In the process of preparing fish by smoking, smoke acts as a natural antiseptic, which not only preserves the value and shelf life of the product, but also gives it an exquisite color and spicy aroma. This method involves keeping the fish in a smoke environment. To produce smoke, you can use wood chips from different types of wood.

Smokehouse equipment at home

So, how to smoke fish at home? The recipe for making smoked fish at home is not difficult. The method requires the use of special equipment - a smokehouse, which is quite easy to create yourself. At home, an ordinary bucket or a massive pan, or any other metal container is suitable for this. The container should have a tight lid. Give preference to materials that will not become sources of harmful substances and unpleasant odors during the smoking process.

Place the wood chips (small parts) at the bottom of the prepared container. During the heating process, the wood slowly smolders, and since there is no supply of open air, this contributes to the formation of the required amount of smoke.

The expected temperature inside the container reaches 110-120 degrees, which minimizes the cooking time of the fish.

To set up a smokehouse of minimal size in an apartment or house, use a gas stove or an open fire as a heat source, if possible. If the container chosen for the smokehouse is quite bulky and large, the heating element should be placed inside. To cook fish at home, you can choose electric stoves, for example, with an open spiral, as a heating source. A frying pan filled with wood chips is placed on such a stove. This option is optimal if you do not have a lot of space to arrange a large smokehouse.

To prepare fish by hot smoking, you should take the selection of wood very seriously. Give preference to alder chips; it is also recommended to use juniper wood. Alternative tree species can be ash, hazel, oak, birch, as well as chips from fruit trees (pear, apple). The best option is branches pruned in the spring.

Each type of wood in the process of smoldering produces a special aroma of smoke, which is subsequently transferred to the product that is smoked. You can use one type of wood or combine different types of wood.

Before directly chopping wood, the bark should be removed from the branches due to the high presence of resin. Due to the specific composition, coniferous wood chips are not used. The material for producing smoke must be crushed to particles no larger than 2-3 cm. Before using the wood, moisten the wood chips with a small amount of water. The wood chips are laid out in an even layer on the bottom of the equipped smokehouse. For a container of no more than 10 liters, a sufficient amount of wood is 200-300 ml.

To place the fish, it is necessary to provide a grate that fits inside the smoking apparatus. One option is to use twine to secure the fish during the hot smoking process. The second option takes much more time and effort. Given such disadvantages, the use of a wire rack is more popular among cooks.

Fish smoking recipes

There is more than one recipe for hot smoked fish at home, but they differ rather in the process of preliminary preparation.

Recipe No. 1

Ingredients:

• fish;
• salt;
• greenery.

Fish that will be smoked can be either fresh or salted in advance. According to the recipe, small fish need not be gutted. Larger fish should be carefully gutted and the cavity filled with greens. Give preference to parsley, dill and other aromatic herbs. Only after the work has been done is the product thoroughly rubbed with salt and placed in a smoking container. To smoke large fish, divide the carcasses along the spine into two parts.

Recipe No. 2

The recipe for hot smoked fish deserves special attention, which involves pre-salting the product and drying it. It is important to clean the carcasses from fins and heads. Treat the carcasses with coarse salt. If you have chosen fatty fish for preparing the dish, after salting, wrap the product in tracing paper and place under light pressure.

This process requires a minimum of 3 hours. If possible, you can leave the fish until the next day. Consider the size of the fish.

After the salting stage, hang the fish to ensure that the released brine drains easily. Remove any remaining salt. Water can be used for this purpose. Rinse and dry the fish.

The cooking recipe requires drying time. It will take at least an hour.

Having completed the preparatory processes, send the product to the smoking container.

Before the process, sufficient temperature should be ensured so that the bottom is heated steadily. For this purpose, different fire sources can be used.

• Place the fish on the prepared rack in one small layer. The product must be in direct contact with smoke on all sides.
• Seal the smoker securely. The lid should not allow smoke to pass through, and will also limit the entry of oxygen into the fish container.
• Try to avoid overheating. This is especially recommended at the first stage.
• Regardless of the recipe, preparation can be divided into two stages.
• The process of heating and drying the product takes about a quarter of the total time. The air temperature should not exceed 90 degrees.
• This stage takes up the rest of the time. The air inside the container reaches 120 degrees.

A drop of water on the container, which slowly evaporates without signs of hissing or boiling, is an indicator of the optimal temperature for quality cooking.

• Monitor the temperature, reducing the heat if necessary.
• The volume of food, the size of the container, and the temperature affect the duration of the cooking process.
• Average cooking time is 35 minutes.
• If you are new to this type of cooking and are following the recipe step by step, taste the fish before finally removing the smoker from the heat. Over time, with a little experience, you will be able to determine the exact cooking time without opening the smoker.

The product prepared in this way can be stored for no more than 3 days in the refrigerator.

Traveling or going out into the countryside by car makes it possible to take with you various additional supplies and accessories that will not only make camping life more comfortable, but will also allow you to diversify the camping menu, for example, by preparing delicious and aromatic smoked fish in a small-sized portable smokehouse you take with you.

Cooking smoked fish is quite easy, but as in any business, there are some rules and laws, only by following which you can get a good, and in our case, edible result. First of all, you need to consider a few recommendations:

1. It is very advisable to put fish of only one size into the smokehouse in one go. Smoking small and large fish at the same time will result in the first one coming out rancid and burnt, and the second half-baked.

2. You should not smoke on the first wood that comes to hand.

3. Do not open the lid of the smokehouse during smoking or when it has just been removed from the fire. There is a very high probability of sawdust and fat igniting, resulting in burns. In case of an unexpected fire, place a container or bottle of water next to the smokehouse and prepare it with anti-burn products.

Processing fish and preparing it for hot smoking.

First of all, the fish must be gutted, although there are gourmets who prefer smoked fish with entrails, justifying this by the fact that it comes out juicier this way. If opinions are divided in your company, then simply do not gut some of the fish, so that later you can put both options in the smokehouse and please everyone. Large fish must be cut into pieces.

Salting fish before hot smoking.

The process of salting fish involves dehydrating it and replacing some of the water in its tissues with salt. Therefore, it is preferable to use coarse salt here; it dissolves more slowly and requires moisture, which salt draws out of the fish. Fine salt dissolves faster, salting more, but without dehydrating the fish meat.

Having sorted the fish by size, place it in a suitable container in layers, generously sprinkling each layer with salt. If the fish is large, then additionally rub it with salt from the inside. When salting, you can add various spices along with salt. We do not place any weights on top of the fish.

The duration of salting large fish is 2-2.5 hours, medium 1.5-2 hours, and small fish 1-1.5 hours. A sign of readiness of the fish is the appearance of juice secreted by it. The opinion that fish must be salted for at least several days will be true only if we want to achieve the longest possible shelf life of the finished product, for example, during subsequent drying or drying of fish. When preparing fish for smoking, especially using a hot method, such time limits are not needed.

Washing and drying salted fish.

After salting is complete, rinse the fish in water several times and hang or lay out to dry. Lightly grease the top of the dried fish with sunflower oil. Lubricate the grate in the smokehouse with the same oil and place the fish on it. Now you can begin the hot smoking process itself.

Portable small-sized smokehouse.

The size and shape of the smokehouse do not matter; it is desirable that it be made of stainless steel, and its chamber should not be too high, so that the fish on the lower tier does not burn, while the fish on the upper tier remains raw.

Usually a small-sized smokehouse is placed on a fire, but now more convenient versions are sold, which are equipped with a special stand with burners running on a fire starter.

Suitable tree species for hot smoking fish.

The aroma, color and taste of the finished product depend on which wood is chosen for hot smoking fish. Smoking on wet sawdust will give the fish a bright color and tart smell, while smoking on dry sawdust will give it a more subtle taste and golden hue.

In any case, you should not use coniferous wood for hot smoking fish. It contains a lot of resins, which will give the product a bitter, specific taste, and in addition, it will severely clog the smokehouse itself, and a layer of soot will form on its walls.

Opt for wood from fruit trees or deciduous trees, ideally alder or willow, and if not, then hornbeam, ash, oak. The size of the sawdust should not be very small, it is desirable that they be more or less the same size. Pour the finished sawdust onto the bottom of the smokehouse in an even layer of 1.5-2 centimeters.

To give smoked fish an original taste and aroma, you can add a small amount of slightly dried onion peels, nettle leaves, mint, a juniper sprig, etc. to the sawdust. Cover the top of the sawdust with a tray to collect grease.

We install the smokehouse and build a strong fire under it so that the flame evenly heats the entire bottom. A strong fire is maintained until thick white smoke appears from the breather or from under the lid. This is a hallmark of starting the smoking process.

After smoke appears, reduce the heat to a minimum, focusing on the smoke that comes out; it should be saturated, but not very thick. The amount of smoke coming out is regulated by the position of the exhaust valve on the lid. There is no need to create a strong draft; the fish should be smoked in smoke, and not dried due to air movement.

Smoking a medium-sized fish usually requires 20 to 40 minutes from the moment the smoke appears. But since time is a relative concept in the case of hot smoking, the degree of readiness of the fish is determined by its appearance. A pale light golden hue indicates that it needs to be smoked; a rich dark or golden color means the fish is completely cooked.

If you did everything correctly, the result will be impressive the first time, but if you were in a hurry and decided to simplify the hot smoking process somewhere, you will have to start all over again, due to the almost complete inedibility of the resulting product.

This is exactly the case when the result directly depends on the number of attempts during which you understand the smokehouse itself, its smoking modes, the strength of the fire and the smoking time for each size and type of fish.

The best fish is sausage. This is probably the most unfair and far from the truth folk wisdom. Better than a fish - alive, silvering in the sunlight, plowing the expanses of a quiet river - there can only be a fish caught by a fisherman's bait. Her further fate is sad for herself. For the person who caught it, this is a creative task, because fish can be cooked in a variety of ways.

Some people love fish soup, others prefer deep-frying, and still others prefer the freshest rolls. The fish is boiled, baked in foil, salted and dried. Another popular cooking technology is smoking, which can be cold or hot. Further conversation will focus on one of the varieties of this technology, how to smoke fish in a hot smoked smokehouse.

Smoking methods and rules

Smoking refers to the effect on the surface of the product of various substances that are part of the smoke. There are more than a hundred of them, most of them have bactericidal and antioxidant effects. These substances systematically penetrate into the product, preventing spoilage. The effectiveness of this treatment depends entirely on the permeability of the products available. It can be increased by pre-salting the raw materials. Therefore, in practice, smoking is used exclusively for salted fish.

Thanks to smoking, the fish becomes more tender, it acquires an easily recognizable spicy aroma and excellent taste.

The surface of smoked fish is golden brown. In addition, treating fish with smoke increases its shelf life

The main smoking methods are hot and cold options. Significantly less use is made of semi-hot smoking and baking in smoke. The differences between all these technologies lie in the characteristics of temperature conditions and time duration. The simplest relationship is this: the lower the smoke temperature, the longer the smoking time. But the shelf life will be correspondingly longer.

Smoker's ABCs

To hot smoke fish, you will need a special device that will close hermetically. This can be either an industrially produced smokehouse for hot smoked fish, or a homemade container based on a large pan, barrel, bucket or metal box. For a “designer” smokehouse using improvised means, you will need a reliable grate for food. The smokehouse itself must have a protective internal coating that will not release anything harmful to the fish.

The second important part of preparing the entire process is the correctly selected fuel for smoking. And finally the recipe. The end result of the whole thing - delicious hot smoked fish - is impossible without the necessary smoke, which will make it aromatic and appetizing.

About fuel

The ideal fuel for hot smoking is hardwood, including branches, shavings and, especially, sawdust. Deciduous trees (oak, beech, maple, alder, aspen, rowan, etc.) emit a small amount of resin, unlike their coniferous counterparts. Professional smokers also add dried branches of fruit trees and berry bushes (cherry, plum, pear). The smoke after they burn gives the fish interesting aromas.

Alder and juniper wood is considered the best. It has the most pronounced bactericidal properties. Hot smoked fish cooked in the smoke of this wood has the longest shelf life.
Coniferous wood is rarely used for hot smoking of fish. Fish cooked with such smoke does not look very appetizing due to excess soot. Its smell also leaves much to be desired.

Birch wood, the symbol of Russia, contains a lot of tar, so it is not used for smoking.

The following are good natural flavorings and taste enhancers: grapevine, juniper berries, and in microscopic quantities - pine cones, herbs, and spices.

In this case, it is better to use small dry twigs, cleared of bark. Large branches and logs should be cut into small chips (5 cm) in length.

For effective smoke formation, it is necessary to use sawdust and shavings. They need to be stocked up thoroughly.

What is absolutely not suitable for hot smoking fish is plywood, fiberboard or chipboard sheets, painted or glued boards, laminate and other wood products treated with polymer resins and other “chemicals”.

About smokehouses

The main requirement for any smokehouse is tightness. Air should not get inside, as this can lead to firewood, which means it will reduce the quality of the future fish delicacy. The smokehouse should also have significant depth. Otherwise, the fish hung in it will touch the firewood and the bottom. This will either cause them to burn or cook them instead of smoking them.

As for the smokehouses themselves, it is difficult to find a cooking device that is more democratic and diverse in the number of items used

You can smoke fish in a smokehouse at home, in the country, or on the river bank. A barrel or bucket, or, for example, an old beehive, can be used as a container. More “advanced” options include smoking in a metal box on a grill or using charcoal or gas grills. Owners of private houses can install a smokehouse in a chimney in the attic or adapt a stove.

The most correct option is to purchase a reliable portable smokehouse of industrial production, which will already have all the necessary equipment for effective, high-quality smoking.

How to smoke hot?

Now let's look step by step at how to smoke hot smoked fish.

What kind of fish is best to smoke?

A novice smoker is primarily interested in what kind of fish is suitable. It can be anything, sea or river. The main thing is that it is fresh. Of course, defrosted fish are also smoked if they are frozen fresh. Most often in practice, fish of carp species (asp, bream, sabrefish), sturgeon (sterlet, sturgeon), as well as catfish, eels, smelt and cod are smoked.

The size of the carcass is not particularly important. Preference can be given to fatter individuals. It is better if in one batch there are fish of the same species, approximately the same size. Then all this fish will be salted and then smoked evenly.

Small fish weighing up to 400 g, as a rule, are not gutted: they are salted and smoked whole carcasses. Medium-sized fish up to 3 kg are most often gutted, leaving the scales and head.

Large specimens are gutted and then stripped, always cutting off the head. They can be halved along the back or smoked in pieces cut crosswise.

Pickling

This is an extremely important stage, because the final taste of the fish depends on the degree of salting.

Fish or fillet pieces prepared for smoking are salted in brine (high concentration brine) or dry.

Small individuals are “put on” twine through the eye sockets. Large ones are tied in pairs by their tails. Large pieces of fillet are simply tied with twine.

When dry salting, the fish is placed in layers in some container, sprinkling salt on each layer. Particularly large fish are simply rubbed with salt, then wrapped in parchment.

When wet salting, the fish are immersed in brine. With this method, the salting time is greatly reduced (up to two hours).

The salting stage for hot smoked fish lasts from three hours for small fish, up to 12 hours for large ones.

Drying

After salting, the fish must be dried to ensure even saltiness. The fish need to be tied with twine and hung so that the brine drains. To protect against insects, you can make a gauze canopy by folding the fabric several times, then moisten it with vinegar.

You need to dry the fish for about an hour, then wipe the fish with a rag

Before smoking begins, all prepared carcasses must be carefully tied with twine for easy hanging in the smokehouse. This will also prevent the fish from falling apart during cooking.

Cooking in a barrel smoker

At the bottom of the barrel you need to place pre-prepared wood chips with sawdust of suitable wood species. Layer thickness is 2 cm. Be sure to prepare several juniper branches for flavoring.

One or two grates and a lid must be adjusted to the size of the barrel in advance. Install the gratings at a suitable height, one above the other. It is better to lay the fish in one layer; the carcasses should not touch each other. It is better to place large fish on the lower grill, closer to the bottom, and small ones - at the top. There is no need to remove the twine straps from the fish: the smoked fish will simply fall apart.

Then it’s time to make a fire. Let it be small, but give a uniform, long-lasting heat. After this, the smokehouse must be closed with a lid.
The first stage of cooking fish in a smokehouse is about a quarter of the time, this is the drying stage. The smoke temperature is approximately 80 degrees Celsius. Smoking itself will begin when the smoke temperature in the barrel reaches 100 degrees.

By splashing water on the lid of the barrel, you can determine in general terms the “conditions” inside the smokehouse. Evaporating rather than boiling water is a sure sign that smoking is going well.

It is better not to open the lid itself during the process so that the penetrated air does not ignite the chips.

How long to smoke fish in a smokehouse

The desired dry smoke with a recognizable classic aroma will appear within half an hour to an hour, depending on the size, quantity of fish, and volume of the smokehouse. In fact, this is a sign of the successful completion of the process.

How long does it take to smoke fish? For a small one, 20-30 minutes is enough, for a large one it may take from one to three hours.

Properly cooked fish will have golden scales, a dry surface and a great, instantly recognizable smell.

Well-smoked fish is baked through. Its meat extends freely from the ridge. The density is the same as that of fried fish. Immediately after smoking it can be safely served.

How long does hot smoked fish last?

It is important to remember that fish prepared in this way is a typical perishable product, so it cannot be preserved for a long time. Hot smoked fish should be stored in a cool place for two to three days, no more. In summer, it is better to eat it right away.

About the benefits and harm

The benefits and harms of hot smoked fish are a debatable issue. Due to the high smoke temperature, it cooks quickly. The price for speed and excellent taste is the amount of carcinogens noticeable by our body. It is even more dangerous if the fish was bought second-hand - it could easily be smoked using “liquid smoke”, and this is a complete “chemistry”. Moreover, the bulk of substances hazardous to health are contained in its skin.

As for the benefits, it should be recognized that hot smoking of fish leads to the destruction of most of its beneficial properties

Alas, such fish is an undeniable delicacy, having an amazing taste, but containing almost nothing useful for human health.

However, when it comes to hot smoked fish, little things like healthfulness or vitamin content definitely fade into the background. Even poisonous fugu does not stop real fish gourmets, not to mention benzopyrene and other carcinogens.

Why smoke the product, because there are enough other ways to prepare it - much simpler ones? It all depends on your goals. To answer the question, you should first understand all the pros and cons of smoking. And determine the most appropriate method for yourself.

Beautiful and appetizing, this dish will become a favorite attribute of the holiday table.

Advantages

Flaws

Interest in smoked fish should not worsen either the diet or the health of consumers. Some types of fish have a high calorie content, and when smoked it increases. If among your family members there are people with metabolic disorders, treat the issue with special attention.

What kind of fish can you smoke?

For each individual type of fish you need to select different smoking methods

Almost all types of fish are suitable for smoking. You just need to take a few points into account:

• size of the carcass (pieces);
• the density of the meat, its structure (thick ones are best smoked in cold and smokeless ways; loose fish is cooked on hot smoke and served immediately);
• What matters is whether the fish is smoked for future use or for immediate consumption.

Some fish breeds are most successfully smoked by any method, others - only by one of the existing ones. To date, certain recommendations have emerged from experienced chefs:

1. All three methods are appropriate if you smoke herring, cod, herring, beluga, sea bass, mackerel, stellate sturgeon, mackerel, cod, beluga, sturgeon, pink salmon.
2. For the cold method, chum salmon, salmon, omul, sockeye salmon, mullet, shemaya, notenia, and vimba are preferred.
3. With hot smoking, pike perch, flounder, pollock, bream, stellate sturgeon, pollock, whitefish, hake, pike perch, red mullet, sterlet, sturgeon, char, pink salmon, and asp are excellent.

The same fish has different densities depending on the age of the individual, its habitat conditions and prey. There are no strict regulations. The cook decides how to smoke it. Consider the wishes of your household and guests.

Types of processing

The choice of smoking method is closely related to such basic criteria as:

• what are the characteristics of fish meat of a particular breed, the degree of fat content and the density of the structure;
• expected taste characteristics and sensations;
• simplicity/complexity of technology, cooking time;
• degree of preservation of smoked fish.

Hot smoking

A quick and healthy way to smoke is hot. Bacteria and germs are destroyed at high temperatures

Technologically, this method can rightly be called the simplest:

You can smoke fish in independently organized structures, but a special device sold in stores will make the process easier.

The principle of setting up a place for hot smoking fish:

• main chamber (metal cabinet, trimmed barrel or specially welded box made of iron sheet);
• Inside the chamber there are hooks and/or horizontal grids for raw products. Small fish are laid out on racks. Large ones are laid in halves or pieces on the same grids, and sometimes they are also hung up. The medium one is best smoked in a suspended state, since the smoke envelops the carcasses from all sides quite evenly;
• there is a tray at the bottom where the fat drains;
• sawdust or shavings are placed below the pallet;
• A fire is lit under the chamber, which heats the chamber. As a result, sawdust or shavings begin to smolder and emit smoking smoke.

The taste, color and consistency of the finished product depends on the organization of the smoking area

The complexity of the designs depends on the volumes of fish that are planned to be smoked and what are the requirements for the cook’s comfort. Craftsmen create unique products based on personal drawings. With many auxiliary shelves, holders, lids, latches, hooks. Factory-made smokehouses deserve attention - of any size, in a wide price range.

Choosing wood chips

Chips from different types of trees create shades of flavor in smoked fish

The source of hot smoke is wood material - sawdust, shavings, and ideally wood chips. Different types of wood are used. They all give different flavors. Here are some examples.

1. Fruit trees create a spicy, sweetish flavor (cherry, pear, apple, plum).
2. Maple and walnut chips, when mixed, enhance the spiciness of the aroma.
3. Oak adds a touch of slight bitterness. Not for everyone. Such wood chips should not become the main source of smoke, but are good as an additive.
4. Alder and rowan in the set is a solution; it is recommended to start with it if taste requirements have not yet been formed and at first you would not want exotic things.
5. Residents of the southern regions of the country are familiar with eucalyptus fragrance. Fortunately, these trees grow there and are available to everyone at any time.
6. The most delicate tenderness is provided by the branches of berry bushes. Raspberries, blackberries, black currants. They are added to the main fuel in the form of dried branches.

Please note that old rotten wood is not suitable. It will not produce quality smoke. Enlist the support of reputable online stores that sell ready-made smoky material at reasonable prices. To make wood chips yourself, wooden logs are thoroughly dried and then crushed.

Cutting

Preliminary preparation of the product involves removing the entrails if the fish is smoked without them. Should I trim the fins, head, tail? At the chef's discretion. When smoking vertically, hang it upside down. This means that this part of the carcass cannot be removed.

If you cut the fish into pieces, its structure will be preserved during smoking.

Try to carefully cut the abdomen from the keel to the neck, through which the intestines can be removed in one movement. Do not allow fish bile to spread over the meat. It will not be possible to remove the bitter, repulsive taste later. Small fish are not gutted at all. The scales of the finished fish can be easily removed along with the skin, but the smoked meat inside will retain maximum juices.

Pickling

Salted in different ways. One of them is dry. Fish carcasses, prepared in advance and sorted by size, are poured in. The duration of salting is important. Recommendations for beginners:

• leave coarse salt on medium carcasses for 10 or even 12 hours;
• fine salt is enough for 7–8 hours to soak the fish flesh;
• The ability to adjust the timing of salting comes with time, as experience is gained.

They are salted in a continuous layer; the fish will not take the excess salt.

Don’t be afraid to over-salt the product - before smoking, all you have to do is shake off the excess salt

The bag salting method is intended for large fish, provided that the spine and head are removed. The carcasses are spread out and placed in clean woven plastic bags in layers. Flesh side down. The layers alternate: fish - salt, fish - salt. Fish with very tender meat is covered with fragile paper on top of the next layer of fish. As the bag fills, shake it to compact the layers. A bag filled to the brim is dropped into cool sand for a day (it takes 12 hours for the small fish to be salted).

The oppressive method is suitable for fish species with a large, fleshy head (catfish, chub, pike perch, pike, carp, ide). Gutted carcasses are cut lengthwise and salt is poured into these grooves. Cover the top with cloth or film, and apply oppression. After a few hours, the resulting juice is drained; it is also called “tuzluk”. The fish is washed and the water is allowed to drain.

Flushing

Before smoking, avoid rinsing the fish so that excess moisture does not spoil the taste of the final product.

The ideal option is to do without water. Washing fish can worsen the further smoking process and negatively affect the result of all your work. If you do have to rinse, be sure to wait until the moisture completely drains from the fish before you start smoking.

Cooking in a hot smoker

Appetizing aromas spread throughout the garden will attract the attention of even the neighbors

• temperature range from 45–60 to 125–140 °C;
• in some cases it is appropriate to increase the degree to 150 (for example, if you want to cook the fish faster or its meat is watery, or it is cut into large pieces);
• smoking duration from 35–40 minutes to 2–2.5 hours;
• readiness will be indicated by a change in color and the absence of juice coming out when pressing on the pulp.

Notice the color change. The meat of both white and red fish will lighten, and a golden crust will form on the sides of the carcass or steaks. These are sure signs that the fish is ready to eat.

Hot Processing Safety

Carefully monitor the smoking process so that the flames do not char the fish

The safety of hot smoking is as follows:

• avoid charring of raw materials due to inattention and lack of readiness control;
• prevent an open flame from escaping from under the chamber around the smokehouse (especially if smoking occurs in dry weather in a summer cottage or in the forest);
• do not get burned by fire when lighting a fire under the smoking chamber.

Be careful when handling flammable liquids, which will accelerate the formation of a strong fire to smoke the wood chips. Keep flammable materials out of reach of children. Do not use questionable products purchased at markets.

Cold smoking

The cold smoking process is long, but the result is worth it

During cold smoking, the fish is exposed to cooled smoke. There is no intensive heat treatment. The smoke cools to ~30 °C as it moves from the fire source to the product. The finished fish acquires spicy notes of taste and aroma. The meat thickens, dries out and loses almost all its fat, joining the bones even more tightly.

Preparation

Here is one of the stages of cold smoking of fish

The final result depends on the quality of fish preparation. Before smoking, the raw materials are carefully inspected for integrity. Fish that has been repeatedly frozen and thawed is not suitable. The fresher the catch, the better.

1. Sort the carcasses. Cook small and large fish separately.
2. It is recommended to gut and wash the large ones; the small ones can be smoked whole.
3. Sometimes fish is smoked on grates. Trim the head, tail and fins - the drying process of the product will speed up and the fish will be better preserved.
4. Be sure to wash the gills.
5. Let the water drain.
6. Rub all carcasses with coarse salt, including the gills. Leave it in a basin or bucket for a day.
7. Next, immerse the fish in a salt solution for 4–5 days. It is prepared at the rate of 1/2 pack of salt per 2 liters of water.
8. Salting will take from two days to one and a half to two weeks (depending on the size of the individuals).

Cold smoking process

Before you start cold smoking, you need to prepare your workplace

The principle of a “cold” smokehouse:

• firebox with wood;
• an outlet where smoke from smoldering wood chips enters;
• smoke from the combustion of wood escapes through a separate pipe (wood is burned in a closed firebox) or is ventilated randomly into the surrounding atmosphere (firewood is ignited under a firebox with smoldering wood chips);
• a smoking chamber located at a distance, where the raw materials are placed - suspended, placed on horizontal grates, or both options are used simultaneously;
• as in the case of hot smoking, trays are placed under the products to collect fat and juice.

Smoking lasts from 3–5 days to a month. There are cases where fish is smoked even longer. At home, this option is not popular. Mandatory requirement: the smoking chamber must be located higher than the source of smoke. If this rule is ignored, the smoke will not move along the outlet and will not reach the smoking chamber with fish products.

Method without a smokehouse

You can smoke fish quickly and easily using a special liquid. It is sold in regular supermarkets. Dilute it according to the attached instructions. Pour brine over the prepared meat and leave for 2–3 to 9–12 hours. This completes the basic version - the fish products have acquired the expected aroma and smoky taste.

Additional culinary delights:

• soaked fish is kept for half an hour on a home electric grill;
• the smoking liquid is replaced with soy sauce, soaked in strong tea leaves or onion peels, and then brought to readiness using an electric grill;
• Place dry wood chips or shavings on the bottom of a cast-iron frying pan, 1 layer of foil on top, place salted fish on it, cover with a lid and turn on high heat for half an hour.

As a result of such actions, fish is obtained a la smoked, but actually processed without a smokehouse.

Secrets of delicious smoking

Experiment, complement existing recipes to get a tasty, aromatic and nutritious dish

1. Spices. Black and allspice, cloves, cardamom, fennel seeds, mint and peppermint, bay leaf, cumin, coriander. All these flavors are either added to the brine or placed on top of the wood chips.
2. Do not add too much sawdust or wood chips. 2-3 handfuls per bookmark is enough.
3. Add 1 tbsp to the wood chips. l. granulated sugar. The smoke will be sticky and viscous and will be better absorbed into the meat flesh.
4. Each preparation is exclusive. At home there are no special timers, everything is done by eye, approximately. Therefore, check the readiness of the fish every half hour.

STEP-BY-STEP RECIPES FOR PREPARING DELICIOUS SMOKED FISH

Description

Smoking fish not only extends the shelf life of the fish, but the result is a delicious snack that goes perfectly with cold beer. But, unfortunately, it is very rare to buy real smoked fish in the store; most of it is processed with not entirely healthy “liquid smoke”. It turns out that excellent cold-smoked and hot-smoked fish can be obtained at home by building simple devices and using only natural smoke.

What is smoking?

Smoking is a kind of heat treatment that improves its shelf life. And at the same time, it turns fish into a culinary delicacy, giving it a specific taste and aroma.

Despite the fact that almost everyone has a general understanding of smoking, only a few can smoke fish correctly and emphasize its obvious taste advantages. In practice, one often has to deal with conditionally edible fish prepared by amateurs (over-smoked, under-smoked, boiled or baked-smoked, cooked at the wrong temperature in a small smokehouse and therefore having lost most of its taste).

Smoking is divided into hot smoking (temperature +80–150°C) – quick cooking (a biologically valuable product beneficial to human health) and cold smoking, which ensures long-term preservation of fish at room temperature (+18–20°C).

The fisherman must remember that even with skillful preparation of fish using the cold smoking method (temperature + 20–45 ° C), due to the large amount of carcinogenic substances formed during the burning of wood, fish in most cases is unsafe for human health.

For smoking, the following conditions must be met:
1. Properly make a fish smokehouse (see the “Smokehouses” chapter below);
2. properly prepare the wood for storing in the smokehouse;
3. maintain the correct smoking temperature;

This book discusses examples of smoking fish only in field conditions.
Industrial smoking is not considered.

Hot smoking

Pickling

Before smoking, fish of the carp family must be gutted, since even 100-gram uneviscerated roach or bream develops bitterness in the stomach during smoking and it becomes extremely unpleasant to eat them. It is not necessary to rip open predatory fish weighing up to 0.5 kg, since the contents of their stomach do not spill during heat treatment, like peaceful fish, and are easily removed with a knife or fork. All fish weighing over 1 kg must be ripped open (see the chapter “Cutting fish”).

In large fish, salt is stored in the abdominal cavity and gills. For fish with tightly fitting scales (pike perch, perch, perch, tench, burbot, eel), salt is additionally rubbed under the skin against the scales. Gutted fish are placed in rows in a sealed stainless steel container, each row is additionally sprinkled with salt. Placing fish in unsealed containers (boxes, baskets, cardboard boxes) is unacceptable. The fish retains its fat content and does not become chapped only when it is in its own juice, which subsequently has a positive effect on its gastronomic properties.

Large salted fish should be wrapped in plastic wrap or placed in a plastic bag and placed in a cool place. Large fish weighing from 1.5–3 kg after salting becomes suitable for smoking after 8–14 hours, small fish weighing 0.3–0.6 kg after 2–6 hours.

Pressure is placed on the fish only if a large batch of fish is being prepared for smoking. Due to oppression, the meat becomes denser and loses some of its taste. If the specified salting period is observed, the fish is washed for 30–40 minutes in a closed container without changing the water before placing it in the smokehouse.

When the fisherman does not have time for long salting, it is rubbed into the fish by hand, and also placed under the gills, in the abdomen and in the incision along the ridge of large specimens. Fish salted in this way is not washed before smoking. Excess salt is removed with a clean, dry cloth. It is, of course, possible to eat fish prepared in this way, but it is far from perfect, since it is impossible to ensure uniform salting of the product.

Before smoking, fish is dried only if it is intended to be transported or long-term storage for 3–5 days. If the fish is immediately used for consumption, airing and drying the fish before smoking is undesirable, since its taste is lost. She becomes tougher. Ideally, after washing off the remaining salt solution from the fish, it is placed in the smokehouse.

Spices

The fish acquires an additional flavor if bunches of greenery are placed in the ripped belly and under the gills, at the discretion of the fisherman.

The volume of the beam depends on the size and weight of the fish. Pike perch and pike acquire a subtle aroma if several bunches of mountain celery are placed in the fish carcasses before smoking. Instead of mountain celery, you can use onion and garlic shoots. Not everyone likes the addition of parsley and dill.

Conclusion: those who have constant smoking experience have long ago chosen what and in what proportions to add to the fish. And if you have no experience, feel free to experiment, choosing the best option.

Smoking press

The most suitable materials for smoking fish are the following types of wood: alder, rowan, pear, apple, plum, poplar, willow. When heated, they release a minimal amount of resin and do not have a negative effect on smoked products.

In addition, they give the fish a persistent smoky aroma and an unforgettable taste. Most of the listed breeds have bactericidal properties. The best of them: alder and rowan. It is no coincidence that decoctions of alder buds, bark and seeds, as well as rowan bark and fruits are widely used in folk medicine. Branches of oak, eucalyptus, blackberry, raspberry, and black currant are added as flavoring additives in limited quantities.

Hornbeam branches give excellent results in taste and color. Gourmets who attach special importance to the taste of smoked fish select their wood composition. But in all cases, 2/3 of the total amount of wood should be alder or rowan. Poplar and willow are used when other types of wood cannot be obtained (Akhtuba, Lower Volga). The basic principle of smoking is that wood heated to a temperature of +80–120°C does not ignite, but smolders for a long time, releasing a large amount of smoke.

Three conditions for successful smoking

1. Place pieces of wood of the same size, weight and diameter into the smokehouse. Otherwise, at the maximum heating temperature, thin branches, sawdust, and shavings quickly ignite, and other, thicker branches also ignite along with them. As a result, the smoking process does not go according to plan, the fish either begins to burn or becomes covered with a soot crust, which prevents the product from evenly smoking. Properly smoked fish has a pronounced golden-bronze color without traces of soot.

2. Ninety percent of all smokers are leaky. The lid, no matter how tightly it fits the smokehouse, still lets in some of the smoke when heated. By the way, by the color of the smoke it is easy to navigate how the smoking process is going. At the first stage of smoking, the smoke is thick - moisture evaporates. Later it becomes whitish and not so abundant. If the smoke is yellowish, the fish is burnt. Limited access of oxygen to the smokehouse is necessary, and the fact that a small part of the smoke passes through the smokehouse lid has a positive effect on the taste of the product. Excess moisture evaporates, the fish dries, and the smoking process goes faster. As practice shows, only small or dry fish turn out well in sealed smokehouses.

Fatty fish turns out watery and tasteless. Pike and pike perch weighing up to 0.5 kg taste better in a sealed smokehouse, while larger ones taste better in a non-sealed smokehouse. For an unsealed smokehouse, branches of the above wood species with a diameter of 0.8–2.5 cm and a length of up to 10 cm are more suitable. The presence of bark on the branches is mandatory. They are evenly placed on the bottom of the smokehouse (gaps are acceptable). When smoking a large batch of fish located on several levels, the branches are laid in two to three layers. The use of shavings, especially sawdust, is allowed only in sealed smokehouses or in industrial installations for smoking fish. When smoking, both freshly cut (raw) tree branches and dry ones are used. The former give the fish a more tart smoked smell and a bright juicy color, the latter give it a light golden color and a delicate taste.

3. Before smoking by any means, scales from fish should not be removed, as they protect the meat from soot and dirt.

In vertical smokehouses, the fish is tied with cotton rope before being hung on a hook. The rope prevents the fish from falling apart and, if smoked correctly, does not burn. The fish is cooked over medium or low heat.

It all depends on the size of the smokehouse and its design. If the fish is smoked in several levels (grids), then the distance between them should be at least 15–20 cm. The largest specimens are placed closer to the fire. If there is fish of the same weight and fat content at different levels, then it is impossible to smoke it evenly. The finished fish is removed along with the net, and another is installed in its place. The general conclusion is this: the smaller the smokehouse, the smaller the flame of the fire or stove should be.

In most cases, the smokehouse is placed on stands and a fire is lit under it. Wood growing along highways cannot be used. In tightly covered or semi-hermetic smokehouses, the steam-gas mixture passes through the gaps between the lid only at maximum heating. Completely sealed smokehouses are rarely used, since the fish cooked in them differs little in taste from that cooked in a semi-sealed smokehouse, and the design of a sealed smokehouse itself is much more complicated.

A prerequisite for a sealed smokehouse is the presence of a bypass (dump) valve or forced water cooling of the top cover. In the absence of these conditions, the smokehouse will tear into pieces when heated. For this reason, sealed smokehouses are rarely used in camping conditions. If, with a sealed connection (body - lid), a tube is used to drain gas condensate, then such a smokehouse differs little from a semi-hermetic smokehouse.

Smokehouses

Fish that fully meets the demands of gourmets is obtained if it is removed from the bottom of a horizontal smokehouse by 300 mm and from the bottom of a vertical smokehouse by 150 mm. In this case, the smoke from smoldering wood placed inside the smokehouse has time to cool by several degrees, and the temperature in that part of the smokehouse (where the fish is located) can be maintained within 80–150°C, which ensures uniform smoking even if the wood is slightly burnt .

In numerous small-sized smokehouse designs, the mesh with fish is located almost at the same level with the alder branches. Therefore, with all the efforts of the cook, the fish ends up boiled-baked, or at best baked-smoked, with the exception of minnows, small perches, bleaks, etc. It's certainly tasty, but it can never compare to fish cooked in a large smokehouse.

Pallets

The presence of a tray in the smokehouse is a matter of taste for the fisherman. Pallets are installed for the following purposes:

1. collecting dripping fat from the smoked product (the smoking process proceeds more evenly);
2. protects the fish from accidentally formed flames among the wood, the fish does not burn;
3. hot air, passing through the holes in the pan or going around it, cools by several degrees;
the temperature in the smokehouse remains stable throughout smoking;

Conclusion: the taste of fish is affected by the dimensions of the smokehouse, the amount and size of wood, and the smoking temperature. The presence of a tray is a prerequisite only for small-sized smokehouses. If the height of the smokehouse is sufficient, there is no urgent need for a pallet.

Cold smoking

For cold smoking in natural conditions, dig a chimney (3–4 m) 40–50 cm deep and cover it with branches and turf. At the end of the chimney, a structure is erected in the form of a pipe (1 m), closed on the sides with stones, clay or turf. At the chimney outlet, a wooden barrel without a bottom is often used, in which salted fish are hung on the crossbars. For cold smoking, fish is salted for 14–16 hours (see “Salting”).

Fish with tender meat (grayling, lenok, taimen, trout, sabrefish, barbel) are tied with twine so that they do not fall apart. Large fatty fish (carp, silver carp, grass carp), which burst during heat treatment, are placed horizontally so that the fat does not leak out. The pipe is closed at the top, leaving a small hole for traction. The temperature of the smoke in the chimney should not exceed 30–40°C. Cold smoking is a labor-intensive and lengthy process.

The wood used must be free of fungus, not rotten, dry, not damp.
Smoke from soft wood quickly turns the fish into a richer color.
First, dry alder wood is lit in the firebox (raw fuel is not suitable). Then the fire is reduced and covered with dry alder or aspen sawdust. For a sharp taste, in limited quantities you can add branches of juniper, heather, rowan, barberry, raspberry, blackberry, aromatic herbs - wormwood, sage, basil, etc. However, it must be remembered that all herbal additives generate a lot of dust and produce excessive heat when smoked. The grape branches give a special aroma.

About spices

When adding spices, you need to take into account the specific taste of certain types of fish (grayling, whitefish, carp, trout, pike and eel).

Spices, seasonings or ready-made mixtures (for some dishes) are added to the salt solution. For better extraction, spices are doused with boiling water. For oily fish: thyme, paprika, Indian curry powder, cumin.

For Lenten – fennel, capers, nutmeg, sage. A special aroma is coriander and... It is unacceptable to speed up the smoking process by opening the damper on the chimney, to increase the flame of the fire, and to use resinous tree species (spruce, pine, fir, larch, birch, oak). After 2 days the product is ready for use.

In finished fish, the fins at the base of the head are easily torn off. By their taste you can determine the degree of readiness of the meat. The finished products are placed in containers with ventilated holes, where they can be stored for several months at room temperature. Cold smoking in a polyethylene bag It is necessary to make a polyethylene bag according to the format of the smokehouse frame with an allowance for the ground.

At the smoking site, stakes are driven into the corners of a 1x1 m square, 2 m high, to create racks of about 170 cm. Attach a cross to a cross on top of the rack. Fish is salted under pressure: large fish – 10–12 hours; small – 8 hours. The small ones are whole, and the large ones are gutted and the back is cut along the ridge. The next day, the fish is washed, preferably in running water. Then the fish is strung on wire or strong twine and hung diagonally in the smokehouse so that one does not touch the other.

Coals are lit to the side (half a bucket). The coals are covered with fresh grass. The film is closed (without gaps). After 5-7 minutes, check to see if there is a flame, add herbs if necessary. After 1.5–2 hours, remove the bag, dry and ventilate the fish. In the afternoon, smoking is repeated, and for large ones, the same is repeated on the second day.

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