Little Chief Smoker Not Hot Enough...... :( Help!

[fish stalker]

I know what you mean. I had planned on throwing mine out too. Once it fucks up a batch you swear youll never use it again. bradley is the way to go. I have to try that cold smoke. mind you I still am going to make homemade one. I think one that you can hang the fillets from. Some guys ive seen use tooth pics. I used a really long wood skewer and laced a piece between each tine on the smoke rack so they hung down. With your fish I think I would get it up to kill germ temp in the oven then can it. You either have to get up to germ kill temp or freezing kill temp. Im not sure what the actual fish gets to during processing in a canner.

[Labman2]

I've got the Bradley 6 rack. Out here, sometimes it doesn't get hot enough even!
I try for the 140 - 160*, but in Oct. - Nov. when I'm doing most of my smoking, it's a lot colder than it ever gets on the West coast.
If I can't get it to hold the temp., I will finish it off in the oven, 220 for about 45 minutes is plenty good enough, going to can it after anyways.
I do the same with wild game sausage, but it really doesn't matter with sausage, unless your going to eat it right away, freezing it takes care of any bacteria problems, and most people thaw the sausage and then cook it anyways.
I have a couple of Harvest Canners that I use for fish, mostly Kokanee's, 15lbs pressure for 90 minutes is what works for me.
It stays semi moist, not quite as wet as the store bought shit, never bite into a bone and I can add whatever I want, tobasco peppers, lemon wedges, tomato paste, black pepper corns...............

[eaglemaniac]

I prefer the Big Chief top loader. I started smoking with a little chief top loader but found it to small. Front load smokers always lose the heat, not good. There are so many smokers as well as smoking techniques out there. There all good, just find one that works for you and go for it. eman

[Wwunder]

If anyone is throwing out their little chiefs I could use the racks... I dug my dad's old one out of the basement and it has worked ok for me except the racks are getting too rough to use.

[spring time]

a problem of not enough heat is was it plugged into and extention cord that will do it all the time

[fish stalker]

I've got the Bradley 6 rack. Out here, sometimes it doesn't get hot enough even!

It stays semi moist, not quite as wet as the store bought shit, never bite into a bone and I can add whatever I want, tobasco peppers, lemon wedges, tomato paste, black pepper corns...............

Interesting! and omg never thought of canning with pepper corns, lemon etc! awesome!!

Thats interesting Eagle. Its mty little cheif that is top load but my big chief is front load.

Only place ive seen burners or racks for chiefs is CT in Naniamo and Capital Iron in Vic.

[vetteman]

a problem of not enough heat is was it plugged into and extention cord that will do it all the time

Bingo! If you need to use an extension cord as I do when I've got 2 or 3 smokers going, use an heavy gauge extension cord. I've made up a couple of 10 gauge cords just to use with my smokers.
Dave

[juandesooka]

I dunno...I guess you go a little on a "wing and a prayer" on these chiefs. I've had no problem. I was super paranoid about it not being "cooked" too, until you consider what cold smoking is....no heat at all, just smoke flavour. If you've brined it well enough, it's already cured. Could just store it like that and it'd be fine. Smoker isn't really intended to "cook" the salmon ... and in fact, if you have bubbling fat on top, I think your smoked fish will be super dry ... as the moisture has been cooked out. Same if you "finish" it in the oven or bbq....that's baked/grilled fish, not smoked.

If you smoke in summer, I find you get a lot hotter smoked fish than if you do it in winter. I do it about 12 hours in summer, and about 24 hours in winter. Haven't been sick yet.

From what you've said, I think you aren't brining enough. Mix 1 cup coarse salt to 3 cups sugar, 1 cm layer of mix, then fish, then 1 cm layer on top, repeat til full. In a few hours, will have sucked all water out of the fish. Stir it around, move some from bottom to top, leave 12 hours minimum...or up to several days from others on this forum. After that, the fish should be firm if a thin piece or nicely jellied if thicker. If you have thick pieces, cut them in 1" strips down to the skin, so that the salt can get to the middle -- or cut them in half lenghwise (sharp knife!).

I also agree that canning should take care of bacteria ... 200 mins at 15psi means "boiled the crap out of" ... can't see what could live in that?

WWunder: go to local dump, find old stove or fridge, and take out old racks...cut to fit, and perfecto, new racks! :-)

[Big Green Machine]

a problem of not enough heat is was it plugged into and extention cord that will do it all the time

But you can use a heavy duty 14a cord as long as its not too long.

[Big Green Machine]

Actually, I think most of us kind of do a hybrid between hot and cold smoking. Cold smoking is usually 70-90F for two to three days after a good brine to cure and preserve the meat. The fish will be more like lox, which is not smoked but cured in a fridge.

A hot smoke, with a decent smoker, is 220F for 2-3 hours.

From what I have gleaned from previous threads here and on the web, we do something in between like starting the smoker at a very low heat like 120 F for the first couple of hours, then bump it up to 140 for the next couple of hours and then go to 170 for the remainder. Your times will vary because everyone has a different smoker so I check for firmness after 4 hours. This makes great snack food.

If you want a meal and don't have time for a long smoke, use a hot smoke technique and increase the temperature to 225F and smoke 2-4 hours depending on how much meat is on the racks.