I just tried cold smoking a batch of home-made all-beef hot dogs. I hung the dogs in relatively short links from S-hooks attached to the top grate on my 18.5" WSM. I placed a block of ice into the water bowl, and used a very small amount of charcoal, with apple wood for the smoke.
Despite my best efforts, the links were long enough to dangle onto the ice in the bowl. There just wasn't enough depth to permit the dogs to hang right. The smoke was not distributed unevenly.
Note that my aim was not to cook the sausage, but to impart a smokey flavor to them. After smoking, I parboiled them in water to an internal temp of 142, then placed them in an ice bath to cool.
I began thinking about how to get more depth inside the smoker, and had the idea of buying another middle section (with the door assembly), and simply stacking two middle sections together. That would put the top grate about 27-28" above the bowl - plenty of room to hang links of sausage and get even smoke distribution. I looked carefully at how the sections fit together, and can't see any reason why the middles would not stack properly.
I called Weber today, and learned that the middle section costs about $125 and the door assembly about $15. Shipping is $7. Not cheap, but a lot less than adding another piece of equipment to the inventory by buying a box smoker.
Has anyone else tried this? Any thoughts on this modification? Any other ways people have found to do cold smoking in the WSM?
Thanks.
Despite my best efforts, the links were long enough to dangle onto the ice in the bowl. There just wasn't enough depth to permit the dogs to hang right. The smoke was not distributed unevenly.
Note that my aim was not to cook the sausage, but to impart a smokey flavor to them. After smoking, I parboiled them in water to an internal temp of 142, then placed them in an ice bath to cool.
I began thinking about how to get more depth inside the smoker, and had the idea of buying another middle section (with the door assembly), and simply stacking two middle sections together. That would put the top grate about 27-28" above the bowl - plenty of room to hang links of sausage and get even smoke distribution. I looked carefully at how the sections fit together, and can't see any reason why the middles would not stack properly.
I called Weber today, and learned that the middle section costs about $125 and the door assembly about $15. Shipping is $7. Not cheap, but a lot less than adding another piece of equipment to the inventory by buying a box smoker.
Has anyone else tried this? Any thoughts on this modification? Any other ways people have found to do cold smoking in the WSM?
Thanks.