MASTERCLASS 01
Fridge cold smoker how to
01 – HOW TO SET UP A FRIDGE COLD SMOKER
This guide aims gives you everything you need to know to set up a working fridge as a cold smoker. You'll learn how to select the optimum fridge, avoid the pitfalls to ensure you don’t puncture the gas line, and ensure its set up safely and to optimise the smoking.
You'll be able to achieve consistently great results, right off the bat, without the significant trial and error. Although not difficult, there are definitely some valuable pitfalls and tips and trouble shooting in a simplified, step by step guide!
BENEFITS OF COLD SMOKING IN A FRIDGE.
Cold smoking is any smoking between freezing and 30 deg C. Traditionally done at ambient temperature, usually in cooler climates. With the curing and smoking process taking 2 to 4 days (or more!), cold smoking in hot climates, like the Australian summer will negatively impact on the quality of your fish (or meat), and possible create food safety risks.
Smoking in a working fridge allows you to maintain a consistent temperature of 4 deg C for the entire cure and cold smoke process, optimising the quality of your end product!
Additionally, the fish can remain in the fridge if you are busy with work or family and allows you wait a day or two between or after the steps without effecting the quality of the end product!
For example, when you get home from fishing, you’ve likely been up since pre dawn, and are exhausted, the last thing you want to do is filit, skin, trim, portion and vacume pack fish! A real benefit of cols smoking in a fridge is you can quickly knock the fillets off your fish, salt and place them in the fridge. This gives you the flexibility to get the other steps done at a time more convenient!
WHAT FRIDGE?
Any fridge will do. Bar fridge, fridge freezer, or even a commercial glass door fridge.
Tips and pitfalls:
Don’t get a wine fridge, as many wine fridges don’t go below 12 deg C
Don’t geta fridge with the freezer above and fridge below, as youll be bending down all the time.
You can find very cheap used working fridges on Marketplace, usually with a few dints, or a broken vegetable draw for $50. Don’t worry, the inside will get very dirty from the smoke tanins, so don’t be too precious.
Ask the person selling the fridge to have it turned on and cold when you go to look at it so you know its working, and check the seals.
WHAT YOULL NEED
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STEP BY STEP
Remove all the shelves, vegetable crisp draws and door shelves from the fridge.
Cut 2 x 250mm x 250mm square pieces of 18mm fibre cement sheet
IMPORTANT TIP: Mount the COOL SMOKE generator on the fridge door, NOT THE SIDE. The side will have refrigerant gas pipes in it, and you can possibly puncture a gas line and ruin the fridge… yep ive done it, till I worked out mounting on the door removes this risk!
Drill a 20mm hole in both sheets of cement sheet, centered, 100mm from the bottom (150mm from the top of the square). Place the sheets on top of each other, lined up, so the holes line up on both sheets.
Trace an outline of the cement sheet and hole on the inside of the door, toward the bottom, roughly in the centre of the door.
Drill the hole from inside through the inner lining, foam and outer skin.
Cut around the square with the box cutter knife cutting the inside door plastic fridge lining and insulation foam. Make sure the square cutout is just bigger than the cement sheet
SAFETY TIP: Although the smoke is not hot, and the fridge should stay at 4 deg C, the smoker tube can get quite hot, and cutting away the lining and foam so no heat melts this is an important safety precaution to ensure there is no risk of fumes contaminating your beautiful cold smoking treasures!
Use chisel, knife, and fork to scrape, scratch and pick the square of lining and insulation foam away, just leaving the outer fridge skin.
Line up the holes in the cement sheets, hold them together and drill a hole in each corner (4 holes)
Cover the inside of the fridge lining with silicone (or construction adhesive) leaving a space around the hole.
Place the smoker tube in the cement sheet hole, and through the fridge lining hole ensuring you can pull the tube in and out freely.
Screw through the 4 corner holes till you penetrate the outer fridge lining. Take the screws out
Screw the screws into the 4 holes in the second cement sheet till the tips come through, line the screws up with the holesin the fridge you just created and screw all 4 corners into the holes on the inside cement sheet.
With the smoker tube in the hole, position the smoker on the outside of the fridge, with the tube in place, and mark the mounting plate slots on the cement sheet. Drill two holes in the sheet and screw two screws with the heads still proud.
Take the tube out, slot the screws in the mounting plate and slide the smoker down into position, putting the smoker tube through the hole, into the smoker from the inside of the fridge.
Bam! All good to go!
AIR VENT
The fridge will likely need an air vent so the smoker can burn and the fridge fan doesn’t stop the smoker pump air flow and smoke. We recommend the stainless steel adjustable air vent available for sale on this online shop. >>>ADD TO CART <<<<<
Mount this on the door, toward the top, with a 20mm being adequate.
TIP: Place some fly screen under the adjustable vent so blow flies do not get into the fridge while you are curing and smoking!
CURING - WHAT YOU NEED
Measure the width and depth of the inside of your fridge, so you know what sized curing tubs to buy. Bunnings, Kmart, Big W all have a range of sizes of stackable plastic tubs great for curing in.
TIP: Use plastic/poly tubs, do not use stainless steel, cast iron or any other “reactive” material due to the salt.
Make sure the two or more tubs will stack inside each other and fit into your fridge.
The bottom tub simply ensures all the liquid does not spill through the fridge.
Drill 2 – 4 10mm holes in the bottom of the other tubs so the majority of liquid that comes out of the fish drains away and the fish doesn’t end up sitting in salt solution (wet brine) for the second half of the process as it will effect curing times. You’ll be surprised just how much liquid comes out of the fish. The curing process will result in about a 25% or more weight loss and a firming of the flesh is normal.
Use a wire rack (cut to size) or stiff plastic or aluminium tube/bar (eg curtain rod or L section) to slot/slide into the top shelf grooves on the inside sides of the fridge. This creates several hanging racks to hang the fish for smoking.
I have drilled a small hole in the fridge door, next to the adjustable air vent and push a thermostat probe through this so I know my fridge is working at the right temperature and not freezing or getting hot.
HOT TIP: If your fridge temp is too hot, it may indicate your pump is to high, or your smoker is burning, not smouldering. This could be the result of too fine wood chips. Be careful, and a temp guage is an easy way to monitor any problems at a glance. Literally a hot tip! We recommend the temperature probe available on this site, as it works for fridges, has an easy to read LED, has a spike probe and can be used for cooking as well!
>>>ADD TO CART <<<<<
Use small stainless steel hooks to hang your fish, which can be made out of 1mm to 2mm stainless steel wire, or conveniently purchased from the 30 fathoms shop.
>>>ADD TO CART <<<<<
SMOKE
Yep, its going to create smoke! Just in case your neighbours (or wife!) get a whiff of smoke, let them know youre smoking them some fish, and the house isn’t burning down! Bit embarrassing to have the local fire truck called out! Use flexible exhaust fan ducting if you need to direct smoke out of your garage or up away from the house.
TIP: While you are smoking fish, you can also smoke a limitless range of other foods that will add a whole new dimension to all your cooking: olive oil, cheese, chillies, beef brisket/ribs, pork, salt, nuts…….