Cold smoking of fish: technology, recipes. What kind of fish is better to smoke in a smokehouse? Cold-smoked mackerel

Smoked fish ... This product with its taste and nutritional qualities delight many gourmets around the world. Cold smoked fish has become a traditional dish of everyday and festive table. It is equally good as a side dish to vegetables, and as an appetizer for alcohol, and as a main dish.

Until recently, preparing smoked meat with my own hands seemed a very complicated and complicated business. However, now, with the advent of the Internet and the necessary goods, the smoking process has become more simple and affordable. You can do it right tomorrow, with a minimum of effort and money. Moreover, it is possible to smoke fish or meat on a regular and regular basis, indulging in delicious delicacies of yourself and your family or organizing your own profitable business.

So is it really possible to cook smoked fish yourself? What should be taken into account and what mistakes should be avoided? What is the technology of cold smoked fish at home? If you are interested - it means our article is for you!

What is cold smoking?

Cold smoking is a method of treating products with wood smoke for the purpose of preserving them for long-term storage. This method is very useful and practical, because cooked foods contain the maximum amount of useful vitamins and minerals, and can also persist for a long period of time.

However, the cold method of smoking is quite long and laborious. It involves a long process, requiring some effort.

What is the technology of cold smoking of fish? Briefly, the pre-salted fish is smoked for several days in a specially constructed structure. During this process, the substances contained in wood smoke are released, which have antiseptic properties and prevent the product from damaging the rot and decomposition bacteria.

There are official government documents regulating the technology of producing cold-smoked fish. Such normative acts have the abbreviated name "GOST". Cold smoked fish, according to accepted state standards, goes through several phases of its preparation, from defrosting, washing and cutting the carcass and ending with its salting and smoking. To each stage of this technological process there is a necessary, fixed instruction.

However, people who are unfamiliar with smoking technology immediately have specific, targeted questions: what kind of fish is better to smoke in a smokehouse? For how long does it have to be done? What types of trees are optimal for home smoking? And is it possible to build a home smokehouse yourself?

Well, let's gradually try to uncover the secrets of the technology of cooking cold-smoked fish.

Necessary fish species

Is it important, what kind of fish is better to smoke in a smokehouse? Yes, because not all fish can be subject to cold smoking, because during processing the taste and nutritional properties of the product are lost.

So what kind of fish is better to smoke in a smokehouse? The most delicious and mouth-watering are mackerel and salmon, followed by carp, carnivore, Baltic herring, sterlet, eel, flounder and others. The main thing is that the fish should be fresh, fat and, if possible, of the same size (so that the salting and smoking are carried out evenly).

So, with the kind of product we have decided. Now let's find out what a smokehouse is and how it can be built at home.

Smokehouse. Building process

To build a quality and suitable smokehouse in accordance with the technology of producing cold smoked fish, you need to determine how often you will use this design. If rare, then you can build a temporary (or disposable) smokehouse, if often - then a constant.

For the first type of smokehouse it is necessary to follow simple and clear instructions:

1. Dig a trench in the ground with a slight lift to the side to the smokehouse and two to three meters in length, half a meter wide and a quarter of a meter deep.
2. Cover the top of the ditch with pieces of non-flammable metal and turf, sprinkle with soil.
3. In the lower part of the trench to build a hearth.
4. In the upper part of the ditch, install a wooden frame, the height of which would be one and a half meters, and the width - one meter.
5. The sides of the frame should be covered with polyethylene film, and put wet sacks on top.

In order to use this smokehouse constantly, it is necessary to strengthen the trench, overlaying it with a brick, and also to replace the fragile frame with a solid wooden or brick structure. You can also buy a ready-to-smoker in the store or build it from a large barrel, an old refrigerator and other little-used, large-sized things of your household.

The principle of the technology of cold smoking of fish is that the smoke from the diluted outbreak will rise along the trench up to the smokehouse, cooling along the way to the desired temperature. Through the top of the smokehouse the smoke will come out.

The smoke generator will help us

This kind of smokehouse is very simple for their erection with their own hands without special skills and abilities. However, in recent years, many innovations have emerged that help to improve the quality and efficiency of smoking fish. The introduction of such innovations in the technology of cold smoked fish save your strength and free time. They will improve the taste of the finished product and help you to smoke with joy and pleasure.

One of the pleasant modern innovations is an installed smokehouse with a smoke generator. The essence of this device is to produce the required amount of smoke and feed it to the smoking container, while working in an autonomous mode.

The smoke generator can be built with your own hands from a fan, thermometer, compressor, several types of pipes, fittings and connecting wires, as well as from other components that are at hand. The housing for the generator can serve as metal cans or pans, chimneys - any tube made of refractory material.

To collect a homemade smoke generator, you will need a Bulgarian and a welding machine, as well as some skills and abilities. The most difficult thing in this business is to weld the chimney chimney to the pipe, and also to make doors for lids and firebox. But the result will be worth it - you will get tasty, evenly smoked fish meat without any special power costs.

Of course, a smoke generator can be bought, which will facilitate its design and performance.

Typically, the smoke generator should be loaded once a day with a small amount of chips - a volume of about one liter. This homemade unit can be stored in a garage and a closet, it is very compact and mobile.

However, do not forget that this device should be carefully taken care of: regularly clean the container of decayed ash, wash the casing and other.

Also, when using a smoke generator, basic safety requirements must be met:

- install the device on a hard surface.

- Ensure that the wiring is removed from a strong voltage source and high temperature.

- The smoke generator must be grounded.

- do not allow children and animals to work before the appliance.

To such advice it is necessary to listen and during the smoking without a smoke generator. For example, it is necessary to plant a hotbed in a fire-safe place inaccessible to small children. Near the smokehouse is also important to put the necessary firefighting tools - a shovel, a fire extinguisher, a bucket of water.

So, the smokehouse (homemade or purchased) is already ready for us. Now let's discuss the important conditions of cold smoking.

Wood used

What firewood and sawdust is best used for the hearth?

The technology of cold smoking of fish involves the use of hardwood. Most often, maple, aspen, oak, mountain ash, pear and apple tree are used, which practically do not emit tar, but produce antibacterial smoke.

For smoking, you need to choose thin and finely detailed branches, as well as chips and sawdust, which will smolder for a long time, creating the desired temperature and smoke.

It is noteworthy that the tree species used influences the flavor and aromatic properties of the smoked product. For example, ash makes the fish rich taste, hazel - a sharp and intense aroma, maple impregnates smoked fish with meat taste.

Many people think that only dry wood should be taken for a smokehouse. However, this is not necessary. It all depends on your desire and preferences.

If you want your fish in the finished version to differ tart taste and strengthened brown color, then you can use slightly damp wood. And if you want the smoked product to have a bright golden crust and a gentle aftertaste, then choose well-dried branches.

In general, using all sorts of wood can be experimented, creating various combinations. For example, typical non-flavored flavor is added to the focus of blackberry, currant and grape leaves and twigs. A peculiar specific taste is given to the fish and sawdust from the hornbeam.

It is best to use several types of wood fuel, while respecting the simple ratio: fruit wood should be slightly larger than normal.

Conducting taste and culinary experiences, it should be remembered that it is best not to use coniferous trees for smoking fish, since they endow the product with unpleasant bitterness and emit tar that settles on the surface of the smoked dish with a thin layer of soot.

Also, firewood contaminated with fungi, mold and rot should not be added. Before using wood, it is necessary to remove the bark, since during combustion, it can release toxic substances and give the products an undesirable bitter taste.

Very carefully, you should approach the use of wood from birch, as it can give smoked food unnecessary bitterness.

It should also be mentioned that in no case can the fire be fanned in the hearth. With cold smoking, the wood must smolder actively and intensively, for this purpose, fractional broken branches should be covered with small sawdust.

Having decided on the type of wood for breeding, let us now think about how to prepare our fish directly for the process of smoking.

Ways of preparation: ambassador or pickle

Let's find out an appetizing recipe for cold-smoked fish. For example, mackerel.

Before the smoking, preferably in the evening, it must be thoroughly washed and cleaned. From the belly of the fish, remove the insides, milk and gills. It is not necessary to cut off the head. Also, do not scrape off the skin or scales, this will allow the mackerel to preserve the juiciness of meat and a delicate aroma.

Should I cut fish into pieces? There is no need to do this with respect to small specimens, but it is desirable to divide large fish into pieces or make small incisions along the spine. This will allow the product to salivate and smoke evenly and quickly.

How does the ambassador process go? There are several options for processing salt fish. For example, you can rub the fish inside and out, add spices, onions and put under oppression for six to twelve hours.

Another version of the ambassador is to prepare a strong saline solution and place mackerel in it for twenty or thirty minutes.

Fatty fish should be salted a little different way: richly grated salt and spices, the product is wrapped in foil or parchment and placed in a tightly closed plastic, glass or enamel container for two to three days.

Salted in this way, cold-smoked mackerel will have a pleasant and delicate taste and aroma.

In addition to salting, fish can be soaked in the marinade. This will make her meat even more soft and juicy, and will also give him the necessary flavoring properties and shades.

For marinating you need a fourth of a glass of salt, half a glass of lemon juice, a glass of white wine and soy sauce (the ingredients are calculated per liter of water). Here you can add onions and your favorite spices and seasonings.

The time for marinating mackerel varies from eight to ten hours. It is noteworthy that the pickled fish should be in a closed container in the refrigerator.

Penultimate stage: drying and drying

After the salting, the fish should be thoroughly rinsed (in several waters) and soaked, which can also take a couple of days. Then the product should be dried. To do this, the carcass is suspended vertically, without covering it, but protecting it from flies and other insects, and kept for three to five days.

At this stage, each fish needs to be properly scanned to get rid of a spoiled, poorly salted specimen. If the fish smells bad or has a friable meat, it must be thrown out.

After drying, carcasses are hung in a smoking cupboard, trying not to touch them with each other. Thanks to this smoke smoke will evenly envelop the fish from all sides, which will improve the quality and speed of its readiness.

Now let's go directly to the smoking process.

Mandatory duration of smoking

So, our mackerel is ready for a cold smoking, and here comes the quite traditional question: how long does it take to smoke the fish?

How much to smoke fish is a fairly common and popular question, the answer to which begs for itself: with cold smoking it is impossible to quickly cook a delicious and safe dish without subjecting it to heat treatment.

It is also logical to conclude that the time of cold smoking of fish depends on its size and fat content. On average, this takes several days.

The technology of cold smoking of fish does not imply its preparation during a day trip to nature. If you are going to rest outside the city for quite a long time, then bravely grasp for smoking even the most huge and fat fish carcass.

How many smoked fish are small in size? Usually small fish are smoked for two to three days, while larger fish can be cooked four or more.

Experienced cooks recommend starting smoking in the morning, in sunny windless weather. The first day should be monitored to ensure that smoke enters the smoking cup continuously, and only then, due to circumstances, there may be small deviations in its intake. So with the task of cold smoking quite able to cope and one person!

Required temperature of the smokehouse

What is the mandatory temperature of cold smoking of fish? It is necessary to ensure that the air in the smokehouse does not rise above thirty degrees Celsius. The most optimal temperature is twenty-five degrees.

At the same time, it is necessary to regularly check the temperature of the air inside the chamber itself, so as to regulate the smoldering hearth if necessary.

However, it must be remembered that one should not open the smokehouse too often to look in the middle - this can significantly increase the smoking time of the product or even spoil the entire process.

After smoked fish take out their smokehouses not at once, but give another couple of days to sweat, so that it has an even golden color and concentrated taste.

What is it, a ready-made dish?

So, the time and temperature of the preparation of the dish are sustained, and our cold-smoked mackerel is ready!

How can you determine that a smoked fish can be used?

Since, with cold smoking, the carcass is soaked with smoke from the fire and loses most of the fats and moisture, the meat of this fish should be fairly dry and hard, have a bright golden crust and adhere tightly to the ridge. And of course, the properly prepared product should not have an unpleasant odor and aftertaste.

Long-term storage of ready fish

How is it best to store smoked fish? The product must be placed in a clean and dry place with a constant air temperature of three degrees. Thus, the fish can be in the refrigerator for one week.

However, it should be remembered that the dish has a specific pungent odor, so it should be stored in thick paper.

Cold-smoked fish can be frozen in vacuum packaging for three months. Defrost the same product is best in the microwave.

If you decide to leave the smoked fish in reserve, be sure to remember - during the storage of its flavor and food properties deteriorate. Therefore, it is best to eat this food for the first three days.

Bon Appetit!