Build a Cheap Mini Cold Smoker With a Coffee Maker

Cold smoking is great to infuse food with wood smoke flavour. It differs from hot smoking in that food is not heated by the fire that produces the smoke. Just a couple of minutes of smoking can change dramatically the flavour of sauces, fish, meat, vegetables... You can experiment with different kinds of woods or adding extra components such as star anise or different aromatics.

The motivation for this project was creating a tiny cold smoker so that you can have it in your apartment made from easy to find materials.

Detailed video tutorial can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmnFGoQa1zA

Step 1: Bill of Materials

You'll need:

• Coffee maker (moka style)
• Plastic container
• Aquarium air pump
• Silicone tubing. One little piece that is bigger than the long tubing so that it can fit inside.
• Pneumatic air fitting to take the air inside the coffee maker
• Cable gland to take the smoke inside the plastic container

Step 2: Modify the Coffee Maker

The first thing is removing the coffee maker valve and substitute it with the pneumatic fitting so we can put air inside the coffee maker.

Later cut a piece of the coffee funnel (the piece where the coffee should be put) so that air can pass through easier.

Remove the lid and the filter from the coffee maker

Step 3: Make Connections

Connect the silicone tubing from the coffee maker to the plastic container.

Step 4: Load the Smoker With Wood Chips and Smoke!

Put some wood chips on the coffee funnel, burn them, wait for a couple of minutes and begin smoking!

This kind of smoker is great for smoking sauces, like BBQ sauce or mayonnaise but you can also give a touch of smoke to already cooked vegetables, fish or meat.