How to choose your smokehouse.

It´s not always easy to decide when you lack experience! Happily, when you choose a good smokehouse there is not much danger of getting it wrong: 6 guidelines for finding your ideal smokehouse…


Hot only
Hot smoking consists of cooking in smoke. You can choose this option if you do not plan to cold smoke. 2 kinds are available:
- models with alcohol. Spread sawdust on the floor of the smokehouse and place the burners under the hot smoking box,
- electric models with internal elements that heat a plate on which the sawdust has been spread.


Embers or electric?
If you know how to light a barbecue and make good embers, then you already know how to use a traditional smokehouse. However, automatic smokehouses have some strong arguments in their favour. They are small ovens that maintain a stable temperature for hot smoking. They produce regular smoke with no surveillance over 8 hours. You set the smoking time and the temperature for hot smoking and cooking.


Vertical or flat?
It´s a question of habit. The kind of smokehouse does not affect the quality of the smoking. If you only smoke salmon fillets, then it is more practical to lay them flat than to hang them. For sausage by the metre or eels, the opposite is the case. There are also smokehouses that can be used in both positions.


What size?
For smoking a few sausages, grilled meats or duck magret from time to time, think small. Above all, if you want to hot smoke. Small volumes are easier to heat, handle and store… On the other hand, a ham takes up a lot of space. Remember that the food should not touch the walls of your smokehouse.


Stainless steel or galvanised?
Stainless steel is pretty and shiny and compatible with food. It can be cleaned easily as we all know… But galvanised steel also has its advantages. It is much cheaper and as robust as stainless steel. As your smokehouse is not intended to become a decorative item in your kitchen, why not?
Galvanising offers efficient protection against rust. In the past, wash basins were made from galvanised steel.


Is the cold smoking accessory essential?
As a general rule, no. However, you must understand that cooking begins at 40° C (45°C and your fish is pink inside, at 55°C a red meat is medium rare, etc.). When cold smoking, you will want to avoid overheating. The combustion of the sawdust and the embers raises the temperature inside the smokehouse. When the weather is cold, this does not matter, but in hot weather, it is better to move the combustion outside the smokehouse. This is the role of the cold smoking accessory.


See the feature: Warm smoked oysters.