Spices for smoking fish, meat, poultry at home: features and requirements

Fish selection

The main condition when choosing raw materials for hot smoking is freshness.
The main condition when choosing raw materials for hot smoking is freshness. It is better to use freshly caught fish. Frozen individuals are suitable, but you should check the quality of the carcasses:

• the amount of ice does not exceed 5%;
• eyes are bright, without a cloudy veil;
• the gills have a bright, pink or red tint;
• the surface is elastic;
• the meat fits tightly to the bone.

It is better to take carcasses for hot smoking at home of the same size. This will ensure even salting and smoke treatment.

Cold smoking

Cold smoking can be used to smoke any product. The taste of the resulting dish will be different from hot smoked fish. The procedure for working with cold smoke requires greater responsibility, so you need to carry out all the steps step by step, since a mistake will lead to damage to the product. But the advantage of this method is the preservation of vitamins and nutrients. When storing fish, carcasses can also be tied up, but there is no such strict requirement as for hot smoking.

It is important to prepare a sufficient amount of firewood and wood chips before starting work. When using a smoke generator, you need to know its consumption, because the process cannot be interrupted, at least for the first 8 hours. The total duration of smoking at home can reach up to several days. The key to a good result will be the selection of fish of the same size. Otherwise, the small fish will be saturated with smoke and will taste bitter, but large fish will not be smoked.

The efforts made to prepare smoked meats using this method are justified by all parameters. The fish meat is more natural, juicy, and elastic. This appetizer goes well with any dish. Unlike hot smoked fish, this delicacy has a longer shelf life. If properly packaged in parchment paper, the fish can last for several weeks in the refrigerator.

Let's return to the final stage of smoking. To judge the readiness of a dish, you need to evaluate the appearance of the carcasses. They should have a bright golden color. Deviations are allowed here, since after salting the fish is already ready for consumption, and there is no risk of signs of raw meat.

The best types of fish for smoking

Different breeds of fish have their own characteristics of taste and smell. Using the hot smoking method, you can make a real delicacy out of any fish. The fatty types are considered the most delicious:

• pink salmon;
• asp;
• sterlet;
• mackerel;
• greenling

You can also prepare an exquisite delicacy from pike, crucian carp, and perch. Even small-sized fish are suitable for smoking in a smokehouse. It smokes faster, the taste and aroma are divine.

Preparation

Before preparing hot smoked fish, you should carefully prepare the raw materials. This is a guarantee of ideal taste and aroma qualities and safety, since fish contains substances and microorganisms that can negatively affect health. Proper marinating will help remove them.

Proper cutting of specimens will make it possible to obtain a better taste and smell, eliminate the aroma of mud when smoking river fish, and prevent the appearance of bitterness during cooking.

Carcass cutting

The issue of gutting fish before smoking is considered controversial. Some fishermen advise not to clean carcasses. This simplifies and speeds up the cooking process. Others insist that thorough cleaning is necessary, since some of the insides can give off a bitter taste.

How to cut depends on the type and size of the fish. Small fish can be smoked whole, since gutting will take a lot of time, and the disassembled carcass will fall apart during hot smoking. The technology for preparing individuals is as follows:

1. Removing the gills.
2. Cleaning the insides.
3. The scales are left in because they will help retain maximum juice in the smoked product.
4. The head is cut off at will.
5. The black film on the inner surface of the abdomen is removed.

When cutting, it is important to keep the gallbladder intact. If a rupture occurs, the carcass should not be used as it will turn out bitter.

Large specimens are cut into pieces or milled. It is possible to prepare two equal parts by cutting the fish along the ridge and separating the meat from the bone, or by cutting the carcasses crosswise.

Salting or pickling

Salting allows you to give the product a characteristic taste, eliminate the smell of fish, and prevent spoilage of carcasses. The procedure is carried out using various methods:

1. Dry salting. This method involves thoroughly rubbing the surface with salt, possibly with the addition of pepper. The workpiece is placed in a cool place. How much to salt the fish before hot smoking depends on the freshness and size of the fish. Freshly caught carcasses will be salted in 2-5 hours, frozen fish will take about a day. During salting, the container with the product is wrapped in cling film. This is especially important for oily fish, since fish oil undergoes an oxidative reaction, which is accompanied by an unpleasant odor.
2. In liquid brine. Brine is prepared from salt with the addition of pepper and bay leaf. To check, an egg is dipped into water. If it floats, then there is enough salt. The fish is soaked in liquid and placed in the refrigerator for 3-5 hours. This salting option allows the salt to penetrate deep into the fibers and destroy pathogens.
3. Pickling. Marinades with original ingredients allow you to add a refined taste to the smoked product. Typically, soy sauce, mustard, lemon juice and other citrus fruits are used for salting. Recipes for marinades are varied; they should be selected taking into account the expected result.

Knowing how to properly salt fish, you will be able to get the maximum benefit, while the taste of the smoked product will be unforgettable. After salting, the carcasses are soaked in water. This allows you to remove excess salt. If marinade was used for salting, then long soaking in water is not required. It is enough to simply rinse the specimens for hot smoking fish.

Drying

Before smoking hot smoked fish, the carcasses should be thoroughly dried. To do this, individuals are wiped with paper napkins, towels, and hung in a well-ventilated area. Drying the carcasses for 1 hour is enough, then rinsing again in water and wiping with napkins. Before drying, the fish is wrapped in twine. This will help maintain its shape and prevent it from falling apart. Excess moisture in the product will result in hot smoked fish at home being boiled and not smoked.

Recipe for hot smoking fish at home

The dish, despite the relative simplicity of preparation, will have excellent taste and presentable appearance if you follow a certain sequence of actions and the result will exceed all the most fantastic anticipations.

The recipe for hot smoking fish includes several stages, the main of which include:

• preliminary preparation;
• salting and marinating;
• wilting and
• actually, the smoking process itself.

Preparing wood chips for smoking

Of no small importance in hot smoking is given to wood chips, sawdust, branches and shavings, which are preliminarily slightly moistened with water. Alder wood in combination with juniper branches and berries is considered an exemplary option, as it has the most pronounced bactericidal characteristics.

Material from fruit trees has excellent performance: cherry, apple, peach, grape, sweet cherry, pear, apricot. A good result is obtained from the use of hardwood: rowan, aspen, willow, ash, oak, beech, maple, etc.

In very small quantities, you can add herbs, spices, pine cones to the wood chips, but in no case coniferous or birch wood, since the excess content of resins and tar causes the product to become covered with soot, and its smell and appearance are poor.

Smoke from the combustion of fruit and deciduous trees creates intricate aromas and colors, and the use of different woods allows you to adjust the flavor shades of the smoked product.

However, it is strictly prohibited to use painted or glued boards, chipboard or fibreboard, laminate and other materials that are treated with polymer resins and various other chemicals as fuel for hot smoking fish.

Ready-made kits with the wood necessary for smoking are available in the retail chain, which greatly simplifies the preliminary preparation for preparing the dish at home.

If you prepare the wood chips with your own hands, then all the bark containing resin should be removed from the branches and cut into small pieces of 2-3 cm so that they smolder evenly, and to obtain a thicker smoke, it is appropriate to mix the wood chips with sawdust and shavings.

Preparing fish for hot smoking

At first, the carcasses are divided into approximately the same sizes, since large ones may not be sufficiently smoked, and small ones may burn. Then medium carcasses weighing over half a kilogram are freed from the gills, but they may not be removed, the black film covering the ribs, and the entrails, since the contents of the stomach spread during smoking and the product begins to taste bitter.

Small fish, as well as carp and bream up to 750 g, do not need to be gutted.

If the carcasses are huge, then they must be butchered and even cut into pieces, since home smokehouses have limited internal space.

At this stage, balyks are created from them, they are cut into steaks or cut along the ridge into two halves, including the head and tail, but the spine is not removed and, except for whitefish, scales are left on them, since it prevents the penetration of harmful substances from smoke, and the product is not afraid of dirt and soot.

After cleaning and pre-preparing the fish for hot smoking, it is diligently washed under cold water and excess moisture is removed from it using ordinary kitchen napkins or a paper towel, regardless of the size of the carcasses.

Salting and marinating

Salt promotes the coagulation of proteins and prevents the product from spoiling prematurely, so it is necessary to salt it before smoking. The easiest way to salt the product is using the dry method, in which prepared fish are rubbed with coarse salt on all sides with their hands, not excluding the belly and places where the gills were.

If there are large specimens, then cuts are made, where salt is also rubbed, and if desired, black pepper, some herbs and spices can be added.

The products are then placed in a container with salt sprinkled on each row. The ideal salt consumption is 1 tablespoon per 1 kg of fish. Some novice lovers of hot smoking fish at home doubt that it will end up with excess salt, but such fears are unfounded, since the product takes as much of it as it needs.

Salted fish should be placed in a cup and covered with cling film, and the duration of their salting depends on the size:

• for small, freshly caught specimens, an hour is enough;
• average types are salted for about 2-3 hours;
• for large individuals it will take about 5 hours;
• Frozen carcasses are given a salting time of up to 24 hours.

The readiness of carcasses for smoking is judged when brine (yushka) appears at the bottom of the vessel.

Along with the dry salting method, a marinade is also used for it, which is an effective method of imparting an amazing aroma to the product, making it tender and tasty. The peculiarity of optimal salting and marinade is that the product loses its specific fishy smell and retains its freshness for a long time.

For example, a spicy marinade will require the following ingredients:

• water – up to 1 l;
• salt – 50 g;
• garlic - a few cloves;
• spices: cloves, thyme, coriander, ginger - half a teaspoon each;
• Bay leaf;
• allspice and, if desired, other spices.

Procedure for preparation and use. Water is poured into the vessel and placed over the fire, into which chopped garlic, salt, spices are added and the mixture is brought to a boil.

After cooling, the carcasses are poured with marinade and placed in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours for salting. To prepare a unique dish, many gourmets add a mixture of green onions, garlic, parsley and dill to the belly and head of the fish.

Withering

After salting, excess salt is removed from the fish by washing in running water and they are dried with a paper towel. Large specimens are tied evenly with twine to maintain their shape.

Twine prevents fish carcasses from falling apart during hot smoking in a home smokehouse. Then drying is carried out to achieve acceptable salinity.

For this purpose, a stretched rope is used in a well-ventilated area: small specimens are strung through the eye sockets, and large specimens are tied in pairs by their tails. Protection against insects is created by several layers of gauze soaked in vinegar.

Drying allows you to get rid of excess moisture before smoking and usually lasts no more than half an hour. As the skin of the dried fish changes color, you can rub it with additional sunflower oil, and also grease the grate in the mini-smokehouse with it.

Hot smoking process

The process itself begins with building a fire and placing products in a home smokehouse, which is not installed on the fire immediately, but later, when the wood has time to flare up and coals begin to form.

The process of hot smoking at home comes down to the following.

1. The bottom of the smoking box is lined with prepared and soaked in water, or preferably whiskey, wood chips and sawdust in a layer of 1.5-2 cm. If you sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of sugar on top of the wood chips, the fish will acquire a brownish-golden hue.
2. A tray is installed above the layer of wood chips to collect fat and grates are placed on which fish carcasses are placed at intervals of 2-3 cm so that smoke approaches them from all sides, but you should not get carried away with the number of floors of the grates.
3. The mini-smokehouse is tightly closed with a lid and placed on fire, which should not be overly intense so that the wood chips and sawdust smoke and do not burn. In this case, after warming up the smoking box, part of the firewood is removed, because it is better to continue smoking on coals, that is, the smaller the size of the smoking box, the weaker the heat it needs.
4. Inside the smokehouse, the temperature should not exceed 80-90 degrees, the value of which is determined by the drops of water on the lid: if the water evaporates without hissing, then the temperature is normal, and when the water begins to evaporate intensively with a spike, then reduce the heat or by 10-15 minutes, remove the smoking box from the heat.
5. After a short period of time, vigorous smoke formation begins and white smoke appears from under the lid, then it is opened slightly for a short time to release excess steam.
6. From this moment the smoking time begins to count down, the range of values ​​​​of which is limited to half an hour and 1.5 hours, although 20 minutes is enough for very small fish. You should remove the smokehouse lid for inspection carefully so as not to get burned by hot smoke. The color of a well-smoked product is dark golden, while light color indicates continued smoking.
7. The readiness of hot smoked fish can also be judged by the shade of the smoke: light puffs indicate evaporation of the liquid, yellowish smoke indicates the product is burning, and dry smoke with a concentrated aroma indicates the product is completely ready.
8. You should finally open the smokehouse when there is no more smoke coming out of it and after it has cooled completely, and start tasting the product after 10 minutes so that the fibers become denser.

Chips for hot smoking

Alder is ideal for smoking.
Also used are aspen, oak, beech and maple. The resin content in the listed rocks is minimal. Coniferous trees are not recommended. They add bitterness and emit a lot of tar. To enhance the taste, add chips from fruit trees: cherry, pear, apple tree. You will get an original aroma if you make a mixture of different types of sawdust during smoking. Juniper and grapevine will make the taste brighter and more refined. Before smoking, the prepared wood chips are moistened in water and dried.
This will prevent fire during the cooking process.

About smokehouses

Smoking fish at home in a hot smoked smokehouse can be done in special or homemade devices. The correct unit must be sealed. For this purpose, there are covers with gaskets that ensure a tight fit to the body. Units with a water seal are popular. Such smokehouses can be used even indoors, but such an installation will not smoke, since the water seal prevents smoke leakage.

At the dacha, homemade ovens for smoking fish are often built.

A smokehouse for fish with your own hands can be assembled from various devices, such as buckets, barrels, stainless steel sheets, gas cylinders, etc. The main condition when assembling such a unit is tightness. A self-made smokehouse is economical, since it can be adapted for different types of smoking, while the costs are minimal.

How to hot smoke

Hot smoking of fish is carried out according to a certain algorithm:

1. Wood chips are poured into the bottom of the smokehouse.
2. A container for collecting fat is fixed.
3. Prepared carcasses are loaded.
4. The lid closes.
5. The smokehouse is installed on a heater: fire, grill, stove.
6. The product is aged for the time specified in the recipe.
7. The smokehouse is removed from the heat and cooled along with the fish.
8. The smoked meat is kept in the fresh air for about an hour, after which it is ready for consumption.

The technology is suitable for smoking any type of fish, and each variety has its own cooking characteristics that should be taken into account in order to get the ideal result.

mackerel

The described algorithm is suitable for smoking mackerel. The fish is quite fatty, so when salting it is necessary to limit the access of air to avoid oxidation and the release of an unpleasant aroma. We smoke medium fish for 25-30 minutes. You should not overexpose the fish, otherwise it will fall apart. 10 minutes after the start of smoking, open the lid to release excess smoke. It is also a good idea to turn the fish over during cooking to ensure they are evenly cooked.

Bream

Before smoking fish in a hot smoker, it must be properly processed. This is especially true for river bream. The use of seasonings and spices will eliminate the unpleasant odor and completely saturate the meat. Bream should be tied with twine before drying and smoking to prevent the fish from becoming deformed. When placed in a smokehouse, wooden sticks - spacers - are inserted into the bellies. They will eliminate the development of pathogenic microorganisms and ensure uniform smoke treatment.

Sterlet

A useful product is smoked sterlet. It is easy to prepare such a delicacy at home, but you must follow a few rules. Carcasses are usually large in size, so they are filleted or cut into transverse pieces.

To make the crust a beautiful golden color, add 1 tsp to the wood chips. Sahara.

You can make fish more appetizing and aromatic at home if you do not immediately remove it from the smokehouse, but let it cool and become completely saturated with smoke.

pink salmon

Hot smoked pink salmon is healthy and nutritious. The fat content in it increases during cooking, which makes it juicy and tender, while increasing its calorie content. Not only the dacha is suitable for cooking. Using special smokehouses, the delicacy can be made in the apartment. If pink salmon is smoked on hooks, be sure to tie it with twine, otherwise it may fall apart during high-temperature processing. To enhance the aromatic qualities, place a sprig of saffron or dill in the belly. After hot smoking at home, it is better to place the carcasses in the refrigerator. Fish aged in this way becomes tastier.

How long to smoke fish

How long to smoke fish in a hot smoker depends on several factors. Key ones:

• working temperature;
• carcass sizes.

Readiness is often determined by the presence of a golden crust. In this case, an incorrectly set temperature will cause the crust to appear earlier, and the fish will not be saturated with smoke. To eliminate such situations, you should adhere to technology. Usually 25-30 minutes are enough to smoke small fish. Large specimens are kept in the smokehouse longer. Large fish can take up to 2 hours to cook.

How to smoke fish in a cold smoker?

This is a more labor-intensive process, taking from days to weeks. It requires a large smokehouse that looks more like a barn. The source of fire is not inside, but outside the smokehouse. The smoke enters through a specially designated pipe.

Preparation:

• Salting the fish should be richer and saltier. Keep in the marinade for 24 hours to 2 weeks. After this, the fish must be placed in cold water for a day.
• It is better to air dry the fish outdoors, but it is important to remember about flies; to protect yourself from them, you should cover the fish with gauze. This period will be about 2-7 days.
• We hang the fish in the smoking equipment and ensure the flow of smoke in a certain amount and at a constant frequency. Since the smoking method is cold, the smoke temperature should not be higher than 30 degrees.
• For antimicrobial effects and mold removal, you need to add juniper branches to the end of smoking.

Each recipe should be selected according to the taste preferences of a particular person. After all, what is delicious for one person may seem simply terrible to another. Best advice: experiment. Add your own seasonings and spices, change the composition of sawdust and their percentage. Bon appetit!

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Useful tips

To make cooking comfortable and effective, you should follow certain tips from professionals:

1. If frozen fish is used as a raw material, then it must be defrosted under natural conditions. Intensive defrosting will lead to a change in the fiber structure, causing the product to fall apart before it has time to cook.
2. It is important not only to choose the right type of fuel, but also to determine its size. Small chips and sawdust will produce more smoke, ensuring the efficiency of the smoking process.
3. In a hot smoked smokehouse, a tray for draining fat is required. To make cleaning easier, the container is pre-wrapped in foil.
4. If the smokehouse does not have a smoke exhaust, you should periodically open the lid slightly to remove excess smoke. Excessive smoking will cause bitterness.
5. When smoking, it is important to monitor the formation of condensation on the lid. Dripping liquid will cause a bitter taste. In this regard, smokehouses with a water seal and a gable roof-house are considered the most effective.
6. Cooling the product together with the smoker and ventilating it in the fresh air after smoking allows you to achieve a better aroma and taste, although the fish can also be consumed immediately immediately after smoking.

Depending on the chosen hot smoked recipe, there are other secrets that can make the taste and smell of smoked fish unforgettable.

For chicken

seasonings for smoking chicken
Spices for smoking chicken include our standard set: pepper, bay leaf, dried garlic and salt. But seasoning based on turmeric, saffron, paprika, and curry is also suitable for poultry. You can take a closer look at the ready-made seasonings and take your favorite cocktail. Chicken meat absorbs smells and tastes very well, so when smoking you will notice at least some difference between regular chicken and your marinated masterpiece.

How to use smoking spices most effectively? You need to bring the water to a boil, add spices (4-5 tablespoons per 1 liter of water) and cook for another three minutes. Then cool the marinade to room temperature and immerse the chicken in it. Leave the bird to marinate in the refrigerator for 10-15 hours.

Here you can see examples of cooking chicken in a smokehouse with photos.

Composition and properties of smoked fish

The harm and benefits of hot smoked products is a controversial issue. When treated with smoke at high temperatures, carcinogens and other harmful substances penetrate into the fish along with the smoke. Formed as a result of fuel combustion. Most of them settle on the skin, so it is not recommended to eat it. At the same time, it has been proven that the amount of useful vitamins and other elements in a smoked product is greater than with other cooking methods. Fish contains proteins necessary for the body, and fatty acids have a beneficial effect on many body systems.

At the same time, smoked meats do not contain carbohydrates, which are difficult for the body to digest. Hot smoked fish, depending on the type, contains:

• 15-20% proteins;
• 5-10% fat.

Vitamins of groups A, B, C, D, E help improve appearance, normalize the activity of the nervous system, and have a positive effect on the visual system. Micro- and macroelements help in optimizing the functioning of the following systems:

• digestive;
• musculoskeletal;
• cardiovascular.

To get more benefit than harm, you should stick to the norm. Moderate consumption of hot smoked fish is recommended by nutritionists even for people on a diet.

Storage rules

Fish prepared by hot smoking is not intended for long-term storage. It is not recommended to keep it in the refrigerator for more than 3-4 days. In this case, the temperature should be no more than 3°C. It is important to pay attention to humidity. The indicator should be at the level of 90%. Before placing in the refrigerator, the smoked meat is wrapped in foil. This will help prevent the absorption of foreign odors.

In some cases, the hot smoked product is placed in the freezer. This will extend the shelf life to 15-20 days. But freezing negatively affects the structure and after defrosting the smoked meat will not be as tasty as immediately after cooking.

Hot smoked fish is a favorite delicacy that can be easily and quickly prepared at home. With your own hands you can make a fragrant and tasty masterpiece that will be suitable for gatherings with friends and will decorate a festive banquet.

How to store smoked fish?

An equally important question is: how to store smoked fish? The method of its preparation affects the timing and storage conditions. The product obtained by hot preparation cannot be kept for more than 4 days. By wrapping it in a cloth saturated in a strong saline solution and additionally wrapping it in paper, you can extend the shelf life to 30 days at a temperature of +3°.

The cold smoking method allows you to extend this period. Depending on the conditions created, it can last several months.

How to store smoked fish in the refrigerator?

How should you store smoked fish in the refrigerator? The product of the hot cooking method must be wrapped in parchment or placed in vacuum packaging, which will increase its freshness by almost 2 weeks.

How long does smoked fish last?

Fish cooked cold can be stored for up to 3 months. Storing smoked fish wrapped in paper in the freezer can last up to 1 year.

Hot and semi-hot smoked fish are not so durable and can be stored in the refrigerator for only up to 3 days. As for the freezer, it can stay there longer, but due to freezing it may lose its taste. Therefore, we recommend consuming it immediately after preparation.

In other words, if you have a lot of fish, you can cold smoke most of it and put it in the freezer, and hot smoke the rest.