Looking for tips on using pellet smoker to *cold* smoke salmon

[avrignaud]

Hi folks,
I have a Pitts and Spitts 1250 pellet smoker which has done some great meats in the past. I'm hoping to try and *cold* smoke some salmon (so aiming for 80 degrees or so for 16-20 hours), and was curious what you all recommend as the best way to regulate the heat?

This smoker doesn't have the cold smoking box, so I'm trying to figure out the most fool proof way to keep it cool without having to baby sit it too much. Maybe leave the lid cracked open a certain amount? Or... other ideas?

Totally get I'm stretching the capability of the smoker here, but hoping some of you geniuses have had success in the past and can share your best practices! Thank you!

 

[smoke ninja]

you can use a smoke tube or a maze. only other thing I can think of is rigging up a tube from smoker to a separate box. got to keep the heat down. most pellet cookers dont go below 140

 

[thirdeye]

I can't add any more than smoke ninja already has. I cold smoke salmon when the outside temp is in the 30's so I have a safety net there. for that reason I don't add pink salt to my dry cure either. 80° for 16 hours will be an invitation for the surface bacteria to misbehave, but many fish smokers will freeze salmon <0° to kill parasites, and others depend on the smoke itself to affect any baddies. So follow a proven recipe and technique.

 

[-Chris-]

I am not familiar with cold smoking salmon for 18 hours, are you trying to dry/preserve it?

I use an amazing tube and cold smoke my salmon for 3-4 hours.

 

[jkief]

Tubes and mazes work great in pellet smokers that the fan kicks on when powering on. Therefore, you don’t actually put pellets in the pot or ignite them. The fan just runs. This allows the smoke to circulate the smoker. In other pellet smokers, not enough air flow to keep tube lit or smoke becomes dirty. Not sure how your pellet smoker works.

 

[LYU370]

^^^ Yep, that what I do. Put an Amezen tube in the bottom of the FEC. And every now & then I'll hit the power button to turn on the draft fan for a while. Got some Gravlax going right now, will probably throw the smaller piece into the smoker for something different. Haven't cold smoked any salmon yet.

 

[avrignaud]

Thank you for all the feedback!

Sounds like I don't get much value out of the pellet/motor on the smoker in this scenario, and should just look at the smokebox. I'm basing my timing estimates on this site: https://www.smoker-cooking.com/coldsmokedsalmon.html

If anyone has a tried and true cold smoked salmon recipe, love to try it! Otherwise will continue exploring... trying is half the fun after all!

Thanks again!