Kitchen Essential

The traditional cold smoker

Cold smoking, at temperatures of around 80^° F, is an essential operation for the production of smoked salmon, which is eaten raw, of other smoked fish, such as kippers, finnan haddocks, cod and haddock fillets and cod roes, and fillets of beef. Cold smoking is also an essential part of the initial processing of all other products which are ultimately hot smoked.

In the commercial fish smoking industry, the traditional cold smoking kiln is simply a large chimney with ventilators placed up the shaft at intervals, so that draughts can be controlled. The fire is lit in a large hearth either at the foot of the kiln or in a fire pit a few feet away, the smoke being conducted along an underground flue to the kiln by natural draught. At intervals, the positions of the various racks of fish undergoing treatment have to be changed around, so that all the fish receive even smoke treatment. The task of going up a smoke-filled flue is an unpleasant one, so small wonder that the fish-smoking industry is turning to mechanical kilns, where the smoke can be shut off while the fish trolleys are rearranged.

It is a fairly simple matter for the home smoker to construct a kiln on the traditional principle which is simpler in design and which is sufficient for his needs. For home use, a kiln 6 or 7 ft high and 2 - 3 ft in width and depth, with a wide open hearth at the bottom, will be adequate, or the principle of the remote fire pit and underground flue can be employed. The kiln may be constructed of stone, brick or, more economically still, concrete blocks, or even wood providing the fire pit is not too close. Tin sheeting should be avoided as metal is too quickly affected by temperature, and a metal cold smoker will soon become a hot smoker when a strong sun shines upon it. The kiln should have a close-fitting door with vent holes 1 - 2 in. below the roof, and preferably a perforated plate below the actual smoking chamber to assist an even smoke spread. It should if at all possible stand in a sheltered spot to avoid excessive draughts. An old, disused (of course!) stone or brick outside toilet can be converted into an excellent smoke house and this likeness is often commented on. A Welsh friend, speaking of a smoking kiln at a local estate owners’ residence, described it as, ‘Like a Ty Bach’ (small house), and a newspaper reporter, doing a review on Pinney’s famous smokehouse in Suffolk, described the kilns as being, `Small, like two smoke blackened privies’.

The interior must be fitted with some means of suspending the articles to be smoked, either rods supplied with hooks or fittings to accommodate sliding trays.

A thermometer, with one or two spares in case of breakages, will be required, and it is a good idea to buy the kind which will register up to 240^° F, so that they may also be used for hot smoking. This can pose something of a problem as most household thermometers will only register up to about 120^° F. I am told a jam thermometer is ideal but they are expensive and not always easy to find, and a mechanical kiln thermometer is very expensive indeed. I managed to solve this problem by finding a firm which sells laboratory supplies.

So that my own kiln should not be too affected by fluctuating temperatures, I built it inside an old disused dairy with 15-in. stone walls, which keeps cool in summer. I would make an infinitely better ballerina than bricklayer, so the building of the kiln was a monumental task. I used concrete blocks and some old bricks I had lying around, made a wooden door frame for the smoking chamber, and tailored an old stable half-door almost to fit the frame. I built against the dairy wall, thereby saving the effort of building a fourth side, and such were the irregularities along the top of its three walls, brought about through my inexpertise, that the simple addition of a sheet of loose hardboard provided a roof with adequate ventilation. Nevertheless, it is entirely functional and, unlike a mechanical kiln, is so foolproof and reliable that even I cannot cause it to go wrong.

The building of it is one of my proudest achievements and when a Swedish friend visited me from the gundog world, a sphere in which I have earned a little more acclaim than my building exploits are ever likely to produce, I was able to inform him proudly, ‘This is the Räkhus:

My kiln has a large, open hearth, but to place a pile of sawdust in it is somewhat wasteful, as more seems to be consumed than is necessary for smoke production. I burn my sawdust in a galvanized dustbin which can be slid in and out of the hearth. There is a 6-in. hole cut in the side near the bottom of the bin to allow the draught to enter, and to start my fire I tilt the bin and ignite one of my Calor gas rings under the metal of the dustbin floor, which I perforated with a cold chisel.

The two biscuit-tinfuls of sawdust in the bin burn for many hours, and the system of replenishment is similar to that of the chain smoker who lights a new cigarette from the butt of the last. I rake the ash out of the hole with a small shovel, then move the remaining sawdust, which is smouldering at the back of the bin, forward to the hole. I put another tinful of fresh sawdust in behind the old stuff, which quickly ignites the new, then I can go to bed if I so desire, secure in the knowledge that, while I am sleeping, my kiln is working.

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