Cold smoke is special in the realm of charcuterie, and in food preservation in general, for several reasons: 1) Cold smoke is relatively low maintenance. There need not be smoke on the food at all times. If the fire goes out, its okay, and is re-stoked for another while; 2) Cold smoke preserves rather than cooks; 3) Cold smoke imparts more delicate flavor; 4) Cold smoke is associated with fewer health concerns, namely polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and; 4) Cold smoke allows for more diversity, as it is the choicest type of smoke for cheeses and vegetables, in addition to curing meats.
What is important to remember about cold smoking is that salt curing of meats is required before cold smoking can be preservative, and that cold smoked items may need to be cooked afterward, unless you are smoking cured meats long enough to induce a 30–50% weight loss. The same markers for shelf stability in fermented products apply to cold smoked products; that is, a pH lower than 5.2, and water activity lower than 0.82.
In any type of smoking, it is important to understand that the weather where you are living will affect the smoking conditions, as will the type of wood you are using. The flavors from smoking come from the components of the wood: hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin. Different wood species have different ratios of these components in their wood and their bark. Higher lignin lends to hotter fires, and hotter fires make these compounds burn more aggressively, which contributes to stronger flavors. Knowing this helps you understand why cold smoke imparts lighter flavor, as the smoke is cooler and more removed from the food; only the sweetest and most delicate volatile compounds remain when the smoke hits the food. Bark is higher in lignin than any other part of the tree, so many people knock it off of wood before smoking. Also, coniferous wood contains more lignin than hardwood species, so you will not find many people smoking with pine, cedar, cypress, or their brethren.
In general, artful smoking involves keeping temperatures down. Even in hot smoking, you are aiming for far lower temperatures than you have encountered in grilling. For best results, you want a smoldering fire, not an open flame. If you are a real geek, you can temp your firebox as well as your smoke chamber where the meat is. Optimum release of wood smoke’s flavoring compounds has been recorded with fires right at 400°F.
The other consideration is humidity. Smoke adheres better, and Maillard browning reactions occur (in warm and hot smoking applications) more readily, when the food product is drier. This is chiefly why we hang cured meats and sausages to dry before smoking. Keep in mind, however, that condensation will build up in the smoke chamber as the meat loses moisture and the smoke condenses. It is a good idea to monitor the humidity in the smoke chamber of your smoker, just as you monitor humidity in your charcuterie cabinet. The optimum humidity in the smoke chamber should be 75–85%. You can combat a build-up of condensation by altering the roof design of your smoke chamber; by ensuring proper ventilation, both in the outlets you provide for the smoke; and in the ways you introduce airflow to the chamber.
Finally, the moisture in your wood relates directly to how it burns. The drier the wood, the more appropriate it is for cold smoking, between 15–20%. For hot smoking, fresh cut wood with moisture content of 40–60% is fine.
BUILDING YOUR
OWN COLD SMOKER
With all of the above in mind, you can understand why building your own smoker might be a good idea. It will give you control over the system to help you achieve the type of smoke you desire. Most commercially available smokers are either electric or direct-heat type models. For ultimate cold smoking control, I have found that designing my own units has been a spectacular learning process, giving me a better understanding of working with wood and fire, as well as providing better results for my smoked meat projects.
The good news is that a smoker really only needs to keep a steady temperature, and hold smoke. These are the main requirements. Because of this, you can literally make a cold smoker from a cardboard box. All you need is a way to heat wood to low temperatures, pass the smoke from that wood to a separate chamber which holds the meat, and some ventilation or outlet for that smoke, once it comes in contact with the meat. If you search online you will find hundreds of designs, including smokers made of old kitchen cabinets, refrigerators, filing cabinets, etc. They are all good, as long as they meet the main criteria.
You’ll need to come up with three main parts: a firebox, a pipe and a smoke chamber.
The Firebox
This is often the hardest part to construct. The firebox needs to be able to hold a fire (400°F+). Metal, ceramic, stone, brick, concrete, or other materials are the best bet. In addition to housing the heat, the firebox needs to have built-in ways for you to manage temperature. If you have any experience with fire, you know that it is alive — you kill it or help it thrive with oxygen and food. Built-in dampers are the way to manage the fire’s strength and therefore its temperature. The more air you give a fire, and the more fuel via wood, the hotter it will burn. The less air, the slower and cooler the burn. Dampers can be as simple as lids that can be cocked to the side to allow airflow or closed to prevent it, or as complex as welded slides or swiveling covers placed strategically on the firebox. You’ll need an opening for a pipe at or near the top of the firebox. As the smoke rises off of the fire, this will give it the easiest path to its eventual destination in the smoke chamber.
The Pipe
The pipe takes the smoke from the fire to the smoke chamber. It does not need to be insulated, as we are not concerned with whether the smoke cools. In fact, depending on the distance from the fire to the smoke chamber, some smoke cooling might be exactly what you want. So you can get away with cheaper options, such as stove pipe, dryer vent or metal scrap yard finds. In general, 4–6-inch diameter is best for getting a decent but conservative amount of smoke onto the food product. Remember, cold smoking is about light smoking, but you do not want to restrict the flow of smoke from the fire, as this would defeat the entire purpose.
To assist in smoke delivery, you need an incline in your pipe, to facilitate draft, or pull of the smoke through the system. A 5–10-degree angle is sufficient.
The Smoke Chamber
This is the cooler end of the equation, where the food is hung or placed on racks. Temperatures in the chamber should not exceed 80–100°F, which is why the smoke chamber can be made of cardboard, kitchen cabinets, pots, refrigerators, or other upcycled items. Remember that moisture is a consideration; so if you are using boxes, know that you may need to replace them now and again.
One of the main design requirements for the smoke chamber is that it be big enough to accommodate your meat projects. I find that height is the most important consideration there. If I have a strip of linked sausages, or large ham to smoke, I need at least 2–3 feet in order to hang it in a way that lets the smoke circle all around it. Similarly, you’ll need hooks or rods at or near the top of the smoke chamber to support the weight of the products. A culatello, smoked for speck, can weigh 16 pounds, which is no job for flimsy hardware. Smoke hooks can be made with U-bolts or screw-hooks, or you can fashion up smokesticks using dowel rods or stainless steel rods. From the rods you can hang twine, bacon hangers or S-hooks.
Another design requirement is a smoke outlet. A hole somewhere near the top of the smoke chamber works, and can be covered with screen to prevent insects from entering the system. People also use stovepipe vents or louvers to achieve ventilation. Just be sure to monitor the set-up as you start using it. Clients often call me with problems related to humidity, and this is directly related to ventilation in the smoke chamber — most often, not enough of it. I like to think of smoke like I think of water. Plant roots grow great when the water can flow around them, but once it gets logged around the roots, you get rot. When smoke lingers and stales, you get bitterness and pungency. When it can flow from the low place of a smoldering fire up through the pipe, and then from the bottom to the top of the smoke chamber quite easily, you get delicate, sweet aroma, beautiful color, and fantastic flavor.
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br /> FINISHING SMOKED PRODUCTS
Most cold smoked meat products are either destined for further hanging and drying (as in nduja or speck) or are being cold smoked until they reach a shelf-stable water activity, indicated by a 40–50% weight loss. Either way, you’ll want to pull the meat from the cold smoker and let it rest before storing it or returning it to the charcuterie chamber. Depending on smokehouse temperatures, you may want to cool the product with fans or a plunge in water once it has smoked, to prevent it shrinking away from its casing too drastically as it cools slowly. The water plunge is rather drastic, and usually only used when temperatures in the smoke chamber get over 150°F. Ideally, this will not happen in a cold smoker; if you are cold smoking meat successfully, you should be able to let the meat rest and cool naturally. If you need to speed the process, consider a box fan before an ice bath. Your aim is to progressively dehydrate the meat. Keeping conditions as dry as possible will aid you in this process.
Below are three smokers that I have designed, and continue to use. Each is quite suitable, depending on the nature of the food project.
Terra cotta portable smoker
Well pressure tank and cedar box backyard smoker
Steel drum and fixed-chamber on-farm smokehouse
SERVING AND
STORING CHARCUTERIE
One of the most striking things about charcuterie is its powerful, complex flavor. As such, charcuterie is almost always served in very small portions. This is one of its chief triumphs, in my mind. We live in a society that over-values hugeness, and indeed, the more devoid of meaning and flavor our consumables have become, the bigger and bigger they have gotten, as if more of something is substitute for goodness in anything.
Weston meat slicer
Currently, we find ourselves without widespread ethical meat production, slowly working toward mainstream adoption of ethical meat consumption, and lacking an ingrained competency in ethical meat preparation. I believe charcuterie, in light of the conditions here and now, can play a vital role in the revivification of a proper culinary mindset. If our understanding of portion size, our patience for process, and our palate’s adoption of flavor must change, what better gateway do we have than charcuterie? It is possible that cured meat can be, or already is, more than just a fad. It may be old in its tradition and technique, but it is also new in its suggestion that this be a way to eat meat: tiny, delectable and time cured.
So Apero salami slicer
That being said, I find that charcuterie that isn’t portioned properly can be pretty unsavory. Overbearing and salty might be better words for it. Doing justice to your time and creativity means investing in the proper tools for slicing, serving and storing. I have found that in this arena of food production, perhaps more so than others, you get what you pay for.
I use a Weston Pro 320 10-inch stainless steel meat slicer to slice pretty much everything, from salamis to coppa to smoked hams. I’ve tried a few different companies and this machine is by the far the best I’ve had on the home scale, though it is more expensive than other home slicers. I also use a Weston Pro 2300 Vacuum Sealer, which easily allows me to vacuum seal most of my projects for safe keeping. This method of storage removes all oxygen from the packaging, allowing you to keep shelf-stable products in a cool cabinet and smoked or cooked products (or sliced products) safely untainted in the fridge; it will also be your go-to for freezing cured meats, if you absolutely need to. I have also used So Apero products, crafted in France, for slicing, and in general really like them. They are not as adaptable for different-sized meat preparations, so you’ll have to “buy up” when you’re ready to slice bigger hams. Their cheaper models are smaller, and suitable for salamis, bresaola, and other smaller projects.
In general, store your whole or sliced, vacuum-sealed cured meats in a dark, cool place. Larger dried hams like prosciutto and culatello can be removed from the charcuterie cabinet, sliced to accommodate your needs, then wrapped in cheesecloth and returned to the charcuterie cabinet to age further.
Lastly, you can seal the surfaces of cured meat with fat. Of course! This is where it all began, after all. It is quite simple. Render lard by melting fat at low temperatures until you can’t melt it anymore. Strain out the solids, then cool the liquid lard that remains. When it is whitened but still pliable, combine it with rice flour to produce a soft icing-like consistency. Black pepper doesn’t hurt this mix, either. You can spread the fat mixture over the exposed surfaces of cold smoked or air cured items that you want to store for longer periods of time.
ADDITIONAL RECIPES
Things you’ll make to put in your meat projects, and around them on the serving board.
HOMEMADE HORSERADISH
INGREDIENTS
½ cup grated horseradish root
¾ cup crème fraîche
1 Tbsp mustard
1 tsp white vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
1. Get some gloves on. Peel the horseradish root and grate it into the bowl of a food processor. Try not to breathe too deeply of the aroma; it can really knock you back. Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor with the grated root and process to a creamy consistency. Store in the fridge, after you’ve portioned out what you need for Apple Horseradish Sausage (page 29).
HOMEMADE MISO SAUCE
INGREDIENTS
6 Tbsp light miso
¾ cup white wine
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp mirin
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
Method
You can put this on fish and soba noodles and in soup, in addition to using it in Miso & Pickled Ginger Sausage (page 30).
1. Pour the white wine, vinegar, sugar and mirin into a small bowl. With quick but gentle strokes, stir in the miso until it is dissolved. Store in a jar in the fridge until ready to use. This sauce is great on fish, too.
PICKLED GINGER
INGREDIENTS
1 cup fresh ginger, very thinly sliced or minced
⅓ cup white vinegar
⅔ cup water
1 tsp sugar
Method
1. Place the sliced or fine-diced ginger in a clean half-pint jar. Set aside. Combine the vinegar, water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring mixture just to a boil. Pour the hot brine over the diced ginger in the jar and cover with a lid. Cool completely to room temperature, then store in the fridge.
FERMENTED SWEET PEPPER
INGREDIENTS
Assorted, colorful sweet peppers
Sea salt
Method
1. Per 5 lb. of minced sweet pepper, add 3 Tbsp of sea salt. Mix well and pack into a jar. Leave to ferment at least 4 weeks, if not longer. In addition to using this in your pâté gratin (page 48), the ferment pairs well with root vegetables, winter squashes, mild cheeses and lamb.
FIG CHUTNEY
INGREDIENTS
4 C. figs, stemmed and quarteredlzl
½ t.· ground coriander
½ t. whole cloves
grated rind and juice of one orange
⅛ C. rapadura, or maple syrup
1–2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and grated on a zester or micro plane grater
10–12 mint leaves, chopped fine
¼ C. whey
2 t. sea salt
½ C water
Method
1. Mix all ingredients and pack into a quart jar. Cover. Allow to ferment 2 days before refrigerating.
PICKLED CELERY LEAVES
INGREDIENTS
Leaves from celery heads, enough to fill a pint jar, chopped
Pinch of red pepper flake
Zest from ½ lemon, or ½ confit lemon peel, diced and blanched
1 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
¾ cup white wine vinegar
1.5 cup water
2 tsp cane sugar (optional)
This is by far one of my favorite ideas I have ever had. I keep celery leaves out of my vegetable broth because they make it too pungen
t. I don’t want to waste them, so I pickle them with confit lemon and nutmeg. The results are fantastic, and aside from using them in salami (page 104), I can put them in soups, stews, sausages, meat marinades, and even homemade Bloody Mary mix.
Method
1. Stuff the chopped celery leaves into the jar with the pepper flake, lemon zest or confit lemon, and nutmeg. Set aside. In a small saucepan, heat the water, vinegar and sugar just until it boils. Pour the boiling brine over the celery leaves and put a lid on the jar. Allow to cool to room temperature, then transfer to the fridge to cool completely.
FENNEL PICKLES
INGREDIENTS
Per 1–2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and thinly sliced:
½ cup non-chlorinated water
3 Tbsp cane sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp red pepper flake
1 tsp whole yellow mustard seed
2 Tbsp orange zest
Pure Charcuterie: The Craft & Poetry of Curing Meat at Home Page 10