Cold-smoked trout: fish preparation, recipe, cooking tips. Which smoke generator is best for cold smoking trout

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

This juicy, tender, noble fish can serve as an exquisite decoration for any feast. Of all the salmon, the river rainbow trout is the most common on the Russian market (price per 1 kg - from 590 rubles). This fish is good in any form - it is boiled, stewed with vegetables, s alted, fried, grilled. Chilled sea trout is also good (price per 1 kg - from 990 rubles). Nutritious, unusually tasty and extremely he althy fish with a pleasant pinkish flesh is used to prepare delicious salads and snacks. It is very popular among amateurs in smoked form. Connoisseurs consider cold-smoked trout to be especially tasty and he althy. A self-cooked delicacy is called by many a truly royal dish. Unfortunately, not always the first experiments of cold smoking of thiswonderful product are successful. Often, novice anglers ask the question on the forums: how to smoke cold-smoked trout correctly? In our article, we will share some of the secrets of this process.

What is the use of smoked trout? What are the contraindications?

In addition to the exquisite taste, this product is famous for its beneficial effects on the body. Cold smoked trout is preferred by people who care about their he alth. This fish is recommended to be included in a sports and dietary diet, as well as in the diet of people who need to increase efficiency, get rid of hypertension and depression. The unique omega-3 acids contained in it help strengthen blood vessels, improve the functioning of the nervous and digestive systems, and the brain.

Cold-smoked, rich in minerals, vitamins, proteins, fats and carbohydrates, this easy-to-digest fish retains most of its he alth benefits.

The use of this product is not recommended for serious diseases of the liver and kidneys, intestines, ulcers, as well as in the presence of individual intolerance.

Smoking Basics

This process is the treatment of products with smoke from smoldering sawdust. Smoke with a temperature of 40-120 degrees is used for hot smoking, 15-30 degrees - for cold. Hot smoking is done quite quickly (from one to several hours). Cold is a long process that requires patience. Direct smoking (excluding time,necessary to prepare products) may take about 1-5 days.

During the process, it is necessary to ensure that the smoke flows continuously and fills the entire space of the smokehouse. Products are dried evenly, being impregnated with aldehydes, phenols and resinous substances contained in its composition. In the process of cold smoking, they lose moisture and are saturated with a specific taste and aroma.

Before being sent to the smokehouse, the product must be properly prepared. Fish, meat or lard are pre-s alted in brine. You can use a mixture of s alt and spices for this. Before the start of cold smoking, the products must already be edible. After its completion, meat or fish, if necessary, can also be additionally subjected to heat treatment.

About the device smokehouse

Cold smoking is carried out both in the open air (in the country house) and in a city apartment. The equipment for these conditions is somewhat different. The smokehouse consists of a smoking chamber, a chimney and a pipe that serves to connect the source of smoke and the chamber with products.

Outdoor Installation

On the street, the smokehouse is installed as follows. A recess is made in the soil, intended for making a fire, a trench is laid from it to the smokehouse, conducting smoke. The trench is covered with boards and covered with earth from above. As a smoking cabinet in the country, any metal container is used, for example, a barrel without a bottom. If smoking is done one-time, the chamber is simply covered with a film, fora regular closet is upholstered with boards or even covered with bricks.

Installing a smokehouse in the apartment (on the balcony)

To install in a small city apartment, you will need a more compact device. It is desirable that it is airtight and does not let smoke through. The smoking chamber is installed at a height of about 0.5 m. The stove pipe is inserted into the smokehouse opening at an angle of 20–45 degrees. Wood with sawdust is loaded into the oven and a fire is kindled. 10 minutes after the firewood has ignited, the blower should be closed (the stove will cool down in 5 minutes). The flue pipe is inserted at the right angle into the opening of the smoking chamber, the container is closed with a lid, after which the smoking process begins. Turn on the compressor, set fire to firewood and sawdust. The smoke from the generator goes to the prepared products. The temperature should vary between 25-35 °C. It should be noted that exceeding the temperature to a level of 40 ° C is fraught with the risk of getting fish that is not cold smoked, but boiled, as in the hot method.

The duration of the smoke treatment depends on the size of the semi-finished products, usually it is 8-24 hours (sometimes longer). At the end of the process, the carcasses are hung out on the street. This is necessary so that they are ventilated from excess smoke and ripen. During this time, the pulp of the product becomes more tender and fragrant. As a homemade smokehouse, any suitable container is used - a box or a barrel. For cold smoking, even a thick cardboard box (capacious enough) with a small smoke generator, located onbalcony.

Which smoke generator is best for cold smoking trout?

If you can use a device made by yourself to process fish in the country, then in an apartment, according to experts, home-made equipment is indispensable. One of the best options for cold smoking in an apartment is the HANhi smoke generator, which consists of a small smoking chamber and a woodchip container connected to each other with a hose. The device is powered by electricity and is very compact.

About homemade smoke machine

With a strong desire and the presence of certain skills, you can create this device with your own hands. The device provides 8 hours of burning - just enough for cold-smoked trout. A homemade smoke generator consists of an internal spiral partition and a mesh tray in which sawdust is placed. The partition does not allow all the sawdust to heat up at once, so the smoke is released gradually. The device is placed directly on the bottom of the smokehouse installed on the balcony, which should be well ventilated.

How to cold smoke trout: preparation

Before you start smoking, you need to prepare the fish. The first stage of preparation is cutting the trout. It should be gutted as thoroughly as possible. This process should be taken very seriously. After removing the head, the carcass is laid along the length of the spine, then the vertebral bone is cut off. The ribs are also removed, if necessary, the fillet is cut into pieces.

S alting (continue to prepare for smoking)

This stage is also one of the most important in the preparation of cold-smoked trout. How to prepare fish? There are two types of s alting: wet and dry. Wet s alting is effective for maximum fish disinfection. It consists in soaking the fish in a concentrated saline solution (pickling). If you have enough time, you can make a 5% s alt solution and soak the fish in it overnight. If time is not enough, prepare 25% and keep the fish in it for 2 hours. In both cases, spices and herbs are added to taste. The technology of dry s alting is much simpler: the fish is laid in layers in the selected container and sprinkled with s alt.

Technology description

The process of cooking cold-smoked trout consists of several stages:

1. The prepared fish is hung in the smokehouse so that its carcasses or pieces do not touch each other - they must be completely enveloped in the incoming smoke.
2. Fire wood (in a homemade device) or wood chips (in a smoke generator). The temperature of the smoke entering the smoking cabinet should not exceed 25-30 °C.
3. During the first 12 hours, the smoke must continuously flow into the smoking cabinet, then small pauses are allowed, so one person may well keep the smoker in working order.

Cooking delicious fish

The cooking process for this trout recipecold smoking will be greatly facilitated when using a purchased automatic smoker. If this is not available, you can build the device with your own hands. Before the start of smoking, in accordance with the technology, the fish is gutted, washed and marinated. Marinade is prepared from the following products:

• 1 liter of water;
• 180 grams of s alt;
• 80 grams brown sugar;
• dried dill;
• bay leaf;
• ground black pepper (optional).

Put s alt and sugar into water, bring to a boil, add other spices, remove from heat and cool. Pour the prepared fish with marinade (cold), send it to the refrigerator for 7-8 hours. After the set time, the product is taken out of the brine, soaked for half an hour in clean water. The carcasses are then dried. To do this, they are hung on hooks and left for 7 hours in a place accessible for ventilation. After that, the fish is placed in a smokehouse, in which it is cooked for about 12 hours at a temperature of 25-28 ⁰С. Next, the product is taken out of the smokehouse and ventilated in a draft for 10-12 hours. When finished, the dish can be considered ready to eat.

Another recipe

Ingredients for making brine (per 1 kg of fish):

• 1 liter of water;
• 2 tbsp. l. lemon juice;
• 4 tbsp. l edible s alt;
• 3 carnations;
• allspice - 3 pcs.;
• black peppercorns - 5 pcs.;
• 1-2 bay leaves.

Brine is cooked from all the components presented, with the exception of lemon juice. Cool downstrain, then add lemon juice. The trout is placed in a marinating container, poured with the prepared composition, pressed down with oppression from above and, covered with a lid, left for a day in the refrigerator. After this time, the fish is taken out, washed and dried with paper towels. Then smoked, as in the previous recipe.

Another way (the easiest)

To prepare marinade for 1 kg of trout use:

• 1 liter filtered water;
• 30 grams of sugar;
• 90 grams of s alt.

Boil water, dilute s alt and sugar in it. If desired, add bay leaf, garlic, a mixture of peppers, shallots. Then the brine is cooled, the prepared fish is poured over it, pressed down with oppression and sent for 8-10 hours in the refrigerator. At the end of pickling, the trout is washed and dried. The fish is then hung outdoors. It should be dried and withered for 12-24 hours at a temperature of 25 ° C, in conditions of good ventilation and protection from insects. After that, the fish is placed in a smoker for 12 hours.