Are you bored of the conventional cooking styles and looking for something that can add unique flavoring to your cooking? It is time to get the best cold smoke generator.
What is a cold smoke generator? You may ask. Well, a cold smoke generator works under 85 degrees Fahrenheit, adding color and flavors to your food without actually cooking it.
It helps you in smoking foods like cheese and sausages perfectly, which can spoil if cooked on too much heat. Cold smoke cooking is an art that you can only learn by practicing.
Once you master it, there is no going back. You will fall in love with the flavors that are very hard to get from hot smoke cooking. However, the first thing you need for this unique cooking style is the best cold smoke generator.
Page Contents
- 1 The 5 Best Cold Smoke Generators for 2024 Reviews
- 1.1 1. Smoke Daddy Big Kahuna Cold Smoke Generator
- 1.2 2. Smokehouse Products Smoke Chief Cold Smoke Generator
- 1.3 3. Smokemiester Hot or Cold Pellet/Wood BBQ Smoker
- 1.4 4. Best Cold Smoke Generator for Masterbuilt Electric Smoker: Masterbuilt Slow Smoker Accessory Attachment
- 1.5 5. A-MAZE-N AMNPS Maze Pellet Smoker for Cold Smoking
- 2 What is Cold Smoking?
- 3 Cold Smoke vs Hot Smoke
- 4 How to Cold Smoke?
- 5 Conclusion
The 5 Best Cold Smoke Generators for 2024 Reviews
Here is the quick list of five best cold smokers that can help you get started right away.
1. Smoke Daddy Big Kahuna Cold Smoke Generator
The big Kahuna is a passive cold smoke generator and the best ad-on for outdoor cooking. The construction consists of a small firebox with an air hose.
Once you load the hopper with fuel, it generates a lot of smoke. Just make some adjustments and enjoy hot or cold smoke whatever you like.
The Big Kahuna from Smoke Daddy feeds on chunks and chips of any wood type, but sawdust and pellets will not work for it. Despite this, Big Kahuna is a good option for people who use wood.
Compared to other competitors in the market, the Big Kahuna is cheaper and has a smaller fuel capacity of three cups only. The small fuel capacity reduces the smoking time to one hour to 90 minutes.
It is ideal for a short smoking time, but if you need to walk away after fueling the smoke generator, you will need to have a larger fueling capacity. Simply put, the smaller fuel capacity limits its use for small-time, and later, refueling is required.
The Big Kahuna has the same mounting procedure as many other electric smokers from Smoke Daddy. For this, you have to drill a 1-⅛ inch hole in the smoke container to feed the smoke directly to the box from the generator.
You can either use a pipe to connect the generator and the container for directly providing the smoke. The majority of the users have no issues with this alignment and find it as an efficient alternative to conventional ones.
Pros:
- Best for instant hot and cold smoking
- Runs on any kind of wood chunks and chips
- Easy assembly and usage
Cons:
- Shorter smoking time of 90 minutes consecutive before refueling
- Drills a permanent whole into your container after mounting
2. Smokehouse Products Smoke Chief Cold Smoke Generator
This smoke generator from the Smoke Chief is highly efficient and versatile. It requires minimum fuel that is one cup of wood pellets, and keeps producing cold smoke for up to three hours.
The most attractive feature is that this smoke generator works effectively on wood pellets instead of wood chips and chunks. No doubt, wood pellets are far easier to find and cheaper to invest.
This Smoke Chief Smoke Generator’s mounting includes drilling a ⅜ inch hole in the container or a grill. The pipe from the smoke generator passes through this hole into the grilling frame or box.
A narrower pipe requires a smaller hole for tight-fitting, but it will raise clogging issues, and also easily falls prey to blocking. Hence, you will have to be very picky in selecting the type of wood pellets.
Another brilliant feature of this cold smoke generator is that it supports both AC and DC input power. You can plug it to your standard home power outlets or connect it to a 12-V DC power supply.
So, you can take it along on camping, tailgating. This smoke generator can be used for hot smoke as well.
You can also use this smoke generator in your car. Just attach this smoke generator with a 12-V DC battery of your vehicle, and use it as a container. This portable is a must-have if you go for frequent camping.
Pros:
- Works for 3+ hours after one-time filling
- Accepts broadly available wood pellets
- Can work on 110-V AC or 12-V DC supply
- Narrower pipe prevent drilling a hole in the container
Cons:
- Narrower pipes can easily clog
3. Smokemiester Hot or Cold Pellet/Wood BBQ Smoker
Smokemiester smoker is one of its kind that requires no air pump or power supply. This best pellet tube smoker is installed on the covered grills for exceptional BBQ smoking.
It generates pure dense smoke from the outside of covered grills. The heat evolved from burning the air is evaporated in the air leaving behind the cold smoke for use.
The Smokemiester is automated for cleaning itself without disassembling. The burn screen already installed in the smoker allows smoke circulation, which prevents outlet clogging.
This hot or cold smoker is made of stainless steel and polished with fine paint for a catchy appearance. There are no complex components that need any installation guide. The wood knobs resist heating up, so you can use the controls during hot smoking as well.
The mounting process requires drilling a 1⅛ inch hole below the burner for tubing. Once the Smokemiester is mounted, open both lids of the smoker and slide the ashtray.
The stainless steel should cover the outlet tube. Feed the smoker with one cup of wood pellets or wood chips. You can use any one of them, or even a combination is equally beneficial. Slide the ashtray back to its position after igniting the fuel from the torch.
Keep both lids closed for a few seconds and bang! You are now smoking. The amount of smoking is adjustable anytime.
It can provide smoke for 8 hours with 4 cups of pellets ignition. Always remember to burn it for sometime after installation to expel any residues present inside the smoker or tube.
Pros:
- Can be used with wood pellets, chunks, or chips
- Provide 8 hours of smoke when the fuel tank is full
- No power supply required
Cons:
- Not rust resistant
4. Best Cold Smoke Generator for Masterbuilt Electric Smoker: Masterbuilt Slow Smoker Accessory Attachment
The Masterbuilt Electric Smoker is the wisest choice when you are intended to cook food over 200* F cold smoke. You can add a delicious aroma and subtle taste from this smoke generator in your food to treat your tastebuds.
Masterbuilt Electric Smoker is built for those who love to serve meals with marvelous aromatic experience combined with some mouthwatering texture added for intense appeal.
The Masterbuilt Electric Smoker feeds on wood chips and provides cold smoke for up to six hours. You can enjoy uninterrupted cold smoke continuously for hours and cook whatever you like.
The installation requires mounting it with the pre-installed digital smoker. Once the installation completes, you can push the power button.
Once the unit maintains the specified temperature, the wood chips start to burn. The ashes fall on a separate tray inside the smoker making cleaning easy. This smoker is compatible with any wood chips, allowing you to choose your preferred choice of wood chips.
If Masterbuilt Electric Smoker catches your interest, keep in mind that this smoker won’t cook your food. So, make sure to cure meat before cooking it on a cold smoker.
There is a difference between cooking food on hot smoke and cold smoke. The cold smoke does not keep the temperature good enough for cooking food. Hence, you can’t cook your food over the cold flame, but yes, you can spice up your food over cold smoke after cooking.
Pros:
- Produce cold smoke continuously for six hours. Works on “set it or forget it” philosophy
- Works well with any kind of wood chips
- No power-tripping even after kept on for six hours continuously.
Cons:
- This Masterbuilt electric smoker is only compatible with digital smokers.
- You will require two plug-ins for BBQ, one for a digital smoker, and one for cold smoking.
5. A-MAZE-N AMNPS Maze Pellet Smoker for Cold Smoking
This smoke generator is the most convenient, rust-resistant, and easy-to-use cold smoke unit. This maze shaped smoke generator creates smoky flavor and delicious aroma during grilling.
Depending on your desire, you can use hot or cold smoke instantly, whatever you like. The miniaturized size of this A-MAZE-N smoker allows its portable use during camping or sighting.
This smoker is made from premium quality stainless steel, thus eliminating rusting problems. You can remain tension free during its usage. The smoker is also best suitable for all those who don’t want to drill holes in their container and avoid time-taking tubing processes.
The mounting process is relatively easy, with no cords or pipes fitting. Due to its lightweight, it’s easy to carry, easy to wash, and relatively easy as handy.
The previous models required sawdust for fueling. However, the upgraded model works equally for wood pellets and sawdust. Choose whatever suits you, fill the fuel tank, and ignite it. The smoker will perform the same way, whether you use sawdust or pellets.
This smoker was conventionally used for complementing electric smokers only. Now, the upgraded design can be used for grills or any kind of smokers.
The most impressive feature is its smoking time, which is approximately 12 hours. Just fuel the smoker once, and it will not run out of the smoke for half a day. However, keep in mind that the quality of smoke entirely depends upon the type of sawdust or pellets you are using.
Pros:
- Works for 12 hours after fueling
- Works well by feeding with pellets or sawdust
- Rust-resistant, lightweight and small
- Provide hot or cold smoke upon the requirement
Cons:
- Difficult to keep the pellets lit
See also:
- Top 6 Best Gas Charcoal Grill Combo for 2024 Reviews
- Top 10 Best Outdoor Gas Griddles for 2024 Reviews
- Top 5 Best Built-in Grills for Outdoor Barbecue Ideas in 2024
- The Best Smoker for Beginners under $500
What is Cold Smoking?
Cold smoking is not new. Its history goes back hundreds of years, long before people had refrigerators. But how did they use cold smoking? To preserve food. That’s right; cold smoking helps preserve food such as chicken, beef, fish, etc.
Once preserved, it can last for months. Although this process involves heat, it is kept away from the food. Only the smoke, generated by low heat, reaches the food, and adds flavor.
Now, this process is tricky. Only if you regulate the temperature carefully, you can keep your food safe from bacteria that may enter at low temperatures.
Cold Smoke vs Hot Smoke
Simply put, hot smoke allows you to cook the food while adding the flavors. However, the cold smoke only adds the flavors without cooking it so you can preserve it for a long time.
In cold smoke cooking, the temperature should not go above 80 degrees. Whereas, in hot smoke cooking, the temperature should remain between 140 to 300 degrees.
Furthermore, unlike hot smoke cooking, you will need to cure the food to avoid bacteria in cold smoke cooking. Also, the heat and smoke cannot be in the same chamber. In contrast, there is no such restriction in hot smoke cooking.
Lastly, it might take days to cook food using the cold smoke method, whereas the hot smoke method can prepare food right away.
How to Cold Smoke?
The basic process of cold smoking goes like this. First of all, you place the food in a box or chamber. Then, you can pump the cold smoke into the chamber for about 12 to 24 hours.
Make sure to keep the temperature between 20 – 25 degrees Celsius. Also, the fire producing the smoke should not, in any way, reach the food.
Do not forget to cure or brine the food before cold smoking it. This helps draw out the moisture from your food so it can absorb the smoke in a better way.
Curing or brining also helps keep the bacteria away from your food and preserve the food for a long time.
Conclusion
Are you super excited to cook cold-smoked delicacies? It’s no doubt a unique way to add extra flavor to your food. All you have to do is get the right accessories, and you’re good to go. Pick one of the above-mentioned best cold smokers and be the star of the next home party.
All these cold smoke generators can get the work done. However, if you are still unsure which one to buy, or recommendation is the Smoke Daddy Big Kahuna Cold Smoke Generator. It is budget-friendly, works in both modes, and has almost all the features required.
Happy cold smoking!
