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[rfinley]

I have a strange request for help. I am brewing a fall beer (think pumpkin) that I said I would never do, but going to !!  The squash is some sort of squash that is closely related to butternut but more meaty, less seeds and lots of sugar. The beer recipe call for 8 lbs of squash, raw and grated to go in the mash. I'd like to have he squash smoke but don't want to cook it. I have a GMG Daniel Boone but on it's lowest setting I'm sure it would cook it. Maybe a foil pan with lid with holes poked in it with moist apple chips below the lower grate in the DB ??

Any suggestion appreciated

[pmillen]

It's difficult to cold smoke something since the desired pit temperature is usually <100°F.  It's unlikely that you can stay that low in your Daniel Boone.

You might try putting a Flexible dryer hose over the chimney and piping the exhaust smoke into a throw-away cold chamber with ice in it, like a cardboard box.  You can upgrade from cardboard when you perfect the process.

[02ebz06]

Do you have a smoke box or smoke tube ?
They provide the smoke with very little heat.
That's what I use when I smoke cheese.

[elenis]

For things that I am cold smoking that don't need a ton of smoke I have a Breville PolyScience Smoking Gun Pro. Using one you could preshred the squash and put it in a container with a lid. Blow smoke into it and let is sit a short while with the smoke and it will get a very smokey taste in just a few minutes. When, people come over and they want smoked cheese and I have run out of the stuff I do on my Mak, I can quickly cut cold cheese and blow smoke in and within 3 minutes you get a very smokey cheese, you don't get the color, but in beer I imagine flavor is what your looking for.

[rfinley]

For things that I am cold smoking that don't need a ton of smoke I have a Breville PolyScience Smoking Gun Pro. Using one you could preshred the squash and put it in a container with a lid. Blow smoke into it and let is sit a short while with the smoke and it will get a very smokey taste in just a few minutes. When, people come over and they want smoked cheese and I have run out of the stuff I do on my Mak, I can quickly cut cold cheese and blow smoke in and within 3 minutes you get a very smokey cheese, you don't get the color, but in beer I imagine flavor is what your looking for.

Thanks for the tip !!  The smoking gun looks interesting.  I need 8 lbs of the grated squash. Do you think doing 1 lb at a time would work ??

[elenis]

I would imagine 1 pound at a time would work well. Potentially you could do more at a time, you would just need a large container to help as much of it get exposed to the smoke as possible. It produces a whole lot of smoke, so even though they say you can smoke inside I typically blow the smoke in outside to make sure our smoke detectors don't get excited. My dogs and kids aren't real big fans of that.

[rfinley]

So, I am trying the smoking gun. To try to smoke as much squash as possible I am thinking about using a plastic bag that
will hold a couple pounds of squash.  Using a clear bag to be sure there is smoke and I will be able to shake it up a bit.

Update....  smoked all 9 pounds today. The smoking gun worked great. I smoked the squash for 5 minutes. Going to try a link to a video of a batch smoking.....
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Puq0p8l0xigLcTIegHUtsGcb82_nivcD/view?usp=sharing

If this doesn't work the link to the video is https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Puq0p8l0xigLcTIegHUtsGcb82_nivcD/view?usp=sharing

Another trick I tried is that the only give you small samples of wood chips with the smoking gun. After about two pounds I was out of apple wood chips. I decided to take some apple cooking pellets and break the up with pliers. The broken up pellets worked better than the chips !!  Didn't break them up to dust and it produced smoke for 5 minutes. Would probably go 7 or 8 minutes.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gqYIBzim_IeuhW053efPpuH3mEpWqayN/view?usp=sharing

Brewing tomorrow so in a couple weeks I'll let you know the end results !!

[Darwin]

I use the mailbox mod with a masterbuilt cabinet for cold smoking.   Works great for everything I have tried.  I did mess up once and melted the cheese

[Bentley]

Since you are new, I want you to know the next comment comes with my tongue in my cheek! 

Pumpkin flavored beer, I probably would have quit drinking much sooner if I would have had to drink that!

[rfinley]

Since you are new, I want you to know the next comment comes with my tongue in my cheek! 

Pumpkin flavored beer, I probably would have quit drinking much sooner if I would have had to drink that!

Been around for a while, back to the pellet head days, and I agree, not a fan of flavored beer. But it is the season for this style of beer. I've been home brewing as long as I've been pellet smoking !!!

[rfinley]

Well, the verdict is in !!!  It turned out GREAT !!!  No pumpkin spices added. Just Grain, Hops, and the smoked Butternut Squash !!! 
Just a subtle hint of smoke.   Thanks to elenis for the tip on the smoke gun !!  It will be a Thanksgiving hit.   Oh Yea, It came in just South of 9.0 ABV !!!

[Bar-B-Lew]

What is your plan for keeping the beer drinkable for another three weeks?  Pardon my ignorance, but I have no idea how long home brewed beer will stay drinkable after the production date.

[Bentley]

xxxx, I would of drunk it just for the ABV!  How is the Head on it?

[rfinley]

What is your plan for keeping the beer drinkable for another three weeks?  Pardon my ignorance, but I have no idea how long home brewed beer will stay drinkable after the production date.

I keg the home brew. Cleaning an sanitation is the trick. I've had 3 or 4 month old beer still taste good. It will be gone before Christmas !!

[rfinley]

xxxx, I would of drunk it just for the ABV!  How is the Head on it?

It's still carbonating, I force carb with CO2.  It should be all set in a couple days.  I had to do some "quality control". I am very happy with the smoke flavor  !!