How to Make a Smoker From Pots

Turn an ordinary kitchen pot into a food smoker.

There are two basic types of smoking: hot and cold. Cold smoking is used to preserve food and is done at very low temperatures over many hours in large smokers. Hot smoking is a method of smoke-cooking food to cook and infuse flavor, but not preserve. Hot smoking can be done in your kitchen with an improvised pot smoker.

Things You'll Need

• Pot with tight-fitting lid
• Aluminum foil
• Wood chips or sawdust
• Smoking recipe
• Stacking cooling racks
• Plate or cake pan
• Meat, poultry or fish
• Stove

Instructions

1. Place a large pot on your stove. The pot should have a tight-fitting lid and should not be Teflon or aluminum.

2. Line the bottom of the pot with two large sheets of aluminum foil that cross each other over the bottom of the pot and hang about halfway down the outside of the pot.

3. Sprinkle wood chips or sawdust onto the bottom of the aluminum foil--covered pot. Check your smoking recipe for the appropriate quantity.

4. Place a stackable cooling rack into the pot. Stackable cooling racks have small legs that are usually around 2 to 3 inches high. Place a plate or a cake pan on top of the rack for catching fat and juices released by the smoking food. If the juices are allowed to drip onto the wood chips or sawdust, they will stop smoke from forming.

5. Place a second stackable rack on top of the first, then place the food you want to smoke on the rack.

6. Place the pot on a stove on high heat until you see that the wood chips or sawdust have started smoking. Place the lid on the pot and fold and crinkle the aluminum foil up around the lid to create a seal. Smoke for as long as your recipe requires. Open the pot smoker outside or under an exhaust range.

References

• Coquinaria; How to Smoke Fish (and Other Food); Christianne Muusers