Salt is a condiment, right?
I’m curious to know if anyone has tried to make their own smoked salt and if you were satisfied with the result.
I’ve read a lot of articles about making your own smoked salt. Techniques are all over the map - cold smoking, smoking at 225-250, smoking at 350, etc. It seems that if you try smoking at 225 you have to smoke longer (8-12 hours), but at 350 you can smoke for 2-3 hours and supposedly the taste is the same. Armed with that info, I tried to make some applewood smoked salt on my Weber 26 inch kettle and SNS. I used a chimney of lit B&B lump charcoal (which actually may have been overkill) and placed 3 chunks of applewood on top. I made sure that my smoke was wispy and blue before putting my salt on the grate.
I used Maldon Sea Salt and put it on a cheap splatter screen, making sure to spread it out evenly. I put in on the indirect side and let it smoke for 2 1/2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes or so. Initially my temps spiked to 380 but I finally got my temps to settle in at 320-350.
Verdict - honestly, I’m not as pleased with the results as I was hoping. The salt has an off-smell and the taste is not as smokey as I thought it would be. Perhaps the high heat initially messed up my cook. Another thought is I should have completely scrubbed my grate first. I did scrape it down with foil but there may have been enough char on the grates to affect my results.
So, I’m curious... those of you who have successfully created good smoked salt, what worked for you?
I’m curious to know if anyone has tried to make their own smoked salt and if you were satisfied with the result.
I’ve read a lot of articles about making your own smoked salt. Techniques are all over the map - cold smoking, smoking at 225-250, smoking at 350, etc. It seems that if you try smoking at 225 you have to smoke longer (8-12 hours), but at 350 you can smoke for 2-3 hours and supposedly the taste is the same. Armed with that info, I tried to make some applewood smoked salt on my Weber 26 inch kettle and SNS. I used a chimney of lit B&B lump charcoal (which actually may have been overkill) and placed 3 chunks of applewood on top. I made sure that my smoke was wispy and blue before putting my salt on the grate.
I used Maldon Sea Salt and put it on a cheap splatter screen, making sure to spread it out evenly. I put in on the indirect side and let it smoke for 2 1/2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes or so. Initially my temps spiked to 380 but I finally got my temps to settle in at 320-350.
Verdict - honestly, I’m not as pleased with the results as I was hoping. The salt has an off-smell and the taste is not as smokey as I thought it would be. Perhaps the high heat initially messed up my cook. Another thought is I should have completely scrubbed my grate first. I did scrape it down with foil but there may have been enough char on the grates to affect my results.
So, I’m curious... those of you who have successfully created good smoked salt, what worked for you?
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