Being a long time fan of Alton Brown's, Good Eats, as well as long time fan of bacon. When I saw Alton's show about how to make bacon from scratch I was inspired to make it, as well as, lox (smoked salmon), and other tasty, cold smoked/cured foods. But this requires a cold smoker. There are a lot of “hot” smokers on Instructables, but I have not seen a 'cold' smoker. Since Alton ran through his version and there is not one on instructables I decided that I would make my own version and put it out there for others that wanted to try it as well.
The main difference is the application of smoke without the application of heat. If you try and make bacon with a hot smoker you will render out the fat and cook the meat before you have the right level of smoke and you'll have a sloppy mess.
So, with some cardboard, hardware, spare parts, and a bit of time I made a functional cold smoker.
Important Note: It seems that uncooked, yet cured foods may be regarded as safe, as long as the preparation and sanitation directions are strictly followed. That said, any animal product that is uncooked could be hazardous for the young, elderly, and those with compromised immune systems.
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Signing UpStep 1: Materials
Items:
Large box. I used a 21"x21" x 30" box. (Hot box)
Small cabinet (Cold box)
Strip foam window sealer.
Electric hot plate
10" iron skillet
9" Al pie pan
Smoking chips, (Hickory, mesquite, etc)
Long Al dryer exhaust. I got 20' but that may be overkill. Don't use the plastic ones.
Dryer exhaust adapter
Hose clamp for adapter
Computer fan (12v, 5v)
Power supply for fan, matching voltage
Extension cord
1" Pipe U bolt (2)
'S' hook
Tools:
Drill bit for making holes in cabinet. I used 25/64" but anything in the ballpark is fine.
Clear box tape
Box knife, or something thin and sharp for cutting the cardboard (Hot box)
Hole saw, to make the large hole in the cabinet (Cold box)
Dremel, to clean up large hole
Consumables:
Smoking chips (Hickory, Mesquite, etc)
Pork Belly
Salmon
Anything you want to smoke
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I will normally smoke after dark on a cool night. I like doing it when it's under 60F outside. Then there's no question that it will be too warm.
When it starts heating up (I'm in Texas) I'll probably need to find another way to keep it cool. But for right now it seems to work great.
Maybe running the duct work through a large cooler packed with ice or modifying a dorm fridge element to place inside the cool box. If I do either of these I'll update the instructable with a 'High ambient temperature' version.
Homemade Lox