Cardboard Cold Smoker

Being a long time fan of Alton Brown's, Good Eats, as well as long time fan of bacon. When I saw Alton's show about how to make bacon from scratch I was inspired to make it, as well as, lox (smoked salmon), and other tasty, cold smoked/cured foods. But this requires a cold smoker. There are a lot of “hot” smokers on Instructables, but I have not seen a 'cold' smoker. Since Alton ran through his version and there is not one on instructables I decided that I would make my own version and put it out there for others that wanted to try it as well. 

The main difference is the application of smoke without the application of heat. If you try and make bacon with a hot smoker you will render out the fat and cook the meat before you have the right level of smoke and you'll have a sloppy mess.

So, with some cardboard, hardware, spare parts, and a bit of time I made a functional cold smoker.

Important Note: It seems that uncooked, yet cured foods may be regarded as safe, as long as the preparation and sanitation directions are strictly followed. That said, any animal product that is uncooked could be hazardous for the young, elderly, and those with compromised immune systems.

Assemble box. Make sure to tape all open edges completely to seal it as much as possible.

Cut an access door in the front bottom of the box. I made a door that was 12"x8" but you can use whatever allows access for the hot plate skillet combo. i.e. on top of each other as one unit. It's easier to slide the whole thing in than trying to stack them once in the box.

The door should hold shut just from the edge friction. This is why you use a sharp thin blade. If you use scissors or a wider blade the door may not hold shut on it's own.

Temporarily hook up the fan so you can see which side is the blowing side. Since this is a positive pressure box you will want the fan to blow into the box. 

In the lower back corner of the box trace the outline of the fan. Then cut open another 3 sided access door just a little bit smaller than the outline you traced. 

Press the door in so the flap is on the inside of the box. Then wedge the fan into the opening. It should hold on it's own. Make sure the fan is blowing into the box and your power cable is outside of the box.

Using the box tape seal the fan opening from the outside of the box.

Trace the outline of the hose in the upper back corner of the box from the outside. Cut this open just a little bit smaller than the trace line. This will allow you to thread the hose into the box and get a good seal without having to use any tape.

Apply the foam strip seal to all edges of the door where it contacts the body of the cabinet. This should give a better seal to the box and only allow the smoke to flow where we want it. Instead of leaking out everywhere.

Find the center of the top of the cabinet and drill two holes the size of the Ubolt. Using both sets of backer plates and nuts from the two Ubolts securely anchor the Ubolt to the ceiling of the cabinet.

Once you have the Ubolt secured you can hang your 'S' hook

Using a large drill bit make a number of holes in the ceiling of the cabinet. From trial and error I found that six holes of 25/64" gave enough flow to match how much the fan pushed. Start with 1/4" and work your way up and see what works for you.

You are done with the Cold side

Stretch out the hose as much as you physically can without stressing it. If you pull really hard on it you may rip the Al (it's just a coil of wire wrapped in Aluminum foil) and then you'll need a new hose. Once you figure out the path you want the hose to travel, make sure it's supported and secured so it won't move. When you are smoking you'll be smoking for at least 6 hrs and probably much longer, so make sure the wind will not disrupt your setup.

Using the hose clamp at the far end of the hose attach it to the large side of the adapter than is already installed in the cold box.

To power the fan I used an old car battery that I had around. I hooked it up to a small solar panel during the day and it would run the smoker all night with no problem. You don't need a car battery, I just had a source of 'free' energy, so I used it. The fan uses 0.15A @ 12V so almost anything can power it. You can use a regular AC adapter or a set of alkaline batteries. As long as the voltage from the power source matches what is on your fan and the amperage of the supply equals or exceeds that of the fan.

You are now ready to smoke.

At this point add your cured pork, salmon, or whatever it is that you want to smoke to the cold box. I used a set of cheap metal skewers that I bent into hooks to hold the meat. You want the cheap ones because they are very easy to bend by hand.

Allow your item to smoke for at least 6 hours, overnight or however long you like. The smoke that this puts out is milder than a hot smoke and you will not see a black crust on the outside. However, it will darken some as well as dry out the surface a little bit. 

While smoking, check on the wood every few hours and make sure it's still smoking. If it's stopped pull out your pan, with an oven mitt dump the spent wood into a fireproof container and refill with fresh wood. 

Note: This smoker does not cook your food no matter how long you smoke it for. So if you are making bacon from a pork belly that you brined and cured, you will need to cook it just like you would with store bought bacon. 

If there is interest, I can post other instructables on making the bacon or the lox.