Marinade for smoking fish: cooking features, best recipes and reviews

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

Smoking is a special treatment of meat, fish, poultry, vegetables, fruits with smoke, which is formed during the slow combustion of sawdust.

The smoking process gives the products an appetizing aroma, unique taste, beautiful color. Of course, smoked ham, sausage, salmon steak or smoked mackerel is unlikely to please anyone.

Smoked products retain their freshness and taste for a long time. Bacteria are killed during the smoke treatment, the food partially loses moisture and is preserved.

Even our primitive ancestors processed their prey on an open fire, that is, they were engaged in smoking. Since then, people have come up with many devices and marinade recipes for smoking fish, meat and other delicacies.

Smoking Methods

Phenols, acetic and formic acids, fractions of resinous substances and aldehydes give a special taste and aroma to smoked products. They are produced in the process of special heat treatment with smoke during smoking.

There are several ways to smoke, depending on the temperature of the smoke and the duration of processing:

• cold,
• hot,
• half-smoking,
• wet.

Any method is based on the principle of constant circulation of the smoke flow through the cooked product, processing with open flames is not allowed (the smoked product should not be baked or fried).

The process of processing products with smoke is carried out in a special device - a smokehouse.

Which smoking method to choose

Cold smoking involves processing with smoke with a temperature of 12 to 24 degrees, humidity in the range of 75-85 percent. The product in such conditions is prepared from three to five days, sometimes the process can take several weeks. With cold smoking, the liquid from meat or fish leaves slowly, the products are slowly saturated with the aromas of smoking, dehydrated, but retain fat. The finished product is stored for a long time.

Semi-smoking is carried out on a smoldering haze at a temperature of 30 to 50 degrees and a humidity of more than 80 percent. With this method, the product is prepared no more than 24 hours, its shelf life is no more than two weeks.

Hot smoking is the fastest and easiest way to get delicious fish or meat. The process takes only two or three hours. Smoking products, which are subsequently supposed to be cooked, occurs at a temperature of 40 to 60 degrees. To obtain a smoked product that is completely ready for consumption, the cooking process must be carried out at a temperature of 100 degrees. Ready-made smoked meats by this method are stored for a short time.

Wet smoking is used to accelerate the "aging" of rawsausages or ham. Smoking is done at a smoke temperature of approximately 25 degrees and high humidity (up to 100 percent).

Smoking: fish preparation

At home, you can smoke whatever you want: meat, fish, sausages, cheese, chicken, vegetables and fruits.

The most popular product for smoking, perhaps, is fish. In order to cook a quality delicacy, it is not enough to have a smokehouse, set the right temperature, and provide the right humidity. The taste of smoked meats depends on the preliminary preparation of the product. It is important to choose the right marinade for smoking fish.

For all smoking methods, follow the rules:

• fish should be thoroughly washed;
• gut large fish, remove entrails and head;
• fish should be s alted (grate with s alt or marinate in saline);
• prepared fish must be dried before smoking in the smokehouse.

Below we offer some simple marinade recipes for smoking fish at home.

Marinade for fish: a universal recipe

We offer a universal marinade for smoking fish at home. The recipe is simple and requires only a few ingredients. The fish prepared according to it can be smoked in any way (hot or cold) as desired.

Required products:

• fish - two pieces of medium size;
• soy sauce - one glass;
• white wine (semi-sweet) - one glass;
• citric acid - one tablespoon;
• spicy herbs (rosemary, thyme), spices for fish - to taste;
• bay leaf - to taste;
• granulated sugar - 1/2 or 1 spoon (tea).

Wash the fish well, clean it, put it in the refrigerator for one hour.

Dilute citric acid in a glass of cold water (can be replaced with one glass of natural lemon juice).

Pour soy sauce, diluted citric acid, wine into a saucepan, add herbs and spices to taste, granulated sugar, mix everything.

Put the saucepan with the marinade on the fire and heat (do not bring to a boil!).

Remove the pot from heat, cool the marinade a little.

Remove the fish from the refrigerator, make transverse cuts, put bay leaves in them. Then put the fish in the marinade.

The fish should be completely covered with the marinade. If there is not enough liquid, then an additional portion should be prepared.

Refrigerate marinated fish for eight or ten hours (the longer the better).

Remove the pickled fish from the pan, rub with spices.

The product for smoking is ready.

The proposed marinade recipe for smoking fish in a smokehouse allows you to get a fragrant delicacy with a delicate taste.

Spicy marinade

To prepare a spicy marinade for hot smoked fish you need:

• water - two liters;
• food s alt -four spoons (tablespoons);
• lemon - one piece;
• orange - one piece;
• onions - two pieces;
• bay leaf - six pieces;
• granulated sugar - two spoons (tea);
• ground cinnamon - to taste;
• ground pepper (red, black) - to taste;
• rosemary, sage, thyme - to taste.

Wash the fish well, clean, gut, remove the head, put in the refrigerator for one hour.

Lemon, orange, onion cut coarsely.

Pour water into a saucepan, put on fire, bring to a boil.

Pour s alt, granulated sugar into boiling water, put chopped onion, orange, lemon, bay leaf, pepper, cinnamon and herbs. Boil the marinade for 10 minutes.

Remove the pot from heat, cool the marinade.

Remove the fish from the refrigerator, pour cold brine over it, leave to marinate for 10 or 12 hours.

Remove the marinated carcasses from the brine, leave in the air for two hours.

Smoking hot.

Spicy marinade for hot smoked fish allows you to get a delicacy with a delicate taste and a spicy-citrus aroma.

Cold-smoked pickling (long)

Any fish is suitable for cold-smoking fish, but it is better to give preference to carp, mackerel, salmon and silver carp.

Before cold smoking, fish should be s alted. This procedure disinfects and decontaminates fish carcasses from germs and parasites.

There are two types of s alting (pickling) of fish beforecold smoked.

The first method involves soaking cleaned and gutted fish in a strong saline solution. To prepare it, dissolve 100 grams of s alt in one liter of water.

Put the prepared carcasses in a container, pour over the solution and leave in a cold place for 12 or 14 hours. One part of the fish relies on one and a half parts of the solution, that is, for one kilogram of fish you need to take 1.5 liters of liquid.

Quick pickling for cold smoking

The second method involves the following marinade recipe for cold smoked fish.

Required products:

• food s alt - at the rate of 200 grams per liter of water;
• ground pepper (black, white) and allspice - to taste;
• bay leaf - a few pieces;
• nutmeg - to taste;
• oregano - to taste;
• thyme - to taste;
• dill - to taste.

Marinade is prepared on the basis of: 1.5 liters of solution is required for one kilogram of fish.

Dissolve the required amount of s alt in water, add spices. Pour the cleaned and gutted fish with the prepared marinade for two hours.

Then remove the carcasses from the liquid, tie with string and leave in the open air for about one hour. The fish must be dry. Then you can start the smoking process.

Tips from experienced

There are many recipes for preparing a marinade for pre-treatment of fish before smoking. Above are some of the simplest, but theywill allow you to get a tasty and fragrant kopchushka. Preparing a delicacy at home is not difficult at all. To do this, it is not necessary to go fishing or buy a fresh catch, even frozen fish from the supermarket is quite suitable for smoking. And you can build a smokehouse from a bucket or other improvised containers. As they say: "There would be a desire …"

In their reviews, fish lovers recommend:

• for smoking it is better to choose fresh oily fish;
• very tasty smoked meats are obtained from mackerel, carp, mokreli;
• many people believe that cod, bream, perch are the ideal foods;
• smoked pink salmon and salmon are dryish, but tasty, you can't eat a lot of them;
• it is preferable to smoke on alder sawdust;
• hot-smoked fish tastes better on the second day after cooking;
• even the simplest marinade or s alting makes smoked fish a delicacy.

Bon appetit and tasty catch!