Have you any experience with smokers?

[DrRingDing]

If you so what are your thoughts?

I blooming love smoked food but I'm concerned about the practicality of having a smoker.

 

[fractionMan]

We used to make hot smoked salmon in one of the restaurants I worked in. Basically it's a saucepan with some woodchips, a little rack above the woodchips and a lid. Stick it on the cooker and cook it.

Does smell a bit but tastes bloody lovely.

 

[gentlegreen]

I can't see it being any more of a problem than a barbie - except that it will be burning unattended for some time ...

 

[Greebo]

If you so what are your thoughts?

I blooming love smoked food but I'm concerned about the practicality of having a smoker.

Got a mini smoker here. If your kitchen opens onto any other room, get the extractor on or windows open before you start. Or use the smoker outside if possible. If you've got room for it, I've heard that old metal filing cabinets make good smokers.

 

[dessiato]

I had a small Swedish smoker some years ago. It was great, no problems at all. I used to do chicken in it. There is something great about hot smoked chicken served straight from the smoker. I would recommend it. It was a wedding present so I don't know how much it cost or where it was bought. I wish I still had it.

 

[pogofish]

Dead easy to make a small one to try out if you have a camping stove - Two cheap baking trays, a trivet, scatter your woodchips, herbs, some liquid/wine/stock whatever in the bottom, food to be smoked on the trivet, clip together with bulldog clips and sit on the stove.

Results are fantastic. Think my one cost less than a fiver to put together.

 

[bi0boy]

You'll all die of cancer

 

[DrRingDing]

Got a mini smoker here. If your kitchen opens onto any other room, get the extractor on or windows open before you start. Or use the smoker outside if possible. If you've got room for it, I've heard that old metal filing cabinets make good smokers.

Did you build or buy yours?

 

[Hocus Eye.]

My dad was a heavy smoker. That is the main experience I have with smokers. The ceiling and curtains all went yellow. Perhaps we should have hung up fish from the picture rail to preserve it.

 

[ViolentPanda]

If you so what are your thoughts?

I blooming love smoked food but I'm concerned about the practicality of having a smoker.

There's a difference between hot-smoked food (cooked) and cold-smoked (cured) food, bear in mind.
Hot-smoking is easy, and is done pretty much as fractionman says in post #2. It's also pretty quick. Cold-smoking usually means a separate firebox, and a pipe going to a smokebox that ducts the smoke to it (and allows it to cool to a non-cooking temperature), and much longer smoking times (if you do it, you'll find your own favourite smoking times by trial and error).
This is a very good and fairly cheap book on smoking food available cheapest from Amazon. My dad loves this book, and the sausage-making book by the same author.

 

[vauxhallmum]

They had a question about smokers on that new radio 4 Kitchen Cabinet thing earlier. I got distracted so I have no idea what they said but you'd get it on BBC iplayer.

 

[boohoo]

I've got a smoker - have used it a bit but not recently. Have to be careful not to overpower the food.

 

[Greebo]

Did you build or buy yours?

Bought, from Lidl when they had them in one week (to go with fishing kit) it's big enough to do one fish (or a couple of bits of chicken) at a time but no more.

You can also get smoking bags which have a layer of wood chips trappped inside. You add the food, roll over the top, bung in an ordinary oven and you get hot smoked food. These also stink out your kitchen unless you ventilate it well.

 

[DrRingDing]

They had a question about smokers on that new radio 4 Kitchen Cabinet thing earlier. I got distracted so I have no idea what they said but you'd get it on BBC iplayer.

Good call...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01blzkl/The_Kitchen_Cabinet_Episode_1/