All the sudden I find myself looking at things wondering if I can smoke them. Now I realize that might cause a raised eyebrow unless of course you’ve happened to read one of my very first posts which was about a cold smoker product that I just love – the A-Maze-N Smoker.

Smoked food usually conjures up images of slow cooked meats smothered in barbecue sauces, and I certainly have nothing against hot smoking but when I discovered cold smoking I found a whole new world. Because it doesn’t impart any heat the sky is the limit. The process is simple. Fill the A-Maze-N Smoker with sawdust of your choice (they have a wide variety – everything from hickory to orange and wine barrel) and then we use the barbecue just as a means to contain the smoke. Add whatever sounds like it might be good smoked, light the cold smoker, close the lid and come back 8 hours or so later to revel in the smoky goodness.

Whenever we smoke, there is always cheese involved – cheddar, mozzarella, fancy cheeses, even mozzarella sticks. It’s great used on pizzas, quesadillas or just eaten with crackers and a nice glass of wine.

Another favorite is green olives and we also smoke the brine. After they are smoked we put both back in the original jar and store in the fridge. The olives are fantastic added to bloody Mary’s and the juice puts an interesting twist on a dirty martini.

We’ve also smoked shallots, garlic, vodka, sea salt and a couple more things that are so interesting they get their very own blog posts coming soon.

Adds a whole new meaning to smoke ’em if you’ve got ’em.