Smoking somthing else a little out of the norm.

[LightningBoldtz]

I have posted before on smoking cheese which I love but I wanted to try something a little different

My wife last year bought me a bottle of Alder smoked sea salt.  I don't know if you have tried it but smoked sea salt is amazing.  The scent is really nice and the flavor even better.

So what better way to break in my new 18 OTG than to smoke sea salt

Pics:
Prepping the grills with Lump charcoal


Two pans - soaking chips Mesquite and Hickory


End result - I have to say maybe it is the wood type but I am not thrilled with the smell of this batch.  I am going to try cold smoking next with apple wood and trying another hot smoke with alder and with apple.

[1buckie]

 Never have got round to doing this.....Mesquite may be the culprit.....it tastes good on heavy stuff like beef, but might be a bit much for this more delicate thing.......just from remembering what I've read....

Is it indicated to soak chips for this type of smoking?

Some kinds of smoke flavoring needs the slow, heavy smoke to flavor the product.....don't recall if salt is one.....

Nice Bluey !!!!

[LightningBoldtz]

I think it is going to require some revisions and testing to perfect it.  I think I will have us smaller sample sizes.

[G$]

LB, how long did you smoke it?

I think I might just set a small cup on the grate tomorrow when i fire up the WSM.  I was thinking just an hour at low temp?

[Metal Mike]

Keep us posted of your success & I concur w/ 1buckie on the Mesquite tho

Thanks

[LightningBoldtz]

I went for a good 3 hours, I was going by color, the alder wood smoked salt was much darker than the ones that I did.

Let me know how it works for you.

[pbe gummi bear]

I find this quite interesting. Kudos for experimenting! Do you know what temperature it was at? I would be interested to see how your method would compare with cold smoking with just wood.

[LightningBoldtz]

I find this quite interesting. Kudos for experimenting! Do you know what temperature it was at? I would be interested to see how your method would compare with cold smoking with just wood.

pretty much about 300 degrees

[1buckie]

 here's one thing i found that kind of confirms the things I was remembering having read about this & the guesses I was thinking of also :

http://www.theroguegourmet.com/blog/methods-and-techniques/smoking-salt/

[G$]

 here's one thing i found that kind of confirms the things I was remembering having read about this & the guesses I was thinking of also :

http://www.theroguegourmet.com/blog/methods-and-techniques/smoking-salt/

I had not considered this:

5. Resist the Urge - Smoking Salt when Your Smoking Other Foods is Not a Good Idea
Fastest way to mess up your smoked salt? Smoke it with a pork butt, a slab of ribs, or god forbid a fillet of salmon. Don't do it! Salt takes up the flavor of cooking meat faster than it does the smoke - and the effect is not good. If you are thinking "oohhh! bacon salt!" this isn't the way to do it, trust me. Yuck.

[Troy]

definitely cold smoke next time

cold smoke for 6 to 10 hours if you can, keep the heat as low as possible. stir a couple times in the process.

[MrHoss]

Alder smoke is very light tasting while mesquite and hickory are the opposite.  The type of wood may have been the problem.

[rivercityjeff]

Moderation is the key for mesquite smoking. 

Use much less mesquite than apple or hickory.  Avoid wet mesquite! 

[Johnpv]

I've done this a bunch of times myself.  I love smoked salt to sprinkle on stuff.  The way I've always done it is to cold smoke it, and I'll use either apple wood or hickory.   Hickory seems to give a nice overall smoke flavor to the salt.   I also usually go at least 6 hours, with shaking or stirring the salt every like hour or 2 hours.  I also find it works better if you can spread the salt out in as thin a layer as possible. 

[LightningBoldtz]

As a followup to this, after two or so weeks the strong scent has mellowed a lot.

Pics later but I decided to do a part 2 cold smoke.