A small cardboard box arrived the other day. It had been the subject of many calls to a certain shipping company we'll call "FedUPS" trying to bring it through Customs.
Inside was "The Smoking Gun" from PolyScience. Yes, the same people who brought you constant temperature cooling/heating solutions have come out with a new gizmo that I'm pretty sure every chef on the planet will want: The Smoking Gun.
Resembling the marriage of a small battery powered fan and a bong, the Smoking Gun is a curious contraption. It comes with a metal stand which I found invaluable in supporting it while trying to light the sawdust that you place in the bowl. Once you've got the sawdust glowing, you can flick on the power an a concentrated plume of smoke will bellow out of the barrel and into or onto whatever you want to flavour with smokiness.
I immediately decided that cheese and tomato would both benefit from being truly "cold" smoked and made a small salad to test out the theory. The effect is quite ethereal -- the end product looks exactly as it did before smoking, registers no temperature change, but has a distinct and nice smokiness to it. Much better than using "hickory smoke powder".
Below are some shots from the salad experiment. I'm planning on smokin' some ice cream soon!
The Smoking Gun is US$49.95 from PolyScience +1 (800) 229-7569.
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