Because cold smoking can be dangerous when done improperly, you want to make sure you’re getting the best cold smoker from a reliable manufacturer. We’ve reviewed the top five smokers to help you find a reliable option for your needs.
The Best Cold Smokers
- Best Overall Cold Smoker: A-MAZE-N AMNPS Maze Pellet Smoker
- Cheapest Cold Smoker: Meva Smoker Gun Infuser Set
- Best Cold Smoker for All Types of Food: Smoke Daddy Big Kahuna
- Best Portable Cold Smoker: Meva Smoker Gun Infuser Set
- Easiest-to-Use Cold Smoker: Smokehouse Products Smoke Chief Cold Smoker
- Best Smoker for Hot & Cold Smoking: Smoke Daddy Magnum P.I.G.
Our Top 5 Cold Smokers for 2024
1 - A-MAZE-N AMNPS Maze Pellet Smoker (Best Overall)
- Use with grills and cold smoke generators
- Smoke a wide variety of food
- Alternative to a smoker tube
- Best affordable hot or cold smoking generator
- Less temperature control
Who is it for?
Who is it for?
- Beginners and casual smokers
Who is it not for?
- Large volume smokers
Final Verdict
An excellent entry-level cold smoker that is easy to use and versatile. Ideal for beginners and those who smoke occasionally.
The A-MAZE pellet smoker is a 5 x 8-inch wood tray similar to how a smoker tube works.
This model works with grills and smokers of all types and can be used to cook a wide variety of food. If you are looking to purchase the best hot or cold smoking product on the market, you won’t regret considering this model.
It’s a tray that you can fill with wooden pellets or wood chip pieces for up to 12 hours of use. This is a stainless steel build resistant to both corrosion and rust. If you want a larger choice of pellet smokers, read our best vertical pellet smoker reviews.
Specifications:
- Product Dimensions: 5 x 8 x 1.5 inches
- Weight: 0.9 lbs
- Hours of smoking: Up to 12 hours
- Fuel Type: Electric
- Material: Stainless Steel
2 - Smokehouse Products Smoke Chief Cold Smoker (Easiest-to-Use)
- Easy-to-use electric smoker
- Works with all types of wooden pellets
- Easy mount in grill or smoker
- Smokes all meat types
- Higher price than pellet tube
Who is it for?
Who is it for?
- Home users seeking convenience
Who is it not for?
- Commercial kitchens
Final Verdict
A user-friendly cold smoker with electric operation. Suitable for home users looking for convenience and ease of use.
We consider Smokehouse Products Chief the best cold smoker on the market. It is a complete cold smoker generation setup designed to provide massive amounts of smoke using wood pellets.
The smoker can provide up to 3-hours of smoke using just one cup of pellets.
You can try this for many types of food, from cheese to vegetables to infusing smoky flavor into various meat and fish. This is the most impressive cold smoker that we tested.
Specifications:
- Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 4 x 12.13 inches
- Weight: 7 lbs
- Hours of smoking: Up to 3 hours on one cup of pellets
- Fuel Type: Wood pellets
- Material: Stainless Steel
3 - Smoke Daddy Magnum P.I.G. Cold Smoke Generator (Best for Hot & Cold Smoking)
- Simple to use for cold and hot smoking
- Easily portable
- Can be attached to grills and smokers
- Cooks a variety of food types
- Issues with over-smoking
Who is it for?
Who is it for?
- Experienced smokers
Who is it not for?
- Novices
Final Verdict
A robust and efficient smoke generator ideal for those with some smoking experience. Best suited for users who want more control over their smoking process.
The Smoke Daddy Cold Smoke Generator is a smoke generator capable of cold or hot smoking right in the comfort of your home.
You can use this for a variety of bigger food types by attaching it to either a grill or a smoker.
We like how this unique product pumps out premium smoke for that extra smoke flavor you want. The Smoke Daddy smoke generator is built to last as it’s made from heavy-grade aluminum.
Specifications:
- Product Dimensions: 11 x 3.5 x 12
- Weight: 6 lbs
- Hours of smoking: Up to 3 hours on one configuration, and six to ten hours on the second configuration
- Fuel Type: Wood pellets and large chunks
- Material: Stainless Steel
4 - Meva Smoker Gun Infuser Set (Cheapest & Best Portable)
- Portable
- Affordable price
- Extremely easy to use
- Includes additional accessories
- Low-quality material
Who is it for?
Who is it for?
- Chefs and food enthusiasts
Who is it not for?
- Bulk smokers
Final Verdict
A handy and portable smoking gun perfect for infusing smoke flavors into food quickly. Ideal for chefs and food enthusiasts who want a portable solution.
Meva Smoker Gun Infuser Set is extremely easy to use due to its clear-cut design. It has 1 operating button, 2 smoke levels, a flexible hose, and a nozzle.
Also, it runs on batteries, which makes it extra convenient.
The set includes a dome cover and a cup lid. Besides using it to smoke fish, meat, and vegetables, you can also add an extra kick to cocktails and drinks. You’ll only need around 20 seconds to get the right amount of flavor.
Based on how the material looks and feels, the only drawback of this set is its possible short-term durability.
Specifications:
- Product Dimensions: 12.76 x 11.3 x 6.18 inches
- Weight: 2.6 lbs
- Hours of smoking: Smokes in 20 seconds
- Fuel Type: Wood chips
- Material: Stainless Steel
5 - Smoke Daddy Big Kahuna Cold Smoke Generator (Best for All Types of Food)
- Easy to set up
- 1-2 hours of smoke time
- Suitable for all types of food
- Hot or cold smoking capabilities
- Requires frequent cleaning
Who is it for?
Who is it for?
- Versatile users
Who is it not for?
- Beginners
Final Verdict
A versatile and powerful cold smoker suitable for various smoking needs. Best for users who want a durable and reliable smoker for diverse applications.
Big Kahuna works best with a larger BBQ and is one of the more versatile smokers we’ve tested.
It will equip you with plenty of cold smoke. But it works equally well for hot or cold smoking, which is a nice bonus.
You can get about 1-2 hours of generous smoke time from a single fill. We recommend avoiding pellets to get the best quality flavor.
The electric air pump is sold separately. It proved to be very efficient at controlling the burn and getting the smoke started.
Specifications:
- Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.99 x 5 inches
- Weight: 5 lbs
- Hours of smoking: Up to an hour and a half
- Fuel Type: Wood chips or chunks
- Material: Aluminum
What is cold smoking?
Cold smoking is a very old method of cooking where food is dried out using a curing process that removes moisture over time.
The best smoke sessions are done over a longer period, anywhere from 12 to 24 hours and even up to a week or more depending on the meat.
Because this process uses low temperatures, it doesn't cook food the same as grills or smokers normally would. For this reason, it can be unsafe when cold-smoking food improperly. (1)
You can learn more about cold smoking in this blog post.
Factors To Consider When Buying A Cold Smoker
1. Type of Smoke Generator
There are a few different types that we highly recommend when you’re looking for the best cold smoker. The first is the traditional grill or smokers, which can maintain temperatures low enough for smoking. This is the best option if you can swing it. The second is to get a pellet tube smoker or tray, which is the best cold smoker generator on a budget.
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2. Wood Type
Depending on the type of wood that you put in the grill or smoker, you will get a different smoky flavor. First, when looking for the best cold smoker for your needs, you want to consider what food you are making and then let that guide you when choosing the best wood for cold smoking.
3. Portability
If you plan to use your cold smoke generators while traveling, such as cooking fish while camping, you want to opt for a smoker tube or electric cold smoking generator over complete smokers and grills as the former will be more portable. So, if you are looking for portability, be sure to check our review of the best portable smokers.
4. Fuel Runtime
A cold smoker's fuel runtime will be dictated by how many wood chips or wood pellets you can add to the cold smoking generator. With tubes, a 12-inch tube will get you around 5 hours of smoke time, whereas a try of wood chips in a grill can last for a few hours at a time.
Recommended article: Using Wood Chips in an Electric Smoker
5. Ease of Use
The best cold smoke generator is one that you can efficiently operate without much difficulty. Remember that it can be dangerous if not done properly. Cold smoke generators don’t cook the meat but instead cure them. So, you want a cold smoker that is easy for you to operate without trouble, as well as hot smoking capabilities for flexibility.
6. Durability
Another essential feature of the best cold smoker is durability. Durability is going to come down to the materials that cold smoke generators are made from and how well they are put together. Stainless steel tubes are likely to be more durable over the long term than complex grill models and matches. These are both simple and will be resistant to rust and corrosion (2).
What Can You Smoke in a Cold Smoker?
You can make a wide variety of meats and other food in a cold smoke generator. The most important thing to remember is that the best cold smokers don’t cook meat.
For this reason, it’s good to avoid meats that need a high internal temperature unless you want to grill them first and then cold-smoke them to provide a smoky flavor.
Some of the foods include:
- Cheese
- Nuts
- Bacon
- Sausage
- Salmon
- Fruits and vegetables
Best Woods for Cold Smoking
Not all woods are good, with some leaving too strong of a smoke flavor or other strange tastes.
Because the cold smoking process will leave a strong aftertaste, you must choose a type of wood that will taste pleasant and works well with different types of meats and other food.
Some of the best woods that we’ve worked with during cold smoking tests include:
- Hickory
- Mesquite
- Applewood
- Maple
- Pecan
- Alder
- Oak
- Cherry
- Walnut
- Peach
What are the Best Temperatures for Cold Smoking?
Because cold smoking is so dependent on maintaining the proper temperatures, you must keep temperatures below 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.33 degrees Celsius).
It is meant to cure meats and food, so the temperature should stay low for longer periods.
This also means that you should not be trying to rush the cold-smoking process. Make sure you are leaving the meats and food to smoke for a sufficient amount of time at the proper temperatures.
Is Cold Smoking Safe?
Cold smoking is entirely safe if you take the time to do things correctly and understand what you are doing. In a full disclaimer, it is possible to get incredibly sick if you try and smoke meat and end up doing it improperly.
People have died from botulism and other foodborne illnesses that were not eliminated during the cooking process due to not leaving the meat for long enough or not curing it correctly with cold smoking (3).
With normal cooking, these bacteria and parasites are killed off by the high temperatures making the food safe to eat. However, because cold smoking works at low temperatures, the meat needs to cure long enough for these bacteria to be killed off.
Safety Tips
The number one safety tip that we can advise is that you should stick to less risky foods if this is your first-time cold smoking. Try out your first few times with vegetables or fish such as wild-caught salmon. If you want to find out the best cold smokers for fish we strongly recommend be sure to visit this link.
These meats and other foods carry significantly less risk of issues with bacteria or parasites commonly associated with meat illnesses during cold smoking.
Also, don’t try and rush things when cold smoking. The process can take anywhere from hours to days and even over a week with some meat. Always follow any recipes exactly as they say and don’t skip anything.
“Cold-smoked products, however, are not “cooked” and if the incoming product or the facility is contaminated there is no inactivation or inhibition step.”
- USFDA, Processing Parameters Needed To Control Pathogens In Cold Smoked Fish (4)
FAQs
Do I have to drill a hole in my grill to install a cold smoker?
No. You do not need to drill holes in your grill to install a cold smoker. Electric cold smoke generators have a tube that can be inserted in your grill or smoker’s damper or rotisserie hole. With tube smokers, these can be placed on the cooking grates where they will receive airflow.
What is the main difference between hot and cold smoking?
The main difference between hot and cold smoking meats is in the temperatures and the result. Hot smoking raises the temperature of the meat and cooks it through. Cold smoking, on the other hand, slowly dries out and cures the meat to preserve it.
Does cold smoking preserve food?
Yes. Cold smoking preserves meat by slowly drying it out so that bacteria cannot live in it. This process of drying out takes time and will be different for each type of meat.
Which Cold Smoker Did We Choose?
There are many great cold smokers on the market, but after extensive testing and pouring over thousands of reviews, we found the best cold smoker to be A-MAZE-N AMNPS Maze Pellet Smoker.
This smoker does a great job of providing continuous smoke to the meat or other foods, and it can be used both with grills and cold smokers. It is made of stainless steel, proven resistant to corrosion and rust.
We also liked the fact that it can smoke various foods and it's very affordable.
A-MAZE-N AMNPS Maze Pellet Smoker (Best Overall)
Our #1 Recommendation
Rated With Carnivore Style's Scoring System
- Use with grills and cold smoke generators
- Smoke a wide variety of food
- Alternative to a smoker tube
- Best affordable hot or cold smoking generator
- Less temperature control
I bought this hot or cold smoking generator for the top cold smokers mentioned above. This is the best course of action! You can consistently achieve the ideal smoky flavor.