What's worse, smoked or frozen or deydrated?

[PaleoPhil]

Wood? Fire? LOL No, I don't have a wood stove. One nice aspect of the smoking gun is that it doesn't apply any heat at all to the food. It's the only zero-heat smoker I've seen so far that can be used for both indoor and portable use and it works in a couple of minutes, so it may not create enough smoke to set off my smoke detectors; at least, that's what one user claimed.

I suspect that no matter how low you have your wood stove going that you are still applying some heat to the food. I suppose you could try leaving a thermometer in it to see.

[eveheart]

The smoking gun looks like a good idea for its intended purpose - a little smoky flavor, as opposed to food preservation by dehydration in the presence of smoke. The smoke detector is probably the limiting factor. At my last apartment, steam from the shower (!) would set off the smoke detector while I was enjoying my nightly shower. Made me so mad that I took away its battery.

[Dorothy]

So Phil, it seems like the smoke gun wouldn't really be for long-term storage then? That would defeat my present purpose.

It is a bit overkill to buy a complicated appliance designed to pressure cook with a side-benefit of being able to cold smoke - but unless there's a better way to do it that won't get smoke in the house (really bad for my husband - we don't even burn candles) - it might be still worth it if smoking weren't the worse choice (or so it seems from the comments) to preserve the dogs' food (and my salmon too).

I personally do really occasionally like cold-smoked salmon for myself - but by the time you factor in the work and the cost of the unit and finding a place to store it etc. - I might be better off for now still buying my smoked salmon snacks.

If that gun however works that fast AND preserves the fish - I could get one and use it outdoors easily. What's your take on the unit Phil - does the food come out the same as the long-process smoking?

[PaleoPhil]

So Phil, it seems like the smoke gun wouldn't really be for long-term storage then? That would defeat my present purpose.

Correct, it's just a flavor enhancer. Unfortunately for me, standard smokers aren't likely to be allowed at my condo complex.

It is a bit overkill to buy a complicated appliance designed to pressure cook with a side-benefit of being able to cold smoke - but unless there's a better way to do it that won't get smoke in the house (really bad for my husband - we don't even burn candles) - it might be still worth it if smoking weren't the worse choice (or so it seems from the comments) to preserve the dogs' food (and my salmon too).

Yeah, I might still get that device some day, as it more thoroughly enfuses the food with smoke and thus adds the preservation aspect, but I'm not buying bulk meats yet. One upside to the Smoking Gun is that since it only gives a brief shot of smoke, it probably doesn't add as many carcinogens to the food.

If that gun however works that fast AND preserves the fish - I could get one and use it outdoors easily. What's your take on the unit Phil - does the food come out the same as the long-process smoking?

No, it doesn't preserve, but it does look easy to use outdoors on my stoop with an extension cord, so I went ahead and ordered it. Just thinking about smoked meats is making my mouth water. I'm mainly interested in flavor, so my purpose is different, sorry for the tangent.

Ideally, if I lived in the country with rural land of my own, I'd have a small outdoor meat-hanging shack with a hole for a smoker device attached for those times when I want to smoke the meats, eggs, etc. That's what I'd like to do in retirement, along with a chicken coop, fruit trees, a small amount of permaculture plants, a bee hive, fermenting equipment, hunting grounds nearby and so forth.

[Dorothy]

Not a tangent at all Phil! Many people smoke just for the flavor and it's a factor when choosing.

Phil said, "Ideally, if I lived in the country with rural land of my own, I'd have a small outdoor meat-hanging shack with a hole for a smoker device attached for those times when I want to smoke the meats, eggs, etc. That's what I'd like to do in retirement, along with a chicken coop, fruit trees, a small amount of permaculture plants, a bee hive, fermenting equipment, hunting grounds nearby and so forth."

You know, I thought about a small shack in the backyard but with my now six cats I wonder if it would be practical and with close neighbors I wonder about how much smell and smoke would come out and might affect them - if someone would call the fire department on me!    I also don't want to draw predators to my yard with the chickens and soon to be ducks. Unlike on a ranch I am lucky here in the city to have much fewer predators and the only predators I have to worry about are hawks - and the chickens are really smart about avoiding them. Having a outdoor smoker if it attracted predators wouldn't be worth the trade-off.

I'm in the process of the trees, plants and fermenting and am thinking of a top bar hive and even aquaculture for fresh fish after the garden is fully done. The hunting grounds are only the size for the cats.    You wouldn't believe what you can do in a suburban yard! You might not even need much land to make most of your dream come true. At least here in Texas people have ranches and they sell you permits to hunt on them. Often ranchers make more money from that than farming or raising animals themselves. Large ranches necessitate much more work and maintenance. My little setup (once each part is created) takes little effort or time to keep up. Chickens take no time at all and my self-watering planters are a breeze. Let's hope it keeps on like that.