What to cold smoke?

I now have the ability to truly cold smoke. What would yall suggest for my first attempt?

Cheese is a great first cold smoke; no risk of getting anyone sick while dialing in your method. Also a fantastic treat! I can't keep enough of it on hand for my family.

Do you cure meats? I cold smoke all sorts of meats -- after curing.

I haven't cured any meats but want to start. ...I was thinking maybe fish.

I make lox at home fairly often. It's much cheaper to make it yourself and it's usually better than the store stuff available in SE Kentucky. I would sure cold smoke some of it with alder wood. Oh my, now I need to go make some more lox.

BamaProud said:

I now have the ability to truly cold smoke. What would yall suggest for my first attempt?

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Bacon. Cure a pork belly, cold smoke it for 12 hours, then put it over hot smoke til it reaches 165º. You'll be amazed.

adiochiro3 said:

Cheese is a great first cold smoke; no risk of getting anyone sick while dialing in your method. Also a fantastic treat! I can't keep enough of it on hand for my family.

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Yep! Smoked Romano grated onto anything is extremely delicious. The regulars are good too; cheddar, Monterrey Jack, etc.

Barley. Smoked ales are delicious. With a cold-smoker, you can choose the wood and time, and not worry about roasting your enzymes. Peanuts are also nice.

Definitely cheese, especially if it's homemade. You cannot screw that up.

For your first smoke... Getting used to the unit? I'd lay out a bunch of sea salt on some tin foil that you punch holes in. It is literally impossible to screw up smoking salt..

After that, well.. Now that our salmon run is over and it's fall I'd be doing pork bellies, pork jowl bacon... ESPECIALLY, pork jowl bacon.. You'll finish it hot, but order it, brine it, cold smoke it, and you'll never look back..

FISH! Some nice salmon or trout, easy on the spices so you can still taste the fish when it's done. Just my 2 cents worth.
Regards, GF.

Figured I would add this vid to this post as I'm contemplating cold smoking some fish this weekend with my new smoker. A How-to video on cold smoking salmon.

chef273b said:

then put it over hot smoke til it reaches 165º.

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ummmm, that ain't cold smoking... that's cooking it.


As for lox, I use a blend of these 2 methods, but it works fantastic:

http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/2006/08/thirdeyes-nova-lox.html

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?103-The-Best-Smoked-LOX-Style-Salmon

DanH said:

Yep! Smoked Romano grated onto anything is extremely delicious. The regulars are good too; cheddar, Monterrey Jack, etc.

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My kids will eat smoked mozzarella until they're sick. It dries it out just a little and I think we all like the texture a little better after it's smoked.