Smoked Salt

[Winz]

@SixZeroFour and I have been conversing about some ideas on smoked salt.  I have purchased and used smoked salt before with great results, but decided to make a batch of my own.


The tools: I cut the handle off a splatter guard to use as my screen.  The salt of choice is Maldon, one of my favorites.  Maldon is made from seawater collected from the Blackwater River in England and has been continually produced since 1882.  It consists of flakes, fine shards, and small pyramids.  I use it as my go-to finishing salt for just about any dish.  My logic for picking a finishing salt is that the smoke would be more noticeable on the food (as opposed to a salt that you add while cooking).








Wapiti gets the call.  I used 1 chimney of Stubbs, 1 chimney of lump, and 1 chimney of fruitwood to provide the smoke, and used a water pan to keep some humidity in the smoker..  I dialed up 190 on Wapiti's ATC and went to bed, planning on a 12 hour smoke.








The payoff:





I put a pinch of the original salt next to the smoked salt to show the color change.  The salt on the outer edges of the ring is dark and smokey - just what I am shooting for.  The rest of the salt got some nice smoke, but I want it to be more intense.  Next time I need to make sure I am raking the salt every couple of hours to get consistent smoke across the batch.


I plan on doing another 6 to 12 hour session with this batch to get it where I want it.  The taste is fantastic and should do well as a finish on steaks, steamed/grilled veggies, and eggs.


Winz

[austin87]

Nice! I've got this on my list to do and give out as Christmas gifts.

[SixZeroFour]

Wow, you don't mess around Winz! Way to dive right in there and get it done!

So a whole chimney of fruitwood!? I'm sure glad you went first as I would not have loaded that much in on my inaugural run! It makes complete sense to me now looking at your experiment and results, but I would have been nervous of possibly having too much smoke. I'm going to try to track down some alder wood as that salt you had sent me before had really awesome flavour.

Thanks for being the guinea pig and sharing some pointers! and the splatter shield as a screen is another great idea

[Winz]

So a whole chimney of fruitwood!? I'm sure glad you went first as I would not have loaded that much in on my inaugural run! It makes complete sense to me now looking at your experiment and results, but I would have been nervous of possibly having too much smoke.

I don't think you can have too much smoke with salt, unless its "bad smoke" (e.g. KBB when it first lights up).  I used Stubbs and tried to limit the number of briquets/lump to just enough to keep the fire going.  I wanted to maximize the flavor of the smoke by using as much fruitwood as possible in the mix.  Even so, after 12 hours of pretty heavy fruitwood smoke, I am still a bit short of the intensity I think it needs.


The obvious downside to this strategy is that wood cost a whole lot more than charcoal.  At least the salt is inexpensive.


Winz

[feeshrman]

Very interesting! BTW I love the antler handle on your smoker. Is that a butcher block counter top or cutting board?  Stupid question, but Did you combine all the different wood at once or at intervals? Just dump the coals in or did you use a snake method?

[Winz]

Is that a butcher block counter top or cutting board?  Stupid question, but Did you combine all the different wood at once or at intervals? Just dump the coals in or did you use a snake method?

It is a walnut cutting board I had made.

I put all the fuel in my charcoal basket and dumped 1/2 chimney of Stubbs on top. Minion method.
Winz

[Johnpv]

I've done this before to regular old kosher salt, though I did it with a cold smoker.  It is really important to keep moving the salt, as you can tell.  I was surprised how much smoke flavor it can add to foods when you add it during cooking.

[swamprb]

I've done this before to regular old kosher salt, though I did it with a cold smoker.  It is really important to keep moving the salt, as you can tell.  I was surprised how much smoke flavor it can add to foods when you add it during cooking.

Same here! Cold smoking and moving the crystals has its benefits. Perforated pie pan.





French Oak Cabernet smoked garlic salt

[SixZeroFour]

^ That fresh made garlic salt sounds dangerously good.

When you guys say "cold" smoke, just how low are your temps?

[Johnpv]

I used a perforated pie pan the first time too, though I think the oil splatter stopper works better.   It doesn't even get warm in my smoker when I say cold smoked.  I use one of the a-maze-n smokers.  So it's just burning the saw dust, so it doesn't even get warm enough to register on the lid thermo. I do salt the same way I would do cheese or bacon. 

[SixZeroFour]

@Johnpv Thanks for this post! I just received my a-maze-n pellet smoker (for cheese) but wasn't sure if it would put off enough smoke for the salt so this is excellent!

Was also able to find some of the Maldon salt so this IS happening any day now!