Cold smoking in a 2

[theeaterofshades]

Hi all,

I have an A-Maze-N maze https://amazenproducts.com/smokers/amazen-pellet-smoker5x8/.  I have never used it. Can I use this in a #2 for cold smoking successfully using dust?  I may soon be getting a full pig to split with my parents and will need to do bacon.  Otherwise what would be a cost effective option if this is a bad idea?

 

[Lonzinomaker]

I think it will generate to much heat to do cold smoking.  I have only been able to do cool smoking in my #1 and #3. Any heat that is generated stays in because the insulation is to good.

 

[barelfly]

I have made numerous pounds of bacon in my 3D from pork belly, but have never cold smoked. I just feather the power switch and try to keep it in a specific range and get great results.

But, there are some other threads on here regarding cold smoking, mainly sausage and fish. They use frozen water in 2 liter bottles and the cold plate to keep temps down in the portion of the meat and the smoke comes up to provide the flavor.

May be something to search for, or look on the fish section of the board. Let us know how it comes out!

 

[old sarge]

Try with a dummy load of a couple of bricks or pan of damp sand and monitor the box temp. That should give you a general idea.

 

[Norwester]

You'll get very little heat especially using dust.

 

[NDKoze]

I have a A-MAZE-N pellet/dust maze, a 6" and an 18" tube smokers and have tested with all of them.

I have had the worst luck trying to keep the sawdust in the maze lit.

I have had the best luck with the tubes and pellets. They do give off a little more heat than the dust, but I use frozen soda bottles to keep the temps down and that works awesome. Since you do not have as much vertical room in a #2, you may want to consider 1-Liter or 20-Oz bottles instead of the 2-Liter ones. Really any type of vessel with ice in it will work as long as it holds the moisture in.

Just make sure you don't use an open tray of ice, which will add moisture to the box and will result in black moisture drops on your cheese/meat.

I did a cheese smoker a couple of weeks ago and my smoker temps never got above 60 degrees.

Some day I am going to get a variable speed air pump to help move the air around in the smoker which should help keep the A-MAZE-N devices going.

There are a lot of posts about using the A-MAZE-N devices that should help with your cold smokes, but feel free to ask your questions in new threads as well if you are not finding answers to your questions.

 

[kona77]

I have cold smoked bacon several times over the last two winters in my 3-D.. I use a process where I turn on the smoker and get it hot (temp varies) but usually start at 200.. Then turn off the unit and monitor the inside temp..Have posted a number of the smokes and results on the bacon thread. I do not have the cold smoke plate but have also used the frozen 2 liter soda bottles to help lower temps.. I only do cold smokes when the temps are below 30-40 degrees.. It does take some extra time to monitor/manage the IT temps but the end result is worth the effort. I would like to try an Amazin type product next year and as Greg noted there are posts from others on this site about using these devices in SI units.