help my ghetto rig cold smoker idea?!?!

Hey Friends,

It's my first time; I've got a 20 lb. pork belly in my freezer. I'll probably cut a few slices to save, but after salt curing I'd like to cold smoke it.

My plan is to build a disposable smokehouse out of a big heavy cardboard box. The top can be another thick cardboard piece. I plan to hang my salt pork pieces, plug a long thermometer up at the meat level (maintain below 140F?) and keep a small, smoking, green apple wood-fire inside a small weber with lid inside the 6' tall cardboard box. 8, 16, 24 hrs?

Any suggestion welcome!

Do you think you might need more insulation than one layer of cardboard might give you? If it's cold or windy, it might be lose heat too fast? Of course, at 140, that might be a benefit for keeping the heat down. Rain or wet weather might be a problem if it's not covered.

I think I'm doing it on the porch under the eve actually, which will be pretty smokey, but thats ok. I know that after the curing it needs to be smoked below 140 or maybe 120 even, so my real question whats the lower threshhold; how warm does it need to be when "cold smoking"?

Alton brown has a (sorta) build that involves the fire far away and the smoke going through a long aluminum stove vent hose.

cheezydemon3 said:

Alton brown has a (sorta) build that involves the fire far away and the smoke going through a long aluminum stove vent hose.

Click to expand...

This one too http://www.foodnetwork.com/altons-smoked-salmon/video/index.html

Alton Brown's method will work; however, it is not optimal, IMHO (for some of the reasons given above). A metal-sided smoker is a much better idea.

You can use a coffee can with a cheap, new soldering iron punched through the side near the bottom. Set the can in a pie tin on a brick or tile to prevent lighting the cardboard on fire. Cover the soldering iron with wood dust & chips of your choice (fruit or nut wood only, please) and plug the iron in. It works great as a "cold" smoke generator.

Here are the relevant parts of my bacon instructional for reference:

1. "Once cured, set the bacons on racks in the smoker without smoke at 130˚ for 1 hour to ensure good pellicle formation.
2. Smoke 6 to 8 hours at 130˚ with smoke. Then raise the smoker temp to 170˚ to 180˚ with smoke, until the internal temp of the bacon reaches between 145˚ and 150˚.
3. Cool bacon and refrigerate (cold bacon is easier to slice). Some advocate resting the bacon refrigerated overnight before slicing and consuming.
4. Slice and portion according to preference."

The bacon/pork will not be cooked at this point, and will need to be.

These are all helpful responses. I now have little faith in my ghetto idea. Back to looking for someone with a real smoker.

The recipe that I use calls for smoking at 200 until temperature reaches 155 internal. After only a few hours you've got some of the best bacon I've ever had

jtd_419 said:

The recipe that I use calls for smoking at 200 until temperature reaches 155 internal. After only a few hours you've got some of the best bacon I've ever had

Click to expand...

And that's after salting? Sounds interesting!

sawbossFogg said:

And that's after salting? Sounds interesting!

Click to expand...

That's after a one week wet cure

sawbossFogg said:

These are all helpful responses. I now have little faith in my ghetto idea. Back to looking for someone with a real smoker.

Click to expand...

The cardboard idea might well work, but not on the porch! Someone mentioned the Alton Brown one, which I think uses a garbage can and a hot plate. Still probably $30-40 vs. your almost free idea.

ericbw said:

The cardboard idea might well work, but not on the porch! Someone mentioned the Alton Brown one, which I think uses a garbage can and a hot plate. Still probably $30-40 vs. your almost free idea.

Click to expand...

Other than the obvious don't burn the house down hazard which I think is easily mitigated, why not on the porch? I the soldering iron idea is good, but I think I'll pickup an electric grill start iron from Walmart.

ericbw said:

The cardboard idea might well work, but not on the porch! Someone mentioned the Alton Brown one, which I think uses a garbage can and a hot plate. Still probably $30-40 vs. your almost free idea.

Click to expand...

I've got snow on the ground, that's why I'm considering the porch.

sawbossFogg said:

Other than the obvious don't burn the house down hazard which I think is easily mitigated, why not on the porch? I the soldering iron idea is good, but I think I'll pickup an electric grill start iron from Walmart.

Click to expand...

Mainly because of the potential fire.