Hot smoked sturgeon, features of cooking at home

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

Sturgeon is truly a royal treat. Especially if its carcass is cooked entirely by hot smoking. With such a dish, the table setting will be transferred to the palace chambers, but the price will also match them. Much cheaper and tastier than home-cooked hot-smoked sturgeon.

Why sturgeon?

Sturgeon liked even our ancestors, because it can certainly be called the royal fish. She has a rather imposing appearance with an upturned elongated nose and bony rows of tubercles on her back. In addition, the white meat of sturgeon is very nutritious and tasty in any form. Sturgeon is rich in amino acids, easily digestible fish oil, iodine and vitamins.

By the way, a kilogram of hot-smoked sturgeon in Moscow costs an average of three thousand rubles. While the price of a fresh carcass will be two times lower. Therefore, it is more expedient to smoke the fish yourself. Plus, it's easy to do at home. Taskeven novice cooks can do it.

Smoking temperature

Smoking is a common type of canning. The fish is first s alted, then dried and processed in a smokehouse. Depending on the temperature, three cooking options can be distinguished. These are hot, semi-hot and cold smoking. In the first method, it is recommended to process fish at a temperature of plus 90-100 degrees. But in this case, in order not to spoil the dish, the carcass must be quite fatty. Semi-hot smoking is carried out at a temperature of plus 50-80 degrees. The advantage of this method is that the fish is especially tasty and has a long shelf life. Cold-smoked sturgeon is cooked at temperatures up to plus 45 degrees. With this method, the moisture evaporates longer, and the fish is dryish.

Carcass selection

If you want to cook hot smoked sturgeon at home, then pay special attention to the choice of fish. It is best to take a chilled rather than a frozen carcass. It can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than two days. Freshness is easy to determine by the eyes - in a stale fish, the pupil will be cloudy. Also, when choosing, try pressing on the side with your finger. If the dent disappears immediately, then the sturgeon is fresh. But the size of the fish does not matter, both large and small specimens are suitable for smoking.

Preparation for smoking

If you want to surprise your loved ones with a spectacular dish, then smoke the whole sturgeon. Leave the head and growths on the back, and remove the scales and entrails. In general, sturgeon is cut in the same way as any largefish. First you need to clean it, gut it, and only then cut off the head and growths on the back. Chefs recommend following this sequence. If the fish is too large, then it is better to cut it into pieces up to five centimeters thick so that the carcass marinates better.

Now you can go to the hot smoked sturgeon recipes. The article will look at how to cook it in a smoker, oven and liquid smoke.

Sturgeon in the smokehouse

For one kilogram of sturgeon you will need the following ingredients:

• Table spoon of s alt.
• Half a teaspoon of sugar.
• Pepper and other spices to taste. It is important not to overdo it with spices so as not to overshadow the delicate taste of hot smoked sturgeon.
• 100 grams of cognac (or dry white wine).

Put the prepared fish into a saucepan or a deep bowl. Add s alt, sugar, spices and mix well. Cover tightly and refrigerate for about a day.

When the sturgeon is pickled, fill it with alcohol. Refrigerate again for a day or two. After that, remove excess s alt from the fish and let it dry.

Put some wood chips on the bottom of the smokehouse, previously soaked in water for about half an hour. Turn on the fire, and once there is enough smoke in the smoker, it is recommended to set the temperature to 80 degrees. The sturgeon will be smoked for about two hours, but check the readiness from time to time so that the dish does not dry out. When you put out the fire, do not immediately take out the fish. Let it sweat under the lid for about half an hour.

Sturgeon in the oven

For one kilogram of sturgeon, prepare the following products:

• A heaping tablespoon of s alt.
• Half a teaspoon of granulated sugar.
• 70 grams of cognac.

Cooking hot-smoked sturgeon at home, start by cutting the fish. After that, rub it with s alt, sugar and put in a bowl. Leave to marinate in the refrigerator for at least ten hours, and even better - for a day. Chefs recommend periodically turning the fish over (3-4 times).

When the fish is s alted, you will see that liquid has been released. It must be drained. Now add cognac to the sturgeon and put it in the refrigerator again for six hours. Don't forget to turn it over!

As soon as the fish marinates, put it on the wire rack. Let it lie down for an hour to dry. At this stage, you can tie the carcass with threads so that it does not fall apart. But this is not necessary at all if the fish is dense enough.

Now you can go directly to hot smoking sturgeon. Preheat the oven to 80 degrees and turn on convection. Put the fish in the cabinet for about an hour. Turn the carcass over and leave for another forty minutes. Please note that the cooking time must be adjusted depending on the size of the sturgeon. Remove rack from oven and leave on counter to cool completely.

Smoking sturgeon with liquid smoke

At the initial stage, hot-smoked sturgeonprepared in exactly the same way as in the previous recipe. The fish needs to be cleaned and s alted. When it's time to add the alcohol, add a tablespoon of liquid smoke along with it. Put the carcass in the refrigerator for about two days.

When the sturgeon is dry, put it on the wire rack and it on the baking sheet. It is recommended to pour the brine in which the fish languished there. If desired, you can add another tablespoon of liquid smoke to the baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 80 degrees and cook the carcass in it for about two hours.

As you can see, smoking sturgeon at home is not difficult at all. You will get a delicious, and most importantly - a natural and fresh festive dish. In addition, in stores, the price of hot-smoked sturgeon is quite high. Therefore, it makes sense to cook such fish on your own in your kitchen.