Hello from Birmingham

[tombirmingham]

Hi,

My name is Tom, I am from Birmingham in the UK and have recently restarted eating meat again, I was a vegetarian for 6 years and then started eating fish and now meat. I've decided to do this after rethinking my personal ethos on food consumption and have realised that an informed decision on my food purchasing is vital, choice as a human being is just as important as not eating a certain food. I believe in eating good meat but less of it, I will buy from an organic butcher and not just some shitty burger from a takeaway store.

So what brings me here ? Well I love food DIY, I love making my own sourdough bread, lacto fermenting and recently I made my own hot smoker from a bread bin to hot smoke some mackerel. My girlfriend is a strict veggie and struggles with meat and being around it so I've said I'll keep it outside of the house as much as possible therefore the logical step is BBQ and smoking.

I have a Weber BBQ but I am really interested in smoking food, particularly fish but also my own sausages, cheese and chillies etc. At the moment I am looking at getting the PRO Q starter set from Hot Smoke when I get my funds together and then the rest like all good things will be a slow journey of learning, hopefully good food and the feeling of doing things my way away.

I also believe in self-reliance and have a small blog called http://www.selfandroots.wordpress.com where I am blogging about my journey into self-reliance/sufficiency.

I am based in the UK and keen to read books which follow traditional history (I am a bit of a food history geek) as well as practical skills and tips that would be useful on this smoking journey. All advice, good reads and tips would be very welcome !

Thanks,

Tom

[slemps]

Hi Tom,

Welcome back to meat! That sounds like a good ethos.

Are you talking about the Pro Q cold smoker? If so, it's a great piece of kit and perfect for a Weber.

A tip for chillies though, they need A LOT of smoke (more than 50 hours on the Pro Q in my experience). I've found ripe (red) Jalapenos to be the best flavour when smoked but you have to be careful they don't rot before you've smoked them enough as they are very fleshy.

Cheese is nice and easy, as is butter. You don't need long on them though and they benefit hugely from a rest of at least a few weeks before eating.

If you're planning on making your own sawdust to use in the Pro Q, don't use anything from a chainsaw due to the engine oil contaminating it. Use only hard woods (fruit and nut trees are the most common). If the wood dust is a bit damp, microwaving it for a minute or so can help get the moisture out quickly.

Lastly, this book is amazing and will give you a really solid starting point across many types of food. Highly recommended:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Home-Smoking-Cu ... 0091927609

Sam.

[tombirmingham]

Hi Sam,

Thanks for the tips and help. It's very good to read, 50 hours on chillies - I didn't expect that !

Yeah going for the PRO Q, Hot Smoke UK do a great starter set. Funnily enough the book arrived on my door yesterday, it's the 1970's version I think. Lovely writing particularly about smoking game and the trials with it. It really is a labour of love and certainly a craft.

[tombirmingham]

Thanks Sam.

I have that book it arrived yesterday, an old edition which is really good reading. I love reading older DIY/food books as they are written if done well with such wit and informative writing. I cant believe chillies need that amount of time, surprising really. I am going to go for PRO Q, I just want to check with regards to the Ranger vs Excel - am I right in thinking its the build and size with regards to the differences ?

I really want to smoke mackerel, that is my main desire at the moment. I love mackerel in it's many forms so this seems like a natural step. Also, then going onto meat which feels a little daunting !

[slemps]

Hi Tom,

Sorry I thought you were talking about the Pro Q cold smoker which is this:

http://www.hotsmoked.co.uk/hot-cold-smokers/proq-cold-smoke-generator/prod_59.html

This would give you smoked chillies which would be dried and ground or re-hydrated and used whole (Chipotle). I've found it takes at least 5 burns of the smoke generator to get enough flavour/colour (10hrs per burn).

It's a great little device and would allow you to cold smoke all sorts. If you're buying a Pro Q hot smoker, you could put the cold smoker inside it to smoke cheese, chillies, salmon etc. (for cold smoking you wouldn't light the hot smoker).

Regarding the Ranger vs Excel, I think the Excel is the largest of their range. It's worth considering the elite version of whichever one you buy as they are made from thicker metal (better heat control and retention) and use stainless steel for fittings etc.

Of course, the other option you have is building a UDS which is what I have. It's basically an old oil drum re-purposed into a vertical smoker similar to the Pro Qs. Cheaper to build, larger capacity and a longer cook time. This link shows you how it's done although there are lots of similar tutorials around:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-Your-Own-Ugly-Drum-Smoker-UDS/

I built mine with minimal tools:

A power drill
Step bit (hole cutter)
Flap bit (sanding the drum)

Hope that helps!
Sam.