Smoking fish at home

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

The enticing, fragrant smoked fish is considered by many to be one of the most desired snacks. Mostly in our time it is bought in the store. Meanwhile, affordable and completely simple ways of smoking fish at home are known. Information about what homemade smoking is, about its varieties, about recipes and recommendations from specialists can be found in this article.

What is smoking?

Smoking of any product is the process of processing it with smoke, which is formed during the combustion of firewood or sawdust. Smoked fish has a special, unique aroma, melting, delicate taste, it easily excites the appetite with its appearance and smell. According to experts, the products that we buy in supermarkets do not at all reflect the full range of taste of this delicacy, so many people decide to smoke fish on their own at home. The result is verydelicious and fragrant snack.

Smoking fish in a home smoker

In order to smoke fish, lard or meat at home, you must have a smokehouse. Today, anyone can buy it: this unit does not take up much space and is affordable. With this device at home, you can cook fish both cold and hot.

For smoking fish at home in a smokehouse, the hot method is usually chosen. This technology is not particularly complicated and allows you to cook the product quickly enough. Hot smoking of fish at home involves the use of a temperature of 90-100 degrees, the process usually takes a little time. During cooking, the moisture is lost by the fish in a small amount, it turns out soft, juicy and tender. However, hot smoked products have a short shelf life. Homemade cold-smoked fish allows you to prepare a treat with a longer shelf life, but it will also take much more time to cook - up to 5 days! The maximum temperature used for cold smoking is up to 40 ° C, moisture is gradually removed from the product, so cold-smoked fish at home is drier than hot-cooked fish. Nevertheless, hot and cold products are in no way inferior to each other in their taste.

Hot smoked: how to chooseand prepare the fish?

Many believe that the best way to smoke fish is hot. For the preparation of delicacies using this technology, low-fat varieties of thawed or fresh fish are chosen. Connoisseurs highly appreciated some river and sea species: carp, carp, pike, catfish, eel, bream, pike perch, herring, pollock, mackerel, sardine, herring, capelin, cod, sea bass, flounder, red fish and sterlet.

Before smoking, carcasses are prepared: gutted and s alted. Predators weighing up to 400 g are not allowed to be gutted, since, unlike other species, their stomach contents do not spread along the belly under the influence of heat and do not contribute to the creation of a bitter aftertaste. Experts do not recommend cleaning the scales - it is needed to protect fish meat from soot and soot.

Placing the fish in the smokehouse

Experts recommend maintaining the air temperature in the smokehouse in the range from 80 ° C to 150 ° C. It will take no more than 2-4 hours to prepare the dish (depending on the size of the product). Raw materials for one bookmark should be selected approximately of the same type and size. The time and temperature of smoking and smoking depend on the type and weight of the fish.

The size of the fixture determines how many fish can fit in the smokehouse at a time. Small fish can be cooked in a small box if you place it so that it does not touch the walls of the structure and each other. If the unit is the size of a barrel, then it will have enough space for cooking medium-sized fish.

Large individuals are recommended to be cut along the ridge and placed for better preparation,deployed in one plane. In a large closet, fish of different sizes will fit: large specimens are laid out below, while a spacer from an alder stick is inserted into the abdomen. If all the shelves are filled with fish of the same size, then it will not be possible to cook it well. Products hung vertically should be tied with twine with a stick inserted into the abdomen and mouth opening to prevent falling of the finished fish.

Ambassador

The technology of hot-smoking fish provides that the process begins with the preparation of the product. One of the most important points is the ambassador. The taste of finished smoked meats largely depends on its quality.

Weak s alting is mainly used, in which the s alt concentration is up to 1.2-1.5%. For 16 kilograms of fresh fish put 1 kg of s alt. The surface of the fish, covered with scales, should be carefully rubbed with s alt. This is done manually. If the back is thick enough, the masters recommend making longitudinal cuts along it and filling them with s alt. In addition, the gutted belly and head are s alted, while the gills are removed. However, the latter is done at the discretion of the chef.

Fatty fish, after s alting each carcass, it is advised to wrap it in a film or parchment to avoid fat oxidation in air (this causes loss of taste). The fish is placed in a bowl in a slide, the lid is used as a small load. It is fixed with wire or oppression is placed on top. The resulting brine is drained. About 2-3 hours are allotted to prepare for smoking large fish.days, small s alted out within 0, 5-1 days. Thawed carcasses can be prepared in 3-4 days. After s alting, they should be thoroughly rinsed under running water. Large ones, moreover, are soaked for about 1 hour.

Marinating

This is another favorite way to prepare fish for smoking. The recipe for the marinade, which is given below, as the masters assure, will certainly give the smoked meat an interesting “zest”. Required:

• fish (any kind);
• white wine (preferably semi-sweet) - 250 ml;
• soy sauce - 250 ml;
• citric acid diluted in water - per glass 1 tbsp. spoon;
• rosemary;
• thyme.

Cooking

Place all marinade components in a deep saucepan and put on fire. No need to bring to a boil! Then the finished marinade is cooled and the fish is placed in it. The mixture should completely cover the product. Marinating should last for 10 hours, so it is recommended to do it at night. After this time, the pickled fish can be smoked.

Smoking process

The smokehouse is placed on the base, under which the fire is kindled. Heating is regulated by the height of the device above the flame, the addition of sawdust or wood chips to the fire, as well as the raking of burning coals. Sawdust and wood chips in the middle of the smokehouse begin to smolder under the influence of heating, while the fish is enveloped in fragrant hot smoke. The cook must make sure that the wooden raw material does not catch fire, otherwise the fish, burnt, may lose its taste.quality. What is happening inside the smokehouse can be judged by the color of the smoke emanating from it: if whitish smoke rises, it means that liquid is currently evaporating from the fish; yellowish indicates that the raw material is burnt. A dry fragrant smoke that begins to rise over the smokehouse half an hour after the start of work indicates that the product is ready.

How is fish done?

The readiness of the fish is judged by the appearance of a characteristic golden brown crust. When broken, the meat freely lags behind the bone and has the color of a boiled product. There should be no traces of blood on the spine.

What to heat?

Masters say that it is best to use alder and juniper as firewood for a smokehouse. But any shrubs and trees growing in the area will do. They use both large chips and young twigs, as well as sawdust, which are placed on the bottom of the smokehouse. It is not recommended to use logs and coniferous branches: they contain a large amount of resins that can spoil the taste of the dish. Various hardwoods are also used for hot smoking: willow, beech, poplar, fruit and berry and fruit, which give the smoked products an original taste and aroma. In the absence of juniper for smoking, you can add its fruits. Many praise alder and mountain ash as the best raw material. To add spice and variety to the aroma, spices are added - cloves, coriander, pepper (black), bay leaf. Some gourmets recommend filling the head and belly of the carcass with herbs, garlic,onion, dill, parsley.

Recipe

There are many recipes for hot smoked fish. Here is one of the most popular. To prepare the delicacy use:

• rice: 100g;
• black loose tea: 30g;
• mackerel (or other fish): 2 pcs.;
• s alt: 2 tbsp. l.;
• sugar: 3 tbsp. l.;
• cinnamon: 1 tsp;
• sauce (soy).

Product preparation

The fish is sprinkled with s alt (2 tablespoons) and sugar (1 tablespoon), cleaned in the cold, left there for 8-10 hours. Then they are washed, dried, poured with soy marinade and left to marinate for one hour. Next, rice is mixed with sugar, cinnamon and dry tea leaves. In a thick-bottomed pan, foil is laid out, folded in 3-4 layers, a mixture of rice with spices and tea is poured on top. A grate is installed in the pan (better, suitable in diameter or regular - from the oven). The pan is placed on a strong fire and heated for 5 minutes. Then the fire is reduced to medium, put the fish on the grate, cover with a lid on top. The fish is smoked for half an hour (after 15 minutes it must be turned over).

Cold smoked

Before cold smoking, a little more s alt is used than before hot smoking. After s alting, it is well soaked (during the day), washed and dried. Large ones are smoked for 5 days, small ones - about 3 days. Spacers are recommended to be inserted into the abdominal cavity of large-sized carcasses. In addition to fish, spices ands alt. The fish prepared in this way is placed in a smokehouse with sawdust. It is smoked with "cold" smoke (the temperature is about 25°C) for 1-6 days (depending on the size of the fish). The more s alted the product, the lower the temperature used for cooking.

Preparation

The cold-smoked fish recipe implies mandatory processing before smoking. Experts say that different types and varieties of the product require different preparation. It is recommended to take into account the weight and fat content of the fish. Consider what preparation methods are provided for different product sizes.

How to prepare small fish?

Small carcasses can not be gutted, using them whole. The fish is washed, special attention is paid to the gills. A little s alt (large table s alt) is poured onto the bottom of an enameled pan. Each carcass is rubbed with s alt (do not forget about the gills!). The fish is laid out in layers, sprinkling with s alt. A plate of smaller diameter is placed on top, on which oppression is placed (a stone or a bottle of water). The fish is left for 2 days, then washed and left for a couple of hours in clean water. After this period, it is hung out for one day in the shade in a ventilated room.

How to prepare large fish?

Carcasses are prepared by removing the entrails and heads. The fish is well washed inside and out. S alting begins with wiping the carcasses with s alt (large). After that, the product is placed in a deep container and left for one day. Next, pour the brine into the container and leave morefor five days. To prepare the brine, s alt (0.5 packs) and water (2 l) are used. Sugar (25 g) is also added there and the pan is set on the stove. Stirring, bring to a boil, add laurel and peppercorns. After cooling the brine, it is poured into a pan with fish. After the allotted time, the carcasses are dried until the liquid stops draining from them.

Is pickling used in cold smoking?

Experts believe that it is best, as a preparatory stage of cold smoking, not to use s alting, but pickling. As a result of applying this method, the fish is more tender and appetizing. In addition, it acquires the flavor notes of the ingredients of the marinade used. The marinade recipe is presented above in the article.

Cold smoking process description

The cold method is considered by many to be more labor intensive than the hot method. First, small fish, for example, perch or roach, 4-10 pcs. strung on twine 70-90 cm long, moving it through the eyes. The ends of the twine are connected and fixed, creating a ring. Large carcasses, for example, bream, carp, are put on a twine 50 cm long, piercing the tails. Tie the fish in pairs with an ordinary knot. Next, the s alting or pickling method is used (the recipes are described above).

First, the fish is soaked from excess s alt. To do this, the carcasses are left in the water: large ones - for one day, and small ones - for several hours. After that, the products are dried or dried. Masters recommend inserting spacers inside large carcasses, which will speed up the drying process. It usually takes up to 3-5 days. A small fish is dried for 2-3 days.

Further, the fish is placed in a smokehouse made from barrels. The smoke temperature should not exceed 25°C. To ensure a sufficient amount of smoke, sawdust or tyrsa are used. Depending on the size of the carcasses, the cold smoking process lasts about 1-6 days.

Storing cold-cooked fish

Smoked fish is wrapped in foil or food paper and sent to the middle shelf in the refrigerator. You can also use a container with an airtight lid. The shelf life of cold-smoked products is about 10 days. Mucus, plaque and an unpleasant odor appear in spoiled fish. Note that decomposition in fish usually begins in the spine.

In closing

Masters also use the method of semi-hot smoking: the fish is s alted during the day, then smoked at a temperature of 50-60 °C. The whole process takes no more than one day. There is also a variant of processing the product with “liquid smoke” (this is the way store smoked meats are prepared). Experts consider it very harmful.