Cold smoking in the home

The process of treating cold fish smoke or meat complexity will not be. Provided that the smokehouse and the technology are properly selected. The product (fish, meat) is obtained as a result of dried-smoked: excess moisture is removed, shelf life is increased , and taste qualities are improved.

Smoke smoke acts as an antiseptic, which destroys the parasitic microflora. In addition, the product is better salted. The shelf life is three months.

How to make a smokehouse ? There are many options. Your attention is presented only one, the most accessible. But it is possible to conduct cold smoking in this way only on own farmstead. So...

We cook an ordinary barrel without a bottom. Even old and rusty will do. We dig a hole up to 40 cm deep and 50 cm in diameter. Now measure from this pit 3 m and dig another pit, with the same depth and diameter slightly less than the diameter of the prepared barrel. Between the holes we dig a shallow, shovel-like shovel, a trench (chimney). Cover the trench with sheets of iron and sprinkle with earth. We cover the second pit with a barrel, sprinkle the earth around to prevent smoke leakage and unnecessary air access. On this device that allows you to conduct a cold smoking, is ready.

Now - the process itself. In the barrel we set the crossbeams, - the product will be suspended on them. You can smoke meat, poultry, fish, and lard. Pieces so that they do not come in contact with each other and with the walls of the barrel (otherwise these places will either get bad or do not work at all).

Before starting cold smoking, the product is aged in brine. Recipes brine on the Internet set, so they will not stop.

After completing the hanging of the pieces, cover the barrel with burlap. In the first pit (in the one without the barrel), build a fire. For a fire, branches of fruit trees are chosen. Coniferous wood can not be used: it is too resinous. Branches and logs should not flare up, but smolder: we need not thermal treatment, but smoke, - this is the cold smoking. The pit is covered with a sheet of iron so that there is little access to oxygen (otherwise the fire will die out altogether). By the way, raw branches grow worse, therefore it is quite reasonable to use them. In general, the best fuel is believed to be rotten alder or aspen. They put a dry juniper, grapevine, heather, reddish. Especially important is the juniper in the final stage - its smoke has a powerful antimicrobial effect (which can not but affect the shelf life of the finished product). Fans of spices and various tastes add at the end of the smoking process rye straw, grass hay, basil, caraway, sage and even wormwood.

The ideal smoke for smoking is light (obtained as a result of incomplete combustion of firewood with sufficient oxygen access). The main mistake of beginners is the fanning of the fire. Let's repeat: the wood must be smoldering, but not burning. The desired result is achieved by laying chopped logs in the furnace (pit), followed by falling asleep filings (preferably wet). If the product is viewed clearly, the smoke concentration is optimal.

As for the time of smoking, it depends entirely on your own taste. If we take the average time, then for birds, fats and fish it will be 15 hours (taking into account the weight of the piece from 2 to 4 kg). By the way, meat is cut not across, but along the fibers.

For lovers of the beautiful appearance (rouge, marbling), we can recommend adding a little sodium saltpeter to the brine.Of course, we will not talk about harm to health.It is fair to say: a shop sausage, which is in legal sale, without the content of nitrate (or without participation Its in production) to find oh, how hard it is.

Try it, experiment. Who knows, maybe this will be the beginning of his own, the production of cold smoked products. Good luck!