25 appetizer portions

* Whole sides of salmon, deboned, skin on -- 2, preferably from the same fish
* Kosher salt -- 1/4 cup
* Sugar -- 1/4 cup
* White peppercorns, crushed -- 2 tablespoons
* Fresh dill -- 2 bunches
* Aquavit or vodka (optional) -- 1/4 cup

Method

1. Lay a piece of plastic wrap in a glass dish large enough to hold the salmon sides. Lay one side, skin side down, on the plastic wrap.
2. Mix the salt, sugar and crushed peppercorns and spread half this cure mix over the surface of the fillet. Lay the whole bunches of dill over the salt. Sprinkle the aquavit or vodka over the dill. Spread the rest of the cure mix over the dill and lay the second side of salmon, skin side up, over the first.
3. Pull the plastic wrap up to cover the fillets. Place another dish or some plates on top of the salmon and weigh it down using canned food or other heavy items.
4. Place the dish in the refrigerator for 48-72 hours. Once or twice a day remove the dish, unwrap the salmon and baste it with the juices that accumulate. Then flip the fish over and return the dish to the refrigerator.
5. Take the fillets from their wrapping, remove the dill and scrape off any excess cure mix. Slice thinly on the bias and serve.

Gravlax