Step 1: prepare the fish.

First of all, we need to thoroughly rinse the perches under running cool water and then gut them. To do this, place the fish on a cutting board and use a knife to make an incision along the belly from the rear lower fin to the head. After this, with clean hands we take out all the insides and again rinse the perch well on all sides under running water. Attention: It is not necessary to remove the head or gills. This is according to your wishes. But we leave the scales in any case.

Now lay out the fish in layers, alternating it with salt. You need to add as much salt as possible. Important: You can even manually rub each perch with plenty of salt. After this, with clean, dry hands, mix the fish well and leave for 1 hour. Then, we rinse it again under running water and, using kitchen paper towels, wipe it dry to remove excess liquid. This is a very important process, since it determines how the perch will be prepared: either smoked or boiled. After this, transfer the perch back to a clean, dry bowl.

Step 2: prepare the smokehouse.

Since we will be smoking perch in the fresh air, first we will prepare the smokehouse itself. So, we lay out tree branches at the very bottom. After this, install the smokehouse grate. Now, using firewood and matches, light the fire and immediately put the smokehouse on the fire. Attention: the fire should be medium. Therefore, if the wood gets very hot, it is best to wait a little and only then put the smokehouse on the fire.

Step 3: prepare hot smoked perch.

As soon as the smokehouse is on fire, it is necessary to immediately place the perch on the grill before smoke begins to emerge from the twigs. So, we place the fish at a short distance from each other so that the dish can be smoked on all sides. Cover the smokehouse with a lid and immediately after the first smoke appears, detect 15-25 min t depending on the size of the fish. After the allotted time, using oven mitts, open the lid, then move the smokehouse to the side away from the fire and leave it in this state to cool a little for a while.

Important: When you open the lid of the smokehouse you need to be extremely careful not to get burned. Therefore, when we open the lid, we try to stay away, and then we give the smoke accumulated in the container the opportunity to escape, and only then do we move the smokehouse to the side. Using a fork or kitchen tongs, transfer the perch from the grill to a special serving dish and we can serve it to the table.

Step 4: serve hot smoked perch.

Immediately after cooking, we treat our friends and family to delicious fish, along with alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

Enjoy your meal!

Attention: if we smoke the fish on bird cherry, then the color of the perch will be more saturated golden, and if on an apple tree, then the color may be a little lighter. Therefore, do not worry, since the color in this case does not determine the readiness of the dish.

In addition to twigs from trees such as alder, apple and cherry, you can use twigs from other trees, such as oak, maple, poplar, as well as fruit trees other than pear.

If you mix the fish and salt with your hands, be extremely careful not to prick yourself. Therefore, after you have rubbed the fish with salt on all sides, transfer it to a large, thick food bag. And shake the bag in your hands so that the fish and salt are mixed again.

Before cooking, the fish can not only be salted, but also dried. To do this, after 15-20 minutes of salting, take the perch out of the bag or from the bowl, place it on a clean surface or hang it. We leave the perch in this state for 20-30 minutes, and only after that we wash off the salt from the fish and wipe it dry.

Hot smoked fish is not intended to be stored at room temperature. Therefore, after preparing the perch, it is imperative that the dish be placed in cling foil and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5-7 days maximum.

To prepare hot smoked perch, it is best to use small fish.

During the period of picnics and mass trips to the country, when barbecue is already a little boring, fish smoked with your own hands will be a wonderful alternative. Any variety is suitable for this purpose, but perch is considered especially popular. You can not only buy it in any store, but also catch it yourself in most reservoirs in our country. Properly smoked perch is juicy, tender and very flavorful.

Preparing for smoking

The process of preparing for hot and cold smoking is carried out in the same order:

• rinse the fish well;
• if the fish is large, then its head and entrails should be removed. Small carcasses do not need to be gutted. Also, to the joy of housewives, there is no need to clean off the scales;
• pickle the perch;
• after salting, soak the fish in clean cold water for 30 minutes;
• dry for an hour or two, hanging in a draft.

After completing all stages of preparation, you can proceed directly to smoking.

Pickling

Salting perch before smoking is not labor-intensive. All that is required is to cover it thoroughly with salt. At the same time, there is no need to be afraid of oversalting - the fish will take no more salt than it needs.

You can experiment and additionally rub the carcasses with pepper, your favorite spices or herbs. It is very important to observe moderation - too much seasoning will overwhelm the natural taste and aroma of the perch.

Smoked perch is one of the most affordable delicacies for smoked meat lovers. The dish can be varied thanks to the existence of many recipes. You can cook anywhere in a smokehouse, even in an ordinary high-rise kitchen, fortunately modern models allow you to do this. So, you can eat the delicacy without fear of possible poisoning by carcinogens, which are necessarily present in industrially prepared fish. Using the methods described below, you can cook both regular and sea bass.

Important! For smoking at home, you need to use wood chips or sawdust from fruit trees, such as cherries, cherry, apple or apricot. You can use alder. In all other cases, you risk spoiling the dish with an unpleasant smell or taste.

Preparing for smoking

Preparing for cold processing of fish is similar to how to pickle or marinate perch for hot smoking. Small carcasses do not need to be cleaned or gutted. It is better to clean large fish, decapitate them and remove their intestines. Next, you just need to cover the perches with salt, without fear of over-salting. The fish will take exactly as much product as it needs. The salted fish is placed in a container, covered with film and placed in the refrigerator for a day before smoking. You can salt without refrigeration, then the process is completed within a few hours. There is another recipe - perch can be marinated in brine, adding spices to taste in addition to salt to the water. After removing the fish, before smoking, it must be soaked in cold water for half an hour and then dried.

Hot smoking perch

Regular and hot-smoked sea bass are cooked in a smokehouse at temperatures up to 60 degrees C. Cooking time depends on the size of the fish and can vary from 2.5 hours to 6. For hot-smoked perch, it is important that during the first half-hour to an hour the temperature regime is strictly observed , then it can be reduced to 50 degrees C.

You can watch the video to see how hot smoked perch is prepared and its features.

Cold cooking

Cold smoked perch takes longer to cook. The recipe for salting or marinating is the same. Dried carcasses are placed on a wire rack or hung on hooks. The temperature of the smokehouse should not exceed +30 degrees C. The product can be smoked within a day, if the fish are small, larger carcasses can be cooked for up to 3 days.

Chemical composition and calorie content

This type of fish is rich in useful substances; the smoked product is not much inferior to the fresh product:

• the product contains a large amount of saturated fatty acids;
• many macro- and microelements: calcium, potassium, iron, copper, iodine, zinc, chromium, molybdenum and others;
• many vitamins: A, C, B1, B6, B12, E, PP and others;
• a large amount of protein, some fat, no carbohydrates.

The calorie content of perch is low - only 165 thousand calories per 100 grams of product. Hot smoked perch, compared to cold smoked perch, may have a slightly higher calorie content, but not much.

Beneficial features

Smoking perch does not deprive the fish of its beneficial properties:

• a large amount of proteins helps maintain good physical shape;
• it is useful for intense brain activity;
• fish contributes to important metabolic processes in the human body, including the formation of DNA;
• the product regulates blood sugar;
• has a beneficial effect on mucous membranes and skin.

Smoking perch at home involves large batches that may not be eaten immediately. So, the problem of product safety arises. Depending on the period for which you decide to leave the perch, you can store it:

• In the refrigerator: up to 5 days - hot smoked fish, up to 10 days - cold cooked fish. It is important to check the carcass for the presence/absence of mucus before use. It is the first sign of depravity.
• In the freezer, the product, depending on the temperature, can be stored for up to six months.

If you have interesting information on how smoked perch is prepared, share it in the comments section.

Smoked fish is a great alternative to traditional kebabs. Smoking fish is no more difficult than frying kebabs, and it tastes no worse than meat. Let's look at a hot smoked recipe using river perch as an example.

Ingredients

In order to smoke perch, we need only two ingredients: the perch itself and salt. Take as much perch as will fit in the smokehouse. Or more if you want to do several “passes” of smoking. We smoked for one time, we had 3 kg of medium-sized river perch. Do not skimp on salt; each fish needs to be well salted.

Preparation

Before salting, the fish must be washed and cleaned. You only need to clean the insides. The head and scales must be left. We had the perch already cleaned and frozen, so all we had to do was wash it thoroughly in running water.

Pickling

Cleaned fish should be generously rubbed with salt on all sides. Don’t be afraid that you will over-salt, the salt will not have time to be completely absorbed.

Also rub the gutted bellies with salt.

In this form, leave the fish to salt for 4 hours. Then remove the perches and rinse off excess salt and leave to dry. You can dry them with a napkin. The fish is ready for smoking!

Smokehouse

Our smokehouse consists of a small iron box, two grates of different heights and two lids.

The top lid closes hermetically to prevent smoke from escaping. Thus, on such a smokehouse you can smoke 2 layers of product.

Process

So, first let's prepare the smokehouse. You need to place wood chips on the bottom of the smokehouse. It is this that gives the product a unique smoked smell. You can buy wood chips in a store, or you can prepare them yourself from alder, cherry or apple trees. To do this, you need to finely trim the tree branches with an ax. In the summer we use our own wood chips, but now we have these wood chips from a pack.

Important
Do not use wood chips from resinous trees!

Place the wood chips in a thin layer evenly on the bottom of the smokehouse.

Then sprinkle them with water and cover with the first lid.

Place the first grate on top and lay out the first layer of fish.

Then place a second grill and place the second layer of fish on it.

Then the fish is closed with a second, airtight lid and sent to the fire.

We make a fire right in the grill where we usually grill kebabs. Smoking requires a good, even flame.

Cooking time for hot smoked perch is 20-30 minutes. Moreover, it is necessary to remove the smokehouse from the heat and open the lid 2 times to release excess steam. The first time you can do this 5 minutes after you put it on the fire, and the second time after 15 minutes.

Bottom line

As a result, you will get such a golden, fragrant fish.

Hot smoked perch is perfect as an appetizer with cold beer. But not only. By preparing mashed potatoes and vegetable salad, you will get a completely complete original dinner. The meat of hot smoked perch is very tender and soft, moderately salted. It even disintegrates in your hands, and is separated from the skin and bones incredibly easily. Another advantage of this product is that it can be stored in the refrigerator for quite a long time.

Fish and seafood

Description

Hot smoked sea bass- amazingly tasty fish, cooked with your own hands in a home mini-smoker. You don't need any knowledge or experience to bring this simple recipe to life. You will enjoy both the process itself (especially its short duration) and the final result, the taste and aroma of which cannot be described in words.

Having at her disposal a carcass of smoked sea bass, any housewife can easily prepare not only amazing sandwiches, but a very simple and tasty salad that will amaze with its nutritional value. At the same time, the calorie content of the product is very small. Nutritionists define it at the level of 100 kilocalories per hundred grams of fresh product, and if it is smoked, the calorie content is reduced to 88 kilocalories, which allows smoked perch meat to be consumed even by those people who are actively involved in calculating the energy value of products. In this case, the predominant component is proteins.

Smoked red sea bass is not only a very tasty fish, but also an excellent dietary product. Eating the meat of this type of fish has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the organs and systems of the human body, especially the vulnerable thyroid gland. Taurine contained in sea bass meat is of great benefit, since it is this vitamin that promotes active cell growth and rapid tissue regeneration.

Attention should be paid to such an important fact as cutting sea bass at home, which does not pose any difficulties at all - the fish arrives on the shelves of our stores in the form of a finished carcass, most often frozen.

We will be happy to share the secret of how to smoke hot-smoked red sea bass at home with chefs of various levels in a detailed recipe with step-by-step photos. Once again you will see that preparing unique and impeccable delicacies is very simple.

Ingredients

Steps

Preparing an amazing delicacy from red snapper meat does not take much time. If the perch arrives at your table frozen, allow it to thaw naturally. In order to preserve its quality, defrost only in the refrigerator, placing the carcasses in one layer in a deep bowl tightly covered with cling film. This will protect the fish from chapping.

Let's proceed to the very first and simplest step of preparing this dish: Rinse the fish carcass in running water and dry it with paper towels before salting.

Place a few handfuls of regular salt on a plate and then roll the fish carcass over it. A little salt should be placed inside each red snapper. Let the fish sit in salt for several hours at room temperature. Protect it from dust, insects and direct sunlight.

As soon as the salt is well dissolved on the surface of the fish, rinse the carcasses in running water and dry, wiping with paper towels. Fish prepared for smoking should look like in the photo.



Carefully place the fish on the smoker grates as shown in the photo. Carcasses should not touch each other.



For seven carcasses you need to install both levels of the smokehouse. Don’t worry – there won’t be a lot of fish, don’t let the unit run idle.



This is what a mini smokehouse looks like, assembled into two levels. Once you are sure that the fish will feel comfortable, set the grates aside for a while.



Light the fire, let the charcoal burn in the firebox, and then carefully place it in the pan. After this, place a sawdust tray on top of the fire, into which pour a generous handful of alder chips. Pour boiling water into the water seal bowl, and then put the grates with the perch carcasses back in place. The mobile smokehouse is ready for use - cover it with the lid. Now watch the thermometer reading: as soon as the hand reaches 90 degrees Celsius, start counting the time.



After forty minutes, open the smoker, then add some shavings and admire the appearance of the perch. If desired, you can turn the carcasses over to the other side. Close the smokehouse and wait.



After the next half hour, the hot smoked sea bass will be completely ready.



In order to take a sample from a fragrant fish delicacy, it must be cooled to a cold state. This will take three to four hours. During this time, the fish will be saturated with smoke and take on the appearance as in the photo. Using a sharp knife, separate the fillet from the bones and skin, and then cut it into portions. And if you were preparing fish for beer, then simply cut the carcasses crosswise into thin pieces, leaving both the skin and the backbone - it will be much tastier. Hot smoked sea bass is ready.



Bon appetit!