Dutto, did you make your own smoker? .......
For delicate stuff that doesn't like heat (mainly cheese) and meat and fish that I intend to cook in the oven, I use a Cold Smoker which I knocked up using:
- An aquarium compressor, a length of silicone tubing and a length of brass tubing to supply the air.
- An old Tessier can to put the wood chips into.
- A length of 10mm plastic hose to take the smoke from the can.
- A clear plastic box with a hole cut in the lid.
- A plastic mesh (it started life as a screen to keep leaves out of the gutters on the garage) on which to rest the article to be smoked.
I bought Oak, Hickory, Apple and Cherry wood chips for the Cold Smoker (never used tea - sorry). The first batch I put into the can is dry and I start the fire with a long-stemmed gas lighter. When this is burning away I add some chips that have been soaking in water, fit the 10mm tubing to the plastic box and then connect the aquarium compressor to keep the process chugging along and producing smoke.
It's a bit fiddly and the can needs re-charging every so often but I but I can cold-smoke anything that will fit into the plastic box. The down-side of this system is that when you go and cook meat or fish in the kitchen oven, the aroma of "smoke" spreads through the house.
For Hot Smoking I use a ProQ like this one ...
https://www.proqsmokers.com/hot-smokers/proq-ranger
There is an attachment that can be bought so that Cold Smoking can be done in the same smoker ...
https://www.proqsmokers.com/cold-smokers
... but I've never bothered buying one.
I start the ProQ off with charcoal and then add lumps of hardwood (mainly oak or birch that I buy locally) to create the smoke.
(*)
I usually fill the smoker completely and use Inkbird BBQ probes to tell me when the meat is at the desired temperature. The smoking process can take up to 12 hours; during which time the smoker requires close monitoring to ensure that the contents are being smoked at the correct temperature and for the required amount of time.
In other words, I sit in the conservatory reading my book and drinking beer for the 11 hours and 30 minutes that don't require my immediate attention!
I also use one of these is I want to impress guests at a BBQ!
https://www.dancook.dk/product/dancook-1300
I have a gadget like this ...
https://www.dancook.dk/product/charcoal-briquet-holder
... that fits inside the BBQ and allows me to hot smoke smaller cuts of meat like chops and steaks. (BTW, mine cost something like £6 from Lidl.)
Hope this helps.
(*)
When buying hardwood from local sources I
NEVER believe that it was sawn and split without the use of a chainsaw.
Chainsaws drip a steady stream of oil onto the chain and therefore
EVERY lump of wood that has been sawn using a chainsaw will be carrying traces of mineral oil.
I own a "chop-saw" (aka a mitre-saw) so I
ALWAYS saw 2cm off both ends of the logs before I start splitting them and removing the bark (which apparently makes the smoked meat bitter).
