Cold Smoking Recipes
Smoked Cheddar Cheese
Ingredients
Brick of Cheddar Cheese (Old or Aged cheddar is preferred - substitute Gouda or Fontina for a change of flavor.
Preparation
Place cheese on racks and load into your Smoke-Tronix smoker by Smoke Hollow®.
Smoking Method
1. Fill the wood chip tray with your favorite wood chips.
2. Open the back and lower vents completely.
3. Push the fast smoke button and set your time, temp and probe if desired.
4. It is best to keep the internal temp lower than 100
°
F when smoking cheese.
5. If the internal temp is too hot, you may need to place a pan of ice under your cheese rack to help reduce the
internal temp or open the door slightly.
6. Smoke for approximately 40 to 60 minutes.
Cold Smoked Salmon
Ingredients
2 to 3 pounds fresh salmon fillet (preferably from the head end)
1 1/2 cups coarse sea salt or kosher salt
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
Optional Garnishes
Diced red onion, Sliced lemons, Chopped fresh dill
or Sour cream
Serves 8-10 as an appetizer
Preparation
1. Run your fingers over the flesh side of the salmon fillets, feeling for the sharp ends of pin bones. Pull out any you find
with fish tweezers or needle nose pliers.
2. Make the cure: Combine the salt and brown sugar in a mixing bowl and mix with your fingers. Spread 1/3 of the cure
over the bottom of a glass baking dish just large enough to hold the fish. Lay the salmon fillets on top of the cure. (The
cure should extend 1/2 inch beyond the edges of the fish on each side.) Spread the remaining cure on top so it covers
the fish completely.
3. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and cure the fish in the coolest part of your refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours.
4. Gently rinse the cure off the salmon under cold running water. Place the salmon in a large bowl with cold water to
cover by 3 inches. Soak for 30 minutes, then drain well in a colander.
5. Blot the salmon dry on both sides with paper towels. Arrange it skin side down on a wire rack over a sheet pan. Let the
salmon dry, uncovered, in the refrigerator until it feels tacky, about 4 hours.
Smoking Method
1. Fill the wood chip tray with your preferred flavor of wood chips. Beechwood or Alder are good choices for salmon.
2. Open the back and lower vents completely.
3. Push the fast smoke button and set your time, temp and probe if desired.
4. If the internal temp goes above 100
°
, you may need to place a pan of ice under your salmon rack to help reduce the
internal temp or open the door slightly.
5. Cold smoke the salmon until the exterior is bronzed with smoke and the salmon feels semi-firm and leathery, 12 hours
or more. How will you know it’s ready? Cut a slice from next to the skin at the fat end.
6. Wrap salmon in uncoated butcher paper and let rest in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving or overnight.
7. Using a long, slender and sharp knife held sharply on the diagonal to the fish, cut the salmon into paper-thin slices.
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