I have a Brinkman smoker with an off-set smoker box. Is that the sort of thing you had in mind by suggesting the smoke should move across the food but away from the heat source? No, that unit is a hot smoker (despite being able to run pretty cool). Cold smoking is done with smoke, period, with a temp around 90° . Picture a pit and a bit up hill from the pit is your smoke house. 10 feet or so. If you don't have a hill just elevate your smoking house...so long as you run the smoke uphill. This smoke house can be an actual shed, hut, house or it can be a cardboard box. I have a buddy who does it using two barrels. One for the fire and smoke generation, one to hang or rack product in, joined by a pipe. About 15 feet of pipe in his case. You light your fire in the pit and clamp it down, now the smoke runs through a pipe (I use diesel truck exhaust pipe, cheap at the junkyard...well cheap enough) to the hut, house, box, whatever you have your product in. By the time the smoke gets to the house it has cooled considerably and you truly are preserving with smoke. Most of the time we are cooking with smoke flavour added. Now, before everyone runs out and starts cold smoking, you have to be able to control and maintain a fire or you will soot up your smoke. Food smoking smoke should be white, with a light gray to it when you add a chunk. Black or dark gray smoke is bad. You have to be able to maintain a steady draft but not too strong or you will make your product bitter. You have to be very certain about your cure or you will die. Certainly you can poop funny for days. I've (mostly) got it down but I still mess up sometimes (too often, really) and ruin a batch. Its an art and it is based on trial and error, not recipes. Tell the truth I only cold smoke oysters, cheeses and salt with any regularity. Once a year we set up to do a big load of semi cured sausages but that is a real weekend of work. We try and do a years worth at that time because it is a real pain to get it done properly. I hot smoke my salmon, if I want a cold smoke type salmon I make gravlax.

Well I'm really sad because I can't find the poached shrimp recipe; I can "see" it and it's in a mag I must have tossed. But this sounds extremely close to what I remember. From Cooks Illustrated. I'll have to try it myself - the interesting part is making stock with the shells rather than cooking them in shells: 1 pound large shrimp (16 to 20 count), peeled, deveined, and rinsed, shells reserved 1 teaspoon table salt 1 cup dry white wine 4 peppercorns 5 coriander seeds 1/2 bay leaf 5 sprigs fresh parsley leaves 1 sprig fresh tarragon leaves 1 teaspoon lemon juice from 1 small lemon 1. Bring reserved shells, 3 cups water, and salt to boil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat; reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until fragrant, about 20 minutes. Strain stock through sieve, pressing on shells to extract all liquid. 2. Bring stock and remaining ingredients except shrimp to boil in 3- or 4-quart saucepan over high heat; boil 2 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in shrimp; cover and let stand until firm and pink, about 8-10 minutes. Drain shrimp, reserving stock for another use. Plunge shrimp into ice water to stop cooking, then drain again. Serve shrimp chilled with cocktail sauce. And the grilled shrimp I absolutely love - haven't made it in a while so it's more involved than I remember. But brining then marinating really makes it great. ingredients 1 quart water 1/3 cup salt 1/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar 1 1/2 pounds uncooked large shrimp, unpeeled 1/4 cup olive oil 2 tablespoons dry white wine 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper Roasted Garlic-Herb Sauce (you can get the link from Epicurious.com - I made it the first time and thought nothing of it. The shrimp are delicious by themselves.) preparation Stir first 3 ingredients in medium bowl until sugar dissolves. Add shrimp. Refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours. Drain and rinse shrimp. Using shears, cut shrimp shells down center of back all the way to tail section. Using sharp knife, cut shrimp in their shells along the full length of the back (do not cut all the way through). Remove vein and pull off legs. Open shrimp. Whisk olive oil, white wine, garlic, parsley, and crushed red pepper in clean medium bowl. Add shrimp and stir; let stand 30 minutes. Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Place shrimp, flesh side down, on grill. Grill shrimp until pink and cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to platter and serve, passing Roasted Garlic-Herb Sauce separately. Bon Appétit, July 2001

another contender ... note the "heads-on" shrimp Barbecued Shrimp The Washington Post, June 27, 2007  Cuisine: American  Course: Appetizer, Main Course  Features: Fast, Kid-Friendly Summary: These are not done on the grill, but rather get their barbecued flavor from the seasoning blend. Because this recipe makes a tasty, butter-rich sauce, serve the shrimp with lots of crusty bread for dipping, or on a platter with cooked rice mounded in the middle and the shrimp and sauce surrounding it. 4 appetizer servings or 2 main-course servings Ingredients:  1 pound (about 2 dozen) large, heads-on shrimp, rinsed and drained  8 to 12 tablespoons (1 to 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter  2 medium cloves garlic, minced  1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce  1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon seafood seasoning blend, such as Chef Paul Prudhomme's Seafood Magic or Blackened Redfish Magic  1/2 cup shrimp or fish stock  1/4 cup beer Directions: Pinch off and discard the portion of the shrimp heads from the eyes forward (including the eyes). Leave as much as possible of the orange-colored fat from the head attached to the body. Set aside. Combine 8 tablespoons of the butter with the garlic, Worcestershire sauce and seafood seasoning blend in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. When the butter has just melted, add the shrimp. Cook for 2 minutes, shaking (versus stirring) in a back-and-forth motion. Add the remaining 4 tablespoons butter and the stock. Cook for 2 minutes, shaking the skillet. Add the beer and cook for 1 minute, shaking the skillet. Remove from the heat and transfer to shallow soup bowls. Serve immediately Recipe Source: Adapted from chef Paul Prudhomme. 245 calories, 15g fat, 9g saturated fat, 207mg cholesterol, 1073mg sodium, 2g carbohydrates, n/a dietary fiber, n/a sugar, 24g protein.

We started grilling pizza this year. We told our friends about it and they had a pizza grilling party about a month ago. The only one that didn't work was the pizza on the open campfire. The cheese wouldn't melt because we had no lid on that one.