Here are some pictures of my initial attempts at smoking food with a Brinkman “Gourmet” charcoal smoker. I confess to being confused about what constitutes “cold smoking,” but can tell you that if you run the smoker at “ideal,” food will get overcooked and dehydrated within several hours.
Here is a picture of the smoker with internal functional components indicated.
Use quality wood charcoal (not briquettes–they stink) and/or good hardwood/fruit wood for the fire. Keep it at a VERY low level. Fill the pan above the fire with water. There is a grill above the water which can be used for smoking, but I have not determined the ideal parameters of using that grill.
There is a door into the barrel which MIGHT be of use, but I used it mainly to judge the level of the fire.
The upper most grill is the one I used. I found that four hours on “ideal” was TOO long. 3 hours below ideal was good for chicken, but some bones showed red color…
WAY to big a fire for “cold smoking!” Note that a combination of wood and hardwood sticks are being used. Let the fire settle down before placing the barrel on top of the fire box.
The fire has died down, and ready for the barrel to be placed.
Looking down in the barrel, you see first the lower grill on which a cheese to be smoked is placed. Below (barely visible),. is the pan of water.
Here I am smoking pieces of fresh salmon. I have found that “left over” pieces often make excellent smoked portions.
The dome top is in place, and the thermometer indicates “ideal”. Frankly, my experience is that the lower end of ideal is better, because it is less likely to dehydrate the food. But if you are cold smoking, as for cheese, have the needle pointing at the lower end of “W.”
The component parts, from bottom to top are: 1) firebox with charcoal 2) pan of water to temper the heat 3) lower grill just above the grill 4) upper grill, primary smoking rack 5) Dome top with thermometer
I tried many different foods (my wife says I went crazy…) 1) Chicken was great–you may not want to eat the skin, it being VERY smoky. 2) Homemade goat cheese: DELICIOUS. But see the next frame for a caution. 3) Pork chops: got very dry, but flavor was good in stirfry or hash.
The key to smoking cheese is to keep the temperature VERY low. The question becomes “How small a smoky fire can you build?” On the dial in picture 5 05, the needle should barely touch the W…
If you smoke at too hot a temperature, you get a “cheesey” situation: I cut a 5 pound goat cheese in half, and smoked both halves. The “bottom” half seemed to explode (!) but still tasted good, while the top half was wonderful.
