I was given the brilliant 'Home Smoking and Curing' by Keith Erlandson as a present (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Home-Smoking-Curing-Keith-Erlandson/dp/0091927609/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338928839&sr=8-1), and would really like to put it into practice on some of our pig-meat. We both love smokey bacon, and I have been really fortunate to discover a smashing 4 drawer filing cabinet in one of the outbuildings:
This will be the basis of my cold-smoker, there are several articles on the 'net about this type of smoker, of which this is one (http://www.downsizer.net/Articles/Cooking,_preserving_and_home_brewing/Filing_Cabinet_Hot%10Cold_smoker/). I think Erlandson's basic method of using a gas-ring below a hot-plate is better than the charcoal idea above, but we'll have to see 'on the day'. In terms of sawdust for smoking, on Tymawr Farm we have Oak, Ash, Wild Cherry, Eucalyptus, Beech, Birch, Apple, Poplar, Hazel and I'm sure many more.
Erlandson's advice is that 'Oak is traditional, but beech, ash, elm, sycamore and hickory are all perfectly suitable, or any mixture of these.' [ISBN 978-0-09-192760-8, page 27], so it seems sensible to start with Oak, although I think that Cherry and Apple sound quite appetising, so once we've got a bit of experience I think we should experiment with those.
