Need it, but don’t have Liquid Smoke flavoring on hand? It doesn’t matter, anyone can cook it with their own hands.

We consider it necessary to immediately draw your attention to the fact that you are unlikely to be able to create real liquid smoke identical to the flavoring agent prepared industrially.

To build an installation in which smoke from burning hardwood sawdust is pumped into a condenser, cooled in it and turned into a liquid purified by special filters from tar, resins and carcinogens is not an easy task.

It is much easier to prepare a flavoring from existing products, choosing their ratio in such a way that the taste and aroma of a dish treated with homemade liquid smoke are no different from the results of cooking using a factory-made flavoring.

Matches and foil

To prepare liquid smoke using foil and matches, you will need an ordinary glass glass, thoroughly cooled in the freezer. It would be more correct to say - frozen in the freezer.

Cut a square with sides 12-15 cm from food foil, fold 10 matches into a bundle with their heads in one direction, place them in the foil, and then roll it tightly into a tube.

Tighten the end of the tube from the side of the match heads, leave the other unchanged.

Place the foil tube in the glass so that the twisted end is on the outside of the glass, and the other just touches the side wall, but does not contact the bottom. The most convenient way to do this is to build some kind of laboratory tripod from copper wire.

Bring the flame to the outside end of the tube. When the high temperature causes the match heads to ignite inside the tube, the fire can be put out. Smoke from burning matches will begin to flow from the lower end of the tube into the glass.

Coming into contact with the cold walls of the glass, the smoke will turn into condensation and begin to collect at the bottom of the glass as a liquid.

By repeating the described procedure several times, replacing old glasses with “fresh frozen” ones, you can prepare a sufficient amount of liquid smoke for cooking.

Rice, tea and sugar

The method described below allows you to give the product a taste and aroma identical to what would be obtained if real liquid smoke was used.

Wrap a mixture consisting of a tablespoon of black or green tea, two tablespoons of rice and a teaspoon in food foil. Be sure to poke a few holes in the bag with a fork.

Place the prepared bag on a baking sheet, place the meat on top, and then place the baking sheet in the oven. The smoke coming out of the holes in the bag during baking will give the meat a smoked taste and aroma.

Curry, mayonnaise and garlic

Finely chop the head of garlic, add a package of curry seasoning and a packet of mayonnaise. Mix thoroughly.

Pour the prepared marinade over the meat or fish and leave for 3-4 hours. After this, the products can be subjected to heat treatment.

The taste of the finished dish will be as if it was cooked with smoke.

Enjoy your meal!

Manufacturers of liquid smoke claim that the product is completely harmless, since it is obtained as a result of a special method of processing smoke from the smoldering of natural wood and its composition is almost completely free of harmful resins and carcinogenic substances. Liquid smoke produced in industrial conditions undergoes multi-stage purification; the quality of the product and the content of harmful substances in it are closely monitored by product safety control services.

You can use liquid smoke at the beginning of cooking or after the meat or fish has already been baked - to do this, coat it on top, wrap it in foil or cover the dish with a lid and leave for 10-15 minutes.

The package of liquid smoke usually comes with a small collection of recipes for dishes that can be prepared using it. Mackerel marinated in liquid smoke turns out to be very tasty; this recipe can help out the housewife on the eve of the holiday, when she wants to pamper her family with delicious smoked fish, but does not have a smokehouse.

You will need:

2 pcs. fresh mackerel;
- 2 tbsp. l. granulated sugar;
- 1 liter of water;
- 2 handfuls of onion peels;
- 5 tbsp. l. salt;
- 2-3 peas of black ground pepper and cloves;
- 150 ml of liquid smoke.

The fish must be gutted, the entrails removed, and if desired, the head and tail can be cut off. At the same time, you need to prepare the brine for the marinade: pour water into a saucepan, add sugar, salt, add onion skins, spices, bring to a boil and boil for 5-7 minutes. Remove the marinade from the heat, cool and add liquid smoke to it. Place the prepared mackerel in a separate container, fill it with this solution and put it in the refrigerator for a day.

After this time, remove the fish from the brine, wipe with paper towels, cut into portions and place on a dish. To add shine, you can rub the mackerel with vegetable oil and decorate the dish with lemon, herbs and vegetables.

You can prepare lard at home, which will closely match the taste and structure of the smoked product, but can be stored for a longer time than that prepared by hot smoking. It is better to use lard with layers of meat.

The recipe for the marinade is prepared similarly to that for mackerel; various spices are added to the brine to taste (optional), and liquid smoke is added at the end of cooking. The lard, cut into portions, is placed in an enamel bowl and filled with hot brine. Cover the pan with a lid and place in a cool place for 12-15 hours. After this, remove the pieces of lard from the brine, dry them with paper towels and rub them with red or black ground pepper on all sides, trying to rub the powder into the pores. The lard needs to be kept at room temperature for 25-30 minutes, then you can put the product in a plastic bag and put it in the refrigerator or freezer.

What is “liquid smoke” and how to prepare it yourself - this will be discussed in our article today.

The cooled walls of the glass condense all harmful heavy volatile organic compounds onto themselves, purifying the bulk of the smoke. Purified smoke either poured into some container, or simply applied to the desired product.

The main thing in preparing liquid smoke is safety. In addition, although the first two methods are quite simple, the latter is harmful to health and can cause cancer. So it’s not all that simple, and you have to pay for the pleasure of eating smoked meats.

The resulting liquid smoke is, on the one hand, a cheap substitute for real smoking, which takes little time to prepare. The carcinogens and resins present in it are relatively safe for humans due to their low concentration.

On the other hand, it is criminal to discount the negligence with which manufacturers approach the creation and sale of liquid smoke. The imperfection of the law that regulates the content of carcinogens in this flavor has led to the widespread spread of counterfeits and harmful products.

So, you need to be extremely careful when purchasing or preparing liquid smoke in any form, otherwise the consequences will not be long in coming.

How to smoke lard (using liquid smoke)

Liquid smoke is very easy to use, and anyone can handle it. Usually, instructions are written on the label of the bottle, which must be read before using the flavor. As a rule, to get a dish with a smoky flavor, you just need to add a few drops from a container of liquid smoke, for example, to a marinade, and then fry the meat. The result is a delicious kebab that is difficult to distinguish from the one cooked over a fire.

It can also be used for cooking herring, mackerel and any other fish. If you want to get delicious smoked pieces without spending extra time and effort on it, then liquid smoke will be an excellent option. You just need to add it to the fish so that within a few minutes it acquires a smoky taste. Everything is extremely simple, and most importantly, you don’t have to spend money on a smokehouse.

Methods of application

As you can already understand, smoking with liquid smoke is popular both among sausage and meat producers, and among ordinary people at home. Everything is extremely simple. You will need to take, for example, a whole raw chicken. It must be rubbed with salt, spices, garlic and other products that are usually used for this dish. Of course, the recipe already turns out delicious, but you can make it more original and appetizing by using sauce with liquid smoke.

For this you will need:

• liquid smoke - 30 g;
• mayonnaise - 50 g;
• crushed garlic - 4 cloves.

All this must be mixed and rubbed into the chicken. You can let it sit for about 30 minutes before putting it in the oven. After about an hour, it will be ready, and it will taste as if it had just come from the fire. By the way, a similar recipe with liquid smoke can be used to prepare any other meat at home. Smoking will be felt in every juicy piece.

Smoke can also be used for lard, if you are tired of just salting it and want to try something new. It is important to properly prepare the brine, in which you need to take 6 tbsp per liter of water. spoons containing liquid smoke. You should also put salt, spices, and bay leaves there. The lard should be boiled in this brine for about an hour, then dried and grated with pepper and garlic.

Many people love smoked fish, so you may need to make your own. If you don’t have a home smokehouse, then liquid smoke is a good option. After the fish is salted and dried, it must be placed in a container with liquid smoke. You need to leave the snack there for a few minutes, after which it needs to be hung in a cool place. As a last resort, you can spray liquid smoke on it using a spray bottle, if suddenly there is no special container.

Some people may be surprised to learn that liquid smoke is used not only for meat, but also for various soups. Smoking, the taste of which is quite unusual and pleasant, can be easily achieved using this flavoring agent. You just need to add a few drops to a pan of soup or borscht and then stir. Now it will seem that the recipe was prepared with some kind of smoked meat, and for this you will not need to specially buy meat. Liquid smoke is a beneficial alternative available to every person at home.

Harmful or not?

Of course, any smoked meats are very tasty, but they are not always healthy. Doctors do not recommend using them for people suffering from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, as it can be dangerous to health. This is about general advice, and now you should understand specifically the properties of liquid smoke.

More detailed information about the benefits and harms of “Liquid Smoke” in this!

It, like any substance, has its positive and negative sides. Speaking of benefits, it should be mentioned that this flavoring makes food tasty and allows for quick and easy smoking. This is really good for people who don't want to spend a lot of time preparing delicacies. As for the composition, this smoke contains much less tar, resins and carcinogens than regular smoke. This undoubtedly makes the dish less harmful than if it were cooked over a real fire.

With such positive properties, we should not forget that liquid smoke still contains carcinogens. That is why it is highly not recommended to increase the established dosage, otherwise the resulting dish may adversely affect human health. Otherwise, there is no particular harm from liquid smoke, so there is no reason to worry that it will cause poisoning or cause a dangerous disease. If you do everything as indicated in the recipes, nothing like this will happen.

Liquid smoke can be safely used at home, as it is practically harmless, and dishes with it have an exquisite smoky taste. Having purchased a bottle of this substance, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the method of its use. It is important and necessary to follow the indicated dosages so as not to spoil the meat and not make the recipe harmful. What exactly to cook with the addition of flavoring - each person can decide for himself. There are quite a few options, and each of them is interesting, so you can safely experiment by changing the ingredients.

You can smoke food not only with natural smoke. It’s easier, more economical and safer for health to do this using a special one.

Liquid smoke and its benefits

Like regular smoke, liquid smoke increases the shelf life of foods and imparts smoky flavor, color, and aroma. However, it has one undeniable advantage - unlike natural smoke, it does not contain benzopyrene and other carcinogenic substances that can cause cancer.

The use of liquid smoke allows you to regulate the degree and intensity of smoking of products, ensuring their stable quality.

Cold smoked lard

Pour 1 liter of water into a saucepan, dissolve 4 tablespoons of kitchen salt in it, and then add one handful of onion peels. The husk must be present; it will give the finished product a yellowish-golden color.

After boiling the saline solution with the husks, let it simmer for 5-6 minutes, then remove from the heat.

Cut one kilogram into large pieces and place them in a spacious enamel pan so that there is a gap of about half a centimeter between the pieces.

Add 6 tablespoons of liquid smoke to the hot brine, stir and pour the lard over it until it is completely covered with the solution.

Place the pan on the fire. After bringing the brine to a boil, reduce the heat to as low as possible and simmer for half an hour. Remove the pan from the heat and place it in a cool place for 12-14 hours.

After the specified time has passed, remove the lard from the solution, wipe dry with napkins or dry in a draft. All that remains is to thoroughly rub each piece on all sides with red ground pepper and garlic gruel. Smoked lard is ready!

Smoking fish with liquid smoke

Wash fish intended for smoking thoroughly, clean and gut it.

Cut it into two parts along the vertebral ridge, or cut it from the inside along the ridge so that the two halves remain connected only by the spinal fin.

You can also make cuts from the inside of the carcass, this way the fish will be better saturated with brine. Small fish does not need to be gutted, just wash it thoroughly in running water.

Place the fish tightly in a plastic or enamel container, fill it with brine prepared from 1 liter of water, 3 tablespoons of salt and 2 teaspoons of sugar, and then place under pressure in a cool place for 24 hours.

After a day, remove the fish from the brine, rinse with water and hang to dry for 2-3 hours.

Mix 5 tablespoons of liquid smoke with 1 liter of water and dip the salted fish into the prepared solution. For large fish, the residence time in the flavoring is 2-3 minutes, for small fish - 1 minute, and for a fish divided in two, 20 seconds is enough.

Hanging the fish by the tail, let it dry for 24 hours. After the specified time has passed, you can begin taking the sample.

Enjoy your meal!