With so many options available, it can be hard to know where to start when looking to smoke your own food at home. The great news is, says Alyson Murray of Tiverton-based Hot Smoked, that you don’t need to splash out on the latest and largest food smoking equipment to begin your journey. Here she talks us through her favourite kit for both beginners and those looking to take their home smoking to the next level.
Explore techniques and flavours affordably with a hot smoking starter kit (prices from £25). Just a handful of smoking chips used with a smoker box placed on hot coals or a gas heat source will create aromatic smoke flavour with which to infuse your grilled dishes.
For cold smoking, the ProQ Cold Smoke Generator at £34 is an ingenious and effective device for cured and smoked dishes such as smoked salmon or bacon. It’s also incredibly economical, producing 10 hours of smoke flavour from only 100g of a fine wood dust.
For uncomplicated hot smoking, the Camerons Stovetop Smoker (£58) is so versatile that it can be used indoors on a stovetop as well as outdoors on a barbecue, whilst the smaller Gourmet Mini version (£38) is ideal for camping, picnics or beachside hot smoked mussels. For more cooking options outdoors there’s the Cobb (£110), a tardis-like portable cooking tool which can hot smoke as well as grill, bake, fry and even produce a full roast dinner.
For the full hot and cold smoking solution it’s worth investing in a ProQ Smoker: a hot smoker based around a charcoal heat source which, when used with the ProQ Cold Smoke Generator, can also cold smoke. The ProQ offers a range of cooking options so gives a far more multi-functional outdoor cooking solution than a conventional barbecue. Prices start at £199.
If charcoal isn’t your thing, then you might prefer an easier on/off switch operation of an electric smoker. The Bradley range starts at £345 and provides a consistent hot smoked result.
Finally, for a real statement piece, a ceramic grill such as the Kamado Joe or Monolith Grill (prices from around £800) will give you a vast amount of cooking options and a huge cooking temperature range, including hot smoking, as well as providing a talking point in your back garden!