ProQ Steel Food Smoking Cabinet

The Cardboard Smoker
Seven years ago, I bought a ProQ Cold Smoking Kit, which consisted of a ProQ Cold Smoke Generator – a square metal mesh maze, which you load with wood dust and slowly burns from the outside to the centre – and a smoking chamber.

That smoking chamber, surprisingly, was made of cardboard. Essentially it was one box inside another, the outer for stability, the inner with cutouts to hold the food racks. Access was from the top, so you had to load it one rack at a time, and make sure the food you want out first is at the top!

A bottom flap opened for you to insert the smoke generator. For more details of the old kit, see this post.

It actually worked very well, especially for small items like butter and cheese. However, cardboard doesn’t last forever, especially when stored in the garage. A year or so ago, it was smelling musty, so I threw it away. The actual smoke generator was still fine, and is with my BBQ kit. Last year, I successfully cold smoked a few things by placing the generator in my pellet smoker (usually used for hot smoking and grilling).

But when I saw this item, I had to buy it. Functionally the same as the old cardboard box, this is made from galvanised steel, and opens from the front, making loading it with food easy. It has 6 shelf positions, and 3 shelves. They look the same size as my old box’s shelves, so I will be looking for those later, as it means I could possibly double the capacity. But it is also meant for hanging things – fish, sausages, hams – it has the height for this to be quite simple.

It just arrived, and I love it. The steel is a decent thickness, without being too weighty. This is going to last a while.

Now all I have to do is find my wood dust.


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