Hot Smoking as the name suggests is performed at higher temperatures than cold smoking and actually cooks the food. Hot smoking is usually carried out in the temperature range of 75 – 120 DegC. The temperatures used for hot smoking are not just related to the size of the food it depends on how resilient the proteins are to heat before they begin to denature.
Fish is hot smoked at the lower end of the temperature spectrum around 75 DegC, sausage and small cuts of meat in the middle around 90 DegC and larger cuts of meat at the high end.
Hot smoking is a fantastic way to add flavour to your food, it is much faster than cold smoking and creates mouthwatering results. It is worth bearing in mind that hot smoking is not an effective method of food preservation and your products will require consumption within a couple of days, even if kept refrigerated.