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Home Cold Smoker Recipes

In cold smoking the flavour imparted to the items to be smoked primarily comes from the wood used. Though it's possible to alter then smoke flavour by using items like tea and herbs (rosemary is particularly good, as is lemongrass).

I wrote the first version of this article almost 25 years ago. Since then I've lived in South Africa, the home of the braai for almost a decade and now with the experience from there under my belt I'm coming back to the article with a fresh perspective.

In essence there are two kinds of smoking, where the food is cooked in hot smoke. The heat of the smoke cooks the food, whilst the smoke gives the food a smoky flavour. This means that food coming from a hot smoker is both smoked and cooked, so it can be eaten with no further treatment.

The other kind of smoking is cold smoking. Here, food (whether raw or previously cooked) is placed in a stream of smoke at room temperature. This smokes the food, but does not cook it. So dishes like fish and meats need to be cooked after smoking. Vegetables and cheese can also be cold smoked to flavour them and can be eaten straight away.

Hot smokers are easy to make at home. Indeed, any barbecue with a lid can instantly become a hot smoker. You just need a heat source that also yields smoke at the cooking temperature.

A cold smoker is slightly (but not really much) more complicated in that you need a smoke source that's separate from the smoker itself. This ensures that the smoke entering the smoker is warm but not hot. The smoke source could be as simple as embers smouldering in a clay pot, wood burning in a smoke box or tube or wood, charcoal etc burning in a second trash can.

Typical examples of cold smoked foods would be fish, cheeses, bacon, hams. As cold smoking does not really inhibit bacterial development, many foods are brined or part-dried in salt before smoking.

I like to construct smoker with a rack set above the smoke inlet (just use threaded bolts drilled through the side to support this) with rods inserted near the top so foods can be suspended.

Cold smoking is a culinary technique where food is exposed to wood smoke at a very low temperature (typically below 21°C) to infuse it with a smoky flavour without actually cooking the food itself; it's often used in conjunction with curing to preserve the food and is primarily done to add a distinct smoky taste, rather than as a cooking method.

In cold smoking, no cooking is involved: The primary goal is to impart smoke flavour, not to cook the food through. Prior to cold smoking, curing is often needed: Many foods, like fish and meat, require curing (brining or dry salting) before cold smoking to ensure safety. Note that as it's the wood smoke that imparts flavour, different types of wood chips are used to achieve specific flavour profiles.