Taking up smoking!!!

Kymmy · 15-05-2009, 14:50

BEFORE you lot think that I'm talking about a dispicable nicotine habit let me assure you that I'm talking about smoking food!!!

I've thought about smoking my own food for a couple of years but only just got round to putting my plan into action....

All thanks to Jen's (my partner) requirements (and nothing to do with food) I've finally gone ahead and planned a food smoker.

So got together one smoke generator (small ammo box) a length of 100mm metal air-con pipe (£5 from B&Q) and a smoker unit.. (one under the counter fridge which Jen wanted the compressor from so she could have a suction pump for her GRP projects - found on a lay-bye on the A6 so we're also responsible for cleaning up the countryside )

We've also got the trunk of an offshoot from our greengage tree (could also go with hickoy, elder, oak, other fruit) that I'm gonna chip/sawdust...

Gonna piece it all together probably this weekend and then test it out on some cheap sausages, chicken, pollack fillets, garlic bulbs and cheese...

Will let you guys know the results on the burp-o-meter

superbiatch · 15-05-2009, 15:05

Sounds amazing, making me hungry tho!

Scarlett · 15-05-2009, 15:09

We tried smoking fish but the ciggys kept going out...

joglynne · 15-05-2009, 15:14

I will be interested in hearing how you go on Kymmy.

Last summer I experimented with smoking chicken using Tea leaves, with my old wok as a smoker, on our gas barbeque. Took a couple of tries to get the flavour right but I shall be definitely doing it again this summer.

Saaf_laandon_mo · 15-05-2009, 15:29

I made a smoker using an old biscuit tin, and some chicken wire mesh. Something I saw on a jamie oliver episode and it worked a treat.

Ramrod · 15-05-2009, 15:44

My father used to smoke fish and meat. In Africa he constructed a big smoking 'cupboard' connected to a fire by pipework. Here he used a tin and pine sawdust (which we could only get from Harrods)

joglynne · 15-05-2009, 15:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saaf_laandon_mo

I made a smoker using an old biscuit tin, and some chicken wire mesh. Something I saw on a jamie oliver episode and it worked a treat.

That's the program that started me off as well.

My first effort resulted in a biscuit tin, with a hole burnt in the bottom, and a mixture of burnt sugar, rice and tealeaves melded to my glass hotplate.

I set off every smoke detector in the house and John banned me and my smoker from the kitchen forcing me to continue my experiments at the bottom of the garden.

Kymmy · 15-05-2009, 16:03

Pine isn't that suitable for smoking , apparently it gives the produce a bitter taste..

We have a greengage tree at the back and a maple at the front that should supply the sawdust... (any hardwood fruit tree is suitable, as well as the usual oak, elder, maple and hickory

alferret · 15-05-2009, 16:13

Shame your not local to me I could supply you with all the free sawdust and chippings you could need. Oak, maple, cherry, walnut, beech etc.

Good luck with the project, I'll put my order in now for some kippers or herring

Ramrod · 15-05-2009, 16:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kymmy

Pine isn't that suitable for smoking , apparently it gives the produce a bitter taste..

I beg to differ young padawan

It depends on the pine

Kymmy · 15-05-2009, 16:19

Just going by what wikipedia says

Quote:

Some softwoods — especially pines and firs — hold significant quantities of resin, which produces a harsh-tasting soot when burned. Because of this, these woods are generally not used for smoking.

Though yes I have heard of certain foods being smoked in pine but not in the UK

Ramrod · 15-05-2009, 16:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kymmy

Though yes I have heard of certain foods being smoked in pine but not in the UK

That'll be it......we used to buy bags of the stuff imported from scandinavia.....

Kymmy · 15-05-2009, 16:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramrod

That'll be it......we used to buy bags of the stuff imported from scandinavia.....

Any idea if the type of pine??

Ramrod · 15-05-2009, 17:13

Not offhand, this is going back to the 1980s. All I know is that he used to send me to Harrods to buy it as that was the only place we knew to get it from.....

Kymmy · 15-05-2009, 17:44

LOL, I know that homebase sells chipped oak but my view is that I live in a small village surrounded by countryside so what's the point in paying for it..

Anyway I have a maple growing in the front that I can prune and I've just recovered a 3ft trunk of greengage that Jen pruned last year that I've just chop-sawwed 8 inches to produce a bag full of slivers/dust which will do fine for experimenting with

Currently total cost of this smoker is about £10 (ammo-box I bought 4 for £20 for geocaching and the pipe was £5 from B&Q)