Table of Contents
Cold smoking is becoming increasingly popular amongst a lot of people although it has been in use for a long time – a lot of people used it to preserve food until the invention of the refrigerator.
Cold smokers are designed to cook food without necessarily allowing the fire to touch the food, hence the name. By so doing, the smoke dries out the food and antioxidants and antimicrobials are introduced into the food.
We took our time to look at five of the top-rated cold smokers on the market and we shared our likes and dislikes about each of them below.
#1. Best Cold Smoker – Smoke Daddy Big Kahuna Cold Smoke Generator
Three things set the Smoke Daddy Big Kahuna apart from other cold smokers. It is built to last, can be attached to an existing grill or smoker, and can smoke perform in both hot and cold temperatures.
It’s relatively inexpensive, no doubt, although it cost more than we expected. The Big Kahuna can easily be refilled when you’re cooking and it saves you the stress of relighting or opening your smoker while you’re cooking. Is it worth it?
Read Full Review
Factors to Consider When Shopping For a Cold Smoker
Cold smokers have a working principle of creating low-temperature smokes and little heat to cook your food. Before we selected the cold smokers on our list, we considered a handful of factors…
Type of Smoke Generator
There are several types of smoke generators available on the market. They include the electrically powered models as well as the manual smoking models.
The electrically-powered cold smokers are designed to use heating elements that get hot and in turn, cause the fuel in the chambers to begin to smoke. They don’t need to be lit with match sticks and can be used in any type of container.
On the other hand, the manually-powered models are designed to be lit with a match at one end. This type of cold smoker has its fuel – typically sawdust – placed in a maze-like compartment through which the fire lit on one end travels to give out the desired smoke.
Fuel Type
Cold smokers require fuel to be able to work. For some, fine sawdust is ok while on the other hand, finely cut small wood chips are needed. Again, a vast majority of the cold smokers require larger wood chips to be able to smoke properly.
It is also worth to note that the size of the cold smoker greatly determines the size of the fuel type. A large-sized cold smoker will need larger wood chips and vice versa. If you’re using pellets, make sure that they are the right size meant for your smoker and that you have a grill degreaser handy.
Take note of the availability of the fuel type you need in your region so that you won’t be saddled with the responsibility of having to source for the fuel whenever you need it. Fine sawdust may sometimes be elusive.
Portability
Portability isn’t an all-important factor for cold smokers per se, but if you intend to take it along as often as possible, then you should consider getting something portable. If possible, get a dedicated carrying case for it as the case may be.
Fuel Runtime
How long does the fuel in your cold smoker last? If you cannot get at least 3 hours of runtime from a cold smoker you’re about to buy, then you should rescind on your decision to buy it. Fortunately, a lot of the cold smokers available in the market are designed to burn the fuel slowly.
Hence, this increases the runtime of the fuel in the cold smoker giving you more smoke.
Easy Attachment
Attaching a cold smoker to a grill can be a pain in the butt, no thanks to design flaws. Hence, you should look carefully and select a grill that is easy to attach to your existing charcoal grill or offset smoker.
Cold Smoker Reviews
For the next few minutes, we’ll take you on a short tour of five cold smoker attachments that can integrate easily with your grill and gives off the right smoke. Are any of them worth buying?
#1. Best Cold Smoker – Smoke Daddy Big Kahuna Cold Smoke Generator
Uses: Wood Chip
Features: lightweight, easily attaches to other grills, made from heavy gauge aluminum, can work with large grills refrigerator size, easy refill design.
The Smoke Daddy Big Kahuna cold smoker is a nice cold smoke generator fit for smoking anything from brisket to cheese. It’s made from high-quality heavy gauge aluminum and stainless steel materials and weighs just about 5 lbs.
Attaching the Big Kahuna to your existing grill is quite easy to do and takes only a couple of minutes and a few steps to get it attached. Surprisingly, the Smoke Daddy Big Kahuna Cold Smoke Generator can make smoke for a grill as large as a medium-sized refrigerator.
Did we even mention that refilling the fuel in the Big Kahuna is simple? Oh yes, it is. This smoke generator comes with an adjustable air pump, a spring baffle, stainless cleaning brush as well as a top and bottom cap, to mention a few.
The Big Kahuna uses wood chips as fuel. Therefore, if you have wood pellets ready and you’ve got the small budget for it, go grab the Big Kahuna and start cold smoking the heck out of your food.
Learn More
#2. A-MAZE-N AMNPS Maze Pellet Smoker
Uses: Pellets/Sawdust
Features: maze smoke generator, easy to refill, good stainless steel construction, lightweight with convenient size, long smoking time.
The A-Maze-N pellet smoker is a maze cold smoke generator with a simple design. Measuring about 5 x 8 inches, this compact-sized cold smoker is designed to provide you with up to 12 hours of constant smoke using wood pellets.
As you’d expect, the fire travels around the maze at a surprisingly slow speed and burns slowly, providing your food with good smokey flavor whilst cooking it.
The A-MAZE-N AMNPS Maze Pellet Smoker is made from quality stainless steel materials that can withstand heat for a long time without damages. It is lightweight, and as we already mentioned, its compact size also makes it portable.
With respect to the fuel type, the A-Maze-N maze pellet smoker uses sawdust or tiny wood chip. The sawdust tends to last longer than the wood chip. This is primarily because it has a relatively small size.
Learn More
#3. Cave Tools Pellet Tube Wood Smoker Box
Uses: Pellets/Wood chips
Features: Slim design, lightweight, 304 stainless steel finishing, horizontal holes for easy smoke distribution, comes with barbecue recipes, produces up to 8 hours of smoke on every fuel refill.
The Cave Tools Pellet Tube Wood Smoker Box is a horizontally designed portable cold smoke generator. It features distinct horizontal hole markings all around its lightweight and slim-shaped body. These hole markings allow for the proper distribution of the smoke generated by the fuel.
Given its size, it’s only surprising to note that it is able to give off the right amount of smoke for up to 8 hours. The Cave Tools cold smoke generator uses wood chips and pellets as fuel.
To entice you and improve your barbecue culinary skills, you get 25 free recipes when you download an accompanying app from iOs App Store and the Google Play Store. So if you’re interested in learning something cool, go buy it and download the app.
Learn More
#4. Smokemiester BBQ Smokers
Uses: Pellets, wood chip or chunks
Features: provides up to 8 hours of smoke, large 4-inch diameter, smoke control, easy to clean design, easy to attach to an existing grill.
The Smokemiester BBQ Cold Smoker is another fantastic cold smoker fit for use in large grills as a cold smoking attachment. It is designed to produce up to 8 hours of smoke with every refill you do.
This Smokemiester BBQ Smoker uses wood pellets, chips, and even reasonably sizeable chunks to provide you with good smoke for cooking. It doesn’t take up any grilling space even though it has a large 4-inch diameter.
With the large 4-inch diameter, it will take about 4 cups of pellets to fill it to the brim and get up to 8 hours of constant smoke. Fortunately, Smokemiester includes two free cups of wood pellets. Let’s not fail to mention that the Smokemiester BBQ smoker has can self-clean and all you need do is use a brush to remove the residue after it is done.
Cool, right?
Learn More
#5. LIZZQ Premium Pellet Smoker Tube
Uses: Pellets
Features: Easy to use with any grill type, provides up to 5 hours of smoke, good hole distribution on the hexagonal body, stainless steel finishing.
Last but certainly not the least is the LIZZQ Premium Pellet Smoker Tube which shares a similar design with the Cave Tools Pellet Tube Wood Smoker Box. However, the LIZZQ cold smoker tube is hexagonal.
As expected, it is made from stainless steel material. It’s lightweight, compact-sized, and sports holes around its hexagonally shaped body – this arguably promotes the easy movement of smoke from the smoker.
The LIZZQ cold smoke generator uses wood pellets as fuel and can produce up to 5 hours of smoke. This is in sharp contrast with the Cave Tools smoke generator that produces a tad more than that.
All the same, it’s a great cold smoker for anyone looking forward to doing cold smoking using their existing grills.
Learn More
Conclusion
Cold smoking comes with its own disadvantages, no doubt, but on careful observation, its merits outweigh the demerits. Occasionally give yourself the treat of a cold-smoked hot dog, cured meat, sausage, and chicken with any of these cold smoke generators which can easily attach to your existing grill.
Leave a Reply