wood chip for smokers..

[benedmonds]

I have a client who is shipping in vine wood from France and wants to chip it for smoking. Has anyone done this sort of thing. Can you get the sort of product out of a wood chipper that would be suitable for smoking with?

[Peter]

It depends what kind of smoking he's doing.

 

Cold smoking usually needs dust, which is sieved out of normal wood chips, obviously you only get a tiny amount of dust to a large quantity of chip.

 

Hot smoking over charcoal usually uses chunks of wood, halfway between logs and kindling in size.

 

The one market that is well served with Arb type chips (30-50mm) is where you want to add a little bit of smoke flavour on a normal charcoal bbq, just sprinkle a handful over the coals for ten minutes at the end of the cook.

[muttley9050]

I cold smoke with planings from my thicknesser. Works a treat.

[Peter]

Planings are good, as are shavings from a lathe.

 

Are you using a smoke generator?

[muttley9050]

My smoke generator is a match. Simple block construction . Light a small fire and drown it with planings.

[Logged On]

I cold smoke with planings from my thicknesser. Works a treat.

 

My dad does a similar thing with his electric hand planer and a chunk of either oak or cherry..

[Peter]

My smoke generator is a match. Simple block construction . Light a small fire and drown it with planings.

 

 

So you pipe the smoke into the cold smoker then?

 

The smoke generator is a really nifty bit of kit, you can do the whole thing in a cardboard box if you want.

[muttley9050]

No pipe. Build a chimney thing out of concrete blocks. Put a couple of canes or something across to hang stuff off. I usually hang a ham, a side of bacon, chorizo type sausages and some cheddar etc.

Remove one of the lowest blocks in chimney and use more blocks to build a tunnel maybe 3 blocks long with a block laid flat over the top. Hang your stuff up in chimney. Cover chimney with piece of ply. Light fire in far end of tunnel. Cover with planings then close tunnel up with blocks over fire. Keep fire going for 4 days. Remove cheese after 2 days. Divine.

Hope you understand what I'm getting at. Is very low tech abd cheap but works a treat. Just build it dry and put it away when finished.

[muttley9050]

heres a picture i found on the web of something similar to which i build. Although mine is a bit tighter and more refined. But you get the idea

[Peter]

Yup, know exactly what you're getting at.

 

Have a look at the Pro Q smoke generator, low tech, just fill with sawdust and light it and it burns for 8 hours. No need to light a fire and tend, plus it doesn't heat the smoke box by more than about 1c above ambient.