Smoked bream: cooking methods, properties

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-02 16:12

Fragrant, alluring smoked fish is considered one of the most delicious snacks. It is known that it has a unique aroma, a special melting, delicate taste. With its smell and appearance, it is able to excite the appetite. Smoked bream is especially popular with amateurs. There are many simple and affordable ways to cook the product at home.

What is the smoking process?

Smoking is the treatment of a product with smoke, which is formed during the combustion of firewood or sawdust. Unfortunately, smoked meats purchased in the store only remotely reflect the real taste of a freshly prepared product. The solution to the problem is home-made smoking of delicious and fragrant fish with your own hands.

To cook at home, you must have a smokehouse. Today it can be purchased by anyone - it does not take up much space and is affordable. With this equipment you can cook fish both cold and cold.hot smoked by yourself.

Types of smoking

Usually at home, of these two methods, craftsmen choose hot smoking: this cooking process is quite simple and fast.

It is recommended to use a temperature of 90-100 degrees. During the cooking process, the fish loses a small amount of moisture and turns out soft, tender and juicy. However, it should be remembered that it is not recommended to store it for a long time.

For hot smoking choose tender fish, quite oily or medium fat, such as, for example, eel. Experts also recommend using sturgeon species - stellate sturgeon, sterlet, as well as salmon, whitefish, cod, herring, pink salmon, bream, asp, sea bass and small fish (sprat, herring, vendace).

With the help of cold smoking, you can cook a delicacy that has a longer shelf life, however, the process itself is quite lengthy - it takes about 5 days. When cold, a maximum temperature of about 40 degrees is used. During the process, moisture gradually leaves the product, so this smoked fish is more dry than the first option. But, according to reviews, cold-smoked fish is in no way inferior to cooked "hot" in its taste. Experts call mullet, roach, ram, omul, bream, nelma balyk, white salmon, whitefish, Far Eastern salmon, sturgeon species, eel, red fish ideal for cold smoking.

Bream is one ofmost popular freshwater fish

Bream is a freshwater fish that lives in coastal waters in the north and in the center of Europe. The habitats of the bream are the Black, Azov, Northern, B altic and Caspian Seas. In addition, fish are also found in some lakes.

Usually bream is dried, s alted, smoked or canned. Many lovers recommend smoked bream as the best snack for beer. It is this method that is the most common.

Home-smoked bream: hot way

It is known that dishes prepared in this way have a special taste and aroma. It is generally accepted that smoked bream is an excellent snack for beer. It is also used as a delicious independent dish that can please guests.

According to experts, smoked bream is not difficult to cook at home. Even beginners can do it.

The method of hot smoking is the most popular among connoisseurs of fish. They usually do this in the yard of a rural house, in a country house or directly at the place of fishing.

Process Description

Cooking hot bream always starts with removing the entrails and washing the fish. Then it should be placed in s alt water for about an hour. Experts recommend s alting abundantly, even in excess: the fish absorbs only the required amount of the product. Next, you should prepare a tray with sawdust, you can add cones: they give the smoke a special flavor. Somecraftsmen advise using apple branches for this. Then the fish is dried, the belly is opened with the help of specially cut branches and laid out on a wire rack. You can put bell peppers or potatoes, as well as greens in the belly of the bream.

The process of hot smoking usually takes about half an hour. But time costs may increase, depending on the size of the fish, the distance between the grate and the pan, as well as the intensity of the smoldering coals.

Product Features

Many netizens are interested in questions: how many calories are in smoked bream, and how hot smoking affects the change in the composition of the product. The cooking technology does not reduce the amount of vitamins and microelements in the bream. What vitamins are in smoked fish? Bream is, first of all, PP, B₁, E, B_{2. Of the trace elements in it, the presence of calcium, iron, phosphorus, molybdenum, chlorine, nickel, chromium, fluorine, zinc is noted.}

The systematic use of hot smoked bream strengthens blood vessels, prevents coronary heart disease, strokes, helps regulate metabolic processes, restores the external mucous membranes and skin. Smoked bream (calorie content: 100 g of the product cooked in the "hot" way is 172 kcal) is a natural antioxidant (calorizator).

Cold-smoked bream: properties

Cold-smoked bream has an incomparable taste. It also has a slight "smoke smell". Experts note a number of advantages of cold-smoked bream over fish,cooked in other ways.

According to technology, the product is stored for a long time at low temperatures. The smoke in which the fish is smoked acts as a natural preservative. The composition of the bream retains most of the necessary vitamins (PP, B₁, E, B_{2), chemical elements (from trace elements: sulfur, calcium, magnesium, chlorine, phosphorus, sodium, potassium; from macronutrients: fluorine, iron, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, zinc) and fats (calorizator). Calorie content of cold-smoked bream: 160 kcal per 100 g of product.}

Regular consumption of such fish provides prevention of stroke. Substances present in fish rejuvenate the skin and normalize weight.

Cold smoked bream recipe

This recipe has been tested by many chefs and, according to reviews, is quite simple. Before cooking, it is necessary to s alt the bream for smoking. The first step is to clean the fish: gut, remove the gills and rinse thoroughly several times with cold water. Then an incision is made along the spine, starting from the tail. The fish should be cut carefully so as not to spoil it. Then the bream is s alted, as before frying. Experts assure that the bream s alts out quickly enough and can be eaten raw, like a herring. Particular attention, according to experts, should be given to the head - it needs to be s alted more. After processing the insides, they move on to the outside, after which the fish is put in a container and left for 3 days in a cold place. The next step is the drying process.

The belly of the bream is fixed with a specially prepared stick up to 7 cm long. Then, hooked by the eye, the fish is hung on hooks, covered with gauze and hung out on the street. In this position, the bream is kept for several days. After it dries well, the most interesting thing begins - its smoking. Cooking is a rather lengthy process, but, as the authors of the reviews note, it guarantees a wonderful result.

The chimney in the smokehouse should be closed so that only cold smoke comes out of it. After one day, completely ready-to-eat fish is taken out. Now you can enjoy a delicious and he althy dish.