Smoking meats and fish is a way of cooking that has been around for generations, yet few people know how to cook in this manner or how tasty it can be to use this method of cooking. When fish or meat is smoked, the flavors from the wood or wood chips used blends with the meat, creating a wonderful and unique aroma and taste.

This fashion of cooking is popular in many European countries, yet there are many smoking enthusiasts in the United States that enjoy this type of cooking as well. There are many types of smokers available, such as propane, gas, and electric, yet a cold smoker is a bit more uncommon than other varieties.

How To Cook With A Cold Smoker

When using the cold-smoker method of smoking fish and other meats, the temperature one uses is far lower than the hot-smoker method. Fish is most often used with this type of smoking, and should be frozen prior to the process in order to kill any susceptible parasites within the fish. The fish must stay in a brine solution for a longer period of time as well, and the cooking time is much longer than with the hot-smoker method.

Often, a cold smoker cooks very slowly, from one to five days, depending on the amount of fish that is in the smoker itself. Different kinds of fish can be placed within the cold smoker, most often salmon or cod. Herring can also be used, as well as eels. This is a popular item in European countries, but generally not as well accepted in the U.S.

A homemade cold smoker can be built using a refrigerator, yet it is usually more time consuming than it is worth, and there are many quality brands available on the market. When cooking fish in this way, the fish can last for many months in the refrigerator, whereas using the hot smoker method, the fish spoil in just a few days.

If one desires to preserve their meats or fish, a cold smoker is the better option. Wood chips or powder is used in the cold smoker as well. Choosing between a cold or hot smoker is solely based on individual preference and needs, yet both should provide delicious and satisfactory results to the avid meat or fish lover for years to come.