Hot smoked meat - classic recipes

Smoked meats are considered a delicacy. Fish or meat prepared in this way will add variety to any table, both everyday and festive. When buying smoked meats in stores, you may encounter some problems, since the products may be of low quality, over-salted or bland, and tough. The most delicious are home-made smoked meats. These are the products that will delight you with their exquisite taste and aroma.

Smoking technology involves pre-processing and preparing products in a marinade. The quality of the cooked smoked meat depends on the taste of the marinade.

Pickling Methods

Marinades are prepared using a variety of drinks and spices. There are a huge number of recipes for marinating meat and fish. All of them are divided into three types:

• dry;
• wet;
• mixed.

The dry salting method is the simplest. The products are rubbed with salt and placed in layers in wooden or enamel dishes. The first layer is salt with spices. Pieces of meat or fish are placed on it. Each layer is also sprinkled with spices and salt. In this way, the products are salted for 2-3 weeks, depending on the type of meat and fish.

It is very important that the products are under pressure, and in the first few days it is best to turn the pieces over to ensure even salting. After the salting period has expired, the meat and fish should be thoroughly washed in warm water, and if there was a lot of salt, then soaked in cold water for a day. Before cooking in a smokehouse, food must be air dried.

Products for the wet method are also rubbed with salt and placed in layers in dishes. But after this, marinade is poured into the dish so that it completely covers the meat or fish. If the pieces are large, then the brine is also injected inside using a syringe. A regular medical syringe is suitable for syringing. The volume of brine must be at least one fifth of the volume of the piece being injected. The duration of wet marinating depends on the type of marinade.

The mixed method is used if you plan to store meat for a long time. To begin with, the meat is dry-salted for 4-7 days. Then the marinade is added and left for a period of several days to two weeks. After this, the meat is not washed, but dried in the fresh air in a suspended state to remove excess moisture.

How to hot smoke pork

Before smoking meat, it must be salted or marinated.

Salting

The easiest way is dry pickling. It only requires salt and pepper, which are taken to taste and mixed. Then the pork pieces are rubbed with this mixture and wrapped in foil. They need to be put in the refrigerator under a press for three days and turned over periodically so that they are evenly salted.

How to marinate

Another way is pickling. To do this, prepare a brine from the following ingredients:

• a tablespoon of salt;
• 10 peppercorns;
• four cloves of garlic;
• four laurel leaves;
• four liters of water.

Next, the procedure will be as follows:

• Garlic is cut into thin slices.
• Place the water on the fire and add salt, pepper, garlic and spices.
• Bring to a boil, turn off.
• Place the meat cut into pieces into a separate pan and fill it with brine that has cooled to room temperature.
• The dishes are put in the refrigerator for three days.

The marinade for cooking hot smoked pork can be made differently. You will need the following ingredients per liter of water:

• salt - three table. heaped spoons;
• vegetable oil – 100 ml;
• lemon – 1 piece;
• black pepper – 15 peas;
• allspice - a couple of peas;
• cloves - two pieces;
• granulated sugar - two teaspoons;
• bay leaf - 3 pieces.

Add salt, bay leaf, cloves, black and allspice to the water. Bring to a boil, turn off and let cool. After this, add vegetable oil and squeeze out lemon juice. If desired, you can add other spices, herbs, mustard. Pour the marinade over the pieces of pork, cover with a plate or circle and press down with a weight. Place in the cold for two days. During these days, the pork needs to be turned over so that it is soaked on all sides. Remove the meat from the marinade and transfer it to pre-boiled brine without spices. Cook over low heat for about 20 minutes, remove and let dry.

Types of marinades

Everyone chooses a marinade recipe depending on their taste preferences, as well as the expected shelf life of the finished product. Also, the type of brine depends on how much time you are willing to devote to marinating meat and fish.

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Even for a beginner in making smoked meats with your own hands, it is not difficult to prepare an amazing dish, since there are a huge number of recipes for marinades. The type of brine depends on what product you are going to cook and in what way. The marinade for cold smoked meat is different from the brine that is used to pour over products for the hot method. Also, marinades for fish are different from marinades for meat. Fish cooks faster, but does not last as long as smoked meat.

Universal marinade with ketchup and honey

This quick marinade is equally good for smoking meat and poultry. It is enough to keep poultry cut into pieces for 5 hours, whole carcasses, portioned pieces of meat - 8-11, large pieces of pork - 12-16, beef - up to 24.

Mix 1 glass each:

• white wine;
• ketchup;
• vegetable oil;
• honey

Add salt, pepper, dry mustard, and spices to taste. The recipe is recommended for hot smoking.

Smoking meat, hot or cold, is an exciting creative process, the result of which will be a delicious delicacy.

Marinades for fish

Spicy

For this marinade you will need:

• 1 liter of water;
• 2 tbsp. salt;
• 2-3 bay leaves;
• 1 pinch each of rosemary, sage and thyme;
• 1 tsp Sahara;
• 1 tsp pepper mixtures;
• 0.5 lemon;
• 0.5 orange;
• 1 onion.

Water is poured into the pan and brought to a boil. Fruits and onions are coarsely chopped and added to boiling water along with other products. The marinade is cooked for 10 minutes. Then it cools down. The fish is marinated for 12 hours. After this, the product is air-dried for 1-2 hours and prepared by hot smoking.

Soy

Ingredients:

• 1 liter of water;
• 100 g soy sauce;
• 150 g lemon juice;
• 100 g salt;
• 100 g sugar;
• 200 g white wine;
• 3-4 cloves of garlic;
• pepper, basil, coriander to taste.

The water is brought to a boil. Sugar and salt dissolve in hot water. Then the brine is cooled. All other products and spices are added to cold water. The fish is poured with brine so that all the carcasses are covered and marinated for 12 hours. Before smoking, the fish must be dried. This marinade is suitable for both hot and cold smoking.

Spicy

For 1 kg of fish take:

• 180 g vegetable oil;
• 1 pack seasonings for fish;
• 100 g lemon juice;
• 1 bunch of parsley;
• 120 g liquid honey;
• 1 tsp salt;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• black pepper on the tip of a knife.

The greens and garlic are chopped and mixed with the rest of the ingredients. The fish is poured with the mixture and marinated for 5-10 hours, depending on the size of the carcasses. Honey, which is part of the marinade, gives the product a sweetish taste and a beautiful golden crust.

What components are used

How to make brine for smoking meat and lard? Try using only salt or adding some iodine to it!

You can use store-bought pickling mixtures or prepare them yourself. Hot and cold marinades include:

• turmeric, ginger, black pepper, cumin, cloves;
• marjoram, basil, oregano, lemon balm, thyme, celery;
• bay leaf, allspice, chili, mustard, coriander;
• hawthorn, juniper berries;
• onion, dill, garlic;
• white, red wine, apple cider vinegar, honey.

Fresh and dried herbs are used for brine; whole spices are preferable.

Vegetable oil, lemon juice, soy sauce, ketchup, and tomato paste are added to the marinade.

Marinades for poultry

You can marinate poultry for smoking using different methods. This product has the ability to perfectly absorb aromas, and therefore preparing a delicious dish is very simple - just add a few spices.

Ginger

To prepare this marinade you will need:

• 3 liters of water;
• 1 tbsp. Sahara;
• 4 bay leaves;
• 2 tbsp. 3% vinegar;
• chopped ginger root;
• coriander;
• black pepper, cinnamon, salt to taste;
• 6 juniper berries.

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Boil water, dissolve salt, sugar and spices in it. Add crushed juniper berries, vinegar, ginger root, chopped garlic and vinegar. Cook everything together for 10 minutes. Place poultry meat in the cooled marinade and leave for three days in a cold place. Periodically turn the pieces or meatballs so that they are better saturated with the marinade.

Honey mustard

Poultry cooks quickly in this marinade. If guests gather unexpectedly, then in just a few hours you will be able to enjoy the exquisite taste of smoked meat. For preparation you need:

150 g liquid honey;

100 g grain mustard;

1 lemon;

1 tbsp. vegetable oil;

7 cloves of garlic;

1 bunch of parsley and dill; salt to taste.

Carefully remove the zest from the lemon and squeeze out the juice. Garlic and herbs are finely chopped. Lemon juice is mixed with the remaining ingredients. The mixture is thoroughly mixed. The bird is poured with marinade and cooked for 3-6 hours, depending on the size of the pieces. During marinating, pieces or carcasses of poultry are periodically turned over to ensure even soaking. This filling is more suitable for hot smoking.

Orange

To make orange marinade, take:

• 100 g liquid honey;
• 3 oranges;
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil;
• 2 tsp curry;
• salt and red pepper to taste.

One orange is cut into slices, and the juice is squeezed out of the other two. Pieces of poultry are poured with orange juice, covered with orange slices and soaked for half an hour. After this time, the juice is drained and mixed with the remaining ingredients. The meat is marinated for 4-6 hours in a warm place.

Brine for cold smoked chicken

The permissibility of long-term storage is not the only advantage of the cold method. Cold smoke gives the product a particularly delicate taste. Spices are used carefully - too much will easily ruin everything. This rule applies to poultry, meat, and lard.

For one chicken the recipe provides:

• salt - 0.5 tbsp. ;
• bay leaf – 2 pcs.;
• garlic – 2-3 cloves;
• black pepper - a few peas;
• juniper berries – 5-6 pcs.;
• cinnamon stick.

Adding 0.5 tsp to the recipe. ascorbic acid, you will enhance the shade of the finished cold processed product.

Prepare the brine by mixing everything in water at room temperature. We lay the chicken for 12-48 hours so that the liquid completely covers the carcass.

Before placing the bird in the smokehouse, hang it to dry in a cool room with good circulation for 2-3 hours.

Fiery

Spicy lovers will love the bird marinated in fiery brine. To prepare it you will need:

• 150 g soy sauce;
• 1 bunch of green onions;
• 2 tsp ground red pepper;
• 1 head of garlic;
• chopped ginger root.

Finely chop the onion and garlic and mix with pepper and ginger. Pieces of poultry are poured with marinade and compacted tightly in a pan. You can put it under oppression. The marinating process lasts 12 hours in a cold place. The meat turns out tender with a pleasant spice, and the ginger root makes its aroma unique.

Preparing pork for smoking

Almost any part of pork is suitable for smoking - brisket, shoulder, ham. The most important thing is that it is of high quality and certified, a pleasant pink color with white or yellowish veins. You should not choose a product that is too bright in color; there is a high chance that the manufacturer adds dye to the meat to make it look more attractive.

It is better to cut the selected meat into pieces. It doesn't really matter what size the pieces are, but there are still several aspects that must be taken into account when smoking. The larger the piece, the longer it will take to smoke. It is preferable to use the meat of a young animal, then the resulting product will be extremely soft and tender. The time spent marinating and smoking young pork will also be less than when using meat from an older animal.

After the meat has been selected and cut into portions, all veins and fat must be removed from it, otherwise the finished smoked meats will be very fatty. The meat should be thoroughly washed under running water and dried on a napkin.

The most difficult thing is to cut the meat correctly. To do this, the skin, all excess fat, veins and even bones are first removed. Some people prefer to smoke pork directly on the bone, especially when it comes to larger cuts like the ham. However, if the bones are removed, the meat will be stored much longer, and it will be easier to eat.

Before you start smoking, the meat will need to be salted and marinated. This applies not only to meat, but also to lard. There are a huge number of pickling methods. They will be discussed below.

Fruit

• 3 kiwi;
• 2 tangerines;
• 1 hit of hot pepper;
• 1 pinch each of rosemary and thyme;
• salt to taste.

The fruits are peeled and crushed together with the pepper in a blender. Then the ingredients are mixed and poured into a bowl with meat. You need to marinate the meat for 4-8 hours. This marinade is well suited for hot smoking.

Kefir

Kefir is often used as a base for pouring. To smoke 1 kg of pork you need:

• 300 g kefir;
• 50 g vegetable oil;
• 1 tbsp. liquid honey;
• 0.5 bunch of mint;
• 2 onions; spices to taste.

Mint and onion are crushed in a blender or simply finely chopped and mixed with the rest of the ingredients. The meat is cut into portions, filled with the mixture, and placed in the refrigerator for 6-12 hours. Allow the meat to air dry for 1 hour before smoking.

Thus, preparing a delicious dish with your own hands is not so difficult. The main thing is to put skillful hands on the products.

Hot pickle

This brine for smoking meat at home allows you to soften even beef. A 1 kg piece prepared in this way will be smoked with hot smoke in 2-3 hours.

For 1.5 liters of water:

• salt - 1 glass;
• sugar - 4 tbsp;
• citric acid - ½ tsp;
• garlic - 2-3 cloves;
• bay leaf - 2-3 pcs.;
• a few black peppercorns.

Mix everything and put on fire. Place the meat in the brine and cook from the moment it boils for 5 minutes. Turn off the stove, leaving the pan on it for 8-10 hours.

Proper salting of meat for smoking

Salting meat for smoking is extremely simple; there is no specific recipe. This is usually done like this:

1. The meat is cut into pieces and sprinkled with a glass of salt on top. The quantity should be such that each piece is well coated. You can use any seasonings or pepper together with salt, which will ultimately make the dish more flavorful.
2. Garlic is good for pickling. It needs to be cut into small slices and placed between the pieces. The amount of this ingredient is selected to taste.
3. We put the meat in the refrigerator. The salting time can last from several hours to a day. According to the recommendations of experienced smokers, meat needs to be kept in this form for 12 hours, since it is during this period that the product absorbs the required amount of salt.

After salting, we send the pieces to the home smokehouse. Whether the meat is hot smoked or cold is up to you to decide; in any case, after such salting, the dish will turn out tasty and tender.