It sounds like the duck wasn’t dry enough. I’ve done quite a lot of salamis now, and had just one go mouldy where I had left it against another and it had not dried fully - it was full-on hairy! Now when I do salami I always turn them daily for the first couple of weeks until they become fairly hard and dry. There’s a minimum moisture content below which most organisms of spoilage cannot grow.
Was your duck breast hanging in a moving airstream of just sat on a flat surface in a closed environment?
The other possibility is that the smoking wasn’t sufficiently thorough to give the full anti-microbial effect that it should, and a sneaky spore slipped through a gap in the coating.
I haven’t tried smoking them yet! The book said to air dry for two weeks first (after the salting etc) and then smoke. They’ve been hanging suspended in a current of air…
Ah, understanding is everything. Then I’d guess the salting has not had the preservative effect - either wrong mix of salts/too dilute or the coating of salts that whould inhibit mould growth had been breached through handling in some way.
Can you use a dehydrator Karen?for food you just need to get to a safe level for cold smoking? I’ve hot smoked for a long time but this year will be my first time cold smoking, one of my adult bratties bought me a starter kit for Christmas.
The dehydrators basically dry very slowly. They’re very popular. But comparing them to cold smoking is probably like comparing making lemon cordial to making lemon vodka. Many more chances to get flavour in with proper smoking / curing cold or hot I would say.
My understanding is that it’s better to air dry PROVIDED you have an environment that isn’t too dry. If the food is dried in too dry an atmosphere, a hard shell is formed on the outside and the inside doesn’t dry out properly. On the other hand, I suspect (rural Normandie you know) that I was drying it in an environment that was too damp
@Debby_Wade I suggest you start with fish because you just salt that for a shortish while, leave to dry a bit in the fridge (a few hours) and Robert is your uncle Then you can cold smoke it. I haven’t had a failure yet with fish - quite the contrary - the smoked salmon we’ve done has been stunning and much better than the commercial stuff! Meat looks considerably trickier to me…
Thanks Angela, I was getting confused, ( normal for me). I do have a great book that came with the cold smoker unit, it gives good explanations & clear advice. Fish will be my first experiment but meat will quickly follow and I’m looking forward to experimenting with fruit & veg
Yes, starting with fish is a great confidence builder because it doesn’t need great precision. Following Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s very rough-and-ready guidelines we started with smoked haddock, rapidly followed by the more sustainable option, smoked pollock. We’ve had some gorgeous meals with those (all cold smoked).
Having rigorously followed the instructions in my book for drying and then smoking duck breast, I have to sayit is a complete disaster. On both occasions the duck breasts had mould on after “drying” (we even used a hydrometer, hygrometer? to check the room conditions). On the second occasion, not only was there mould but the meat had gone black.
Has anyone had any success preparing duck breasts for cold smoking? This is proving to be a very expensive waste of a favourite food
Hello Debby - thanks for getting back to me! This has been a depressing experience
The book I followed was Turan T. Turan’s “Smoking, Curing and Drying”.
His recipe involves curing the duck breast, then drying it (for ages) and then smoking it. Struggling through the youtube videos, the French ones seem to advocate curing (with loads of salt but not for that long), then flavouring and smoking, and then drying (in the fridge).
My book is by a couple that used to have a professional smoke house in Cumbria but now run classes, Jo Hampson & Georgina Perkins, they get brilliant reviews. He puts the duck breasts, skin on, in a brine solution for 3 hours, rinse thoroughly, pat dry or dry in fridge overnight, then cold smoke 2-3 hours depending on how Smokey you want it. He recommends weighing before smoking as they need to loose around 20% of the original weight, but don’t get too hung up on it. The strength of the brine is up to you, he suggests various strengths from fairly weak to strong, depending on how strong you want the smoke flavor.
I haven’t tried poultry yet but his instructions for fish were perfect and I found it straight forward. Will you be hot smoking it or oven cooking?
I was going to cold smoke it to eat finely sliced with salad - there is a lot of that in the supermarkets here but of course I wanted to have a go!! The method in your book is very like the ones I’ve seen in French videos i.e. smoked first and dried afterwards. Hmmm… may risk another go before I give up completely
I seem to have had reliable success with fish, which does appear to be a great deal easier! I’ve not tried hot-smoking yet.
No Traditionally Beech is used. Most Smokers use this for Salmon (coho, sockeye or silerbright), Trout, Halibut, Eel, Tuna etc. with 10 - 12% moisture.
Then you can cold smoke it. I haven’t had a failure yet with fish - quite the contrary - the smoked salmon we’ve done has been stunning and much better than the commercial stuff! Meat looks considerably trickier to me…
