Which grade?
Cold smoking mazes and tubes, plus hot smoking ovens
Hot smokers, stovetop smokers and smoking guns
BBQ smoke boxes, grills and charcoal
Apple at a glance
Apple
Sweet & gentle. Fruity, mellow, forgiving.
Best withPork · Poultry · Fish
Colour on foodLight gold
Good to knowSoft, fruity and hard to get wrong — the easiest wood to start with. Sweet smoke that won't bully delicate fish or a first attempt.
Details
This is smoking wood ground to a fine dust. Poured along the channels of a maze, it burns slowly from one end to the other, giving a long, cool smoke with no flame once it's lit. That's what wood dust for smoke generators such as the ProQ maze needs; ProQ says its generator gives up to 10 hours of smoke on a fill of its own dust. Chips are too big to smoulder along a maze. Set the maze in a lidded, ventilated space such as a kettle barbecue, a smoker cabinet or a ceramic grill.
Choose from four woods. Oak smoking dust is the classic for cheese, fish, bacon, butter and salt. Apple smoking dust brings the gentle sweetness of apple to cheese and fish, and maple smoking dust is mild and sweet, a gentle choice for cheese. Hickory is the boldest, for bacon and pork.
Sizes are 100g, 500g or a 5L tub. Every bag reseals and the tub is resealable and tamper-evident, which matters because damp dust won't stay lit. The wood is chemical-free. If you usually buy smoking sawdust by the sack from bulk smoking dust suppliers, the 5L tub is a smaller, sealed option that keeps the dust dry between sessions.
For BBQ smoke boxes and charcoal, choose our coarse wood chips. For smoking guns, choose fine wood chips.
Food-safety note: cold smoking adds flavour, but it doesn't cook food. Cheese, butter, nuts and salt need no curing. Fish and meat, such as salmon and pork, must be cured before smoking, using a tested recipe, and bacon and sausages must be cooked afterwards. Freeze wild fish first to kill parasites: the Food Standards Agency's guidance for businesses is -20°C or colder, all the way through, for at least 24 hours, which is colder than many home freezers run. Keep food chilled, and don't smoke above 32°C, as ProQ's manual advises, so cold smoking is easiest on cool days and through the winter. The Food Standards Agency advises pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems to avoid ready-to-eat cold-smoked fish, and older people to be aware of the risks.
Specifications
Find your wood
All four woods come in the same fine 0/20 grade. Start with what you're smoking, then pick how strong you like it.
OakThe all-rounderBeef · Lamb · Game · CheeseDeep golden-brown
AppleSweet & gentlePork · Poultry · FishLight gold
MapleMild & forgivingPoultry · Pork · VegPale gold
HickoryBold & classicRibs · Pork · BrisketDeep brownHow to use
Every setup at a glance
Five stars from me.
Used the bag on a side of trout at the weekend. The small practical details was more important than the packaging. It poured neatly into the tray without much cleanup. This bag arrived really quickly. It poured neatly into the tray without much cleanup. It is still being used, so it still felt right after using it. I used the smoking dust for a light smoke and it was easy to control.
Ordered this bag of smoking dust as a little extra present for my wife. I meant to add a photo but forgot.
FAQs
Yes. This is wood dust for cold smoking mazes and smoke generators, fine enough to smoulder slowly along the channels, and it works in hot smoking ovens and stovetop smokers too. For BBQ smoke boxes and charcoal, choose coarse chips, and for smoking guns, fine chips.
Yes. It's made for cold smoke generators like the ProQ maze. ProQ's manual says to fill the channels level without overfilling, so you can still see the frame, and our ProQ Original Cold Smoke Generator is sold separately.
ProQ says its generator gives up to 10 hours of smoke on a full fill of its own dust. The time varies with the wood, how firmly the dust sits in the channels and the airflow in your smoker, so check it now and then.
Usually it's damp or too loose. ProQ's manual suggests drying the dust for 30 seconds in a microwave or in a low oven, pressing it lightly into the channels, and opening the bottom vent with the top vent slightly open.
Cheese, butter, nuts and salt need no curing, so they're the best place to start. Fish and meat, such as salmon and pork, must be cured first with a tested recipe, and bacon and sausages must be cooked after smoking.
No. The Food Standards Agency advises pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems to avoid ready-to-eat cold-smoked or cured fish, or to cook it until steaming hot all the way through, and older people to be aware of the risks. Cold smoking doesn't kill bacteria, so keep food chilled throughout.
Size. Wood dust is under 2mm, and packed into a maze it smoulders slowly along the channels for a long, cool smoke. Fine chips are about 2mm and coarse chips about 8mm; they're made to smoke in the heat of an oven, a smoke box or a barbecue.
It isn't the best choice. Dust burns quickly in the heat of a barbecue and can block the holes of a smoke box. Coarse wood chips are made for that job and give a steadier smoke on the grill.
Still deciding?
Not sure which wood or grade suits your smoker? Tell us what you're smoking and we'll point you to the right one.
Send us a message support@downthecove.comDelivery and returns
Packed and posted by our own small team.
Complete your setup
In stock today, picked to go with this one.
Est. 2012Down The Cove · founded in Cornwall, 2012
We donate 1% of all profits to Compassion UK, supporting its work with children and communities facing poverty: clean water, healthcare and education. Compassion UK is an independent charity. Visit Compassion UK
