How to smoke fish in a smokehouse?

There are many recipes for preparing fish that will produce a delicious product. Undoubtedly, smoking is one of the first places on this list. It is difficult to surpass the taste of fish properly cooked in this way in nature, but to achieve such a result, strict adherence to technology and some rules is necessary. So how to smoke fish in a smokehouse so that the resulting product meets the requirements of any gourmet?

About smoking in general

The very procedure of smoking is familiar to everyone. A product is taken, such as fish, and exposed to smoke. However, few consider that smoking can serve several functions. These include:

  • preparation of products for long-term storage (with a cold method of processing);
  • preparation for current use (hot smoking).

You can cook in this way a variety of fish - large, small, fatty and not very, fresh, frozen or salted. Adherence to technology and proper preparation will give excellent results.

Everything is quite simple - the product, for us it is fish, is exposed to smoke of a certain temperature, which ensures that it is cooked to readiness. The process itself and its result depend on the conditions created. There are the following main types of smoking:

  • hotter when the temperature inside the smokehouse is 80-150 ° C;
  • cold, while maintaining the regime 20-45 ° С.

Finished fish that are smoked in different ways will taste slightly different. But with any of these methods, a bactericidal effect is exerted on the product. In addition, some components of the smoke (organic and phenolic acids) penetrate into the fish with the same effect. The procedure itself is performed in special devices and facilities called smokehouses.

About smokehouses

There are different designs of such devices, but stationary and mobile can be distinguished. In principle, you can do without a special structure, but make it directly in the ground. A general view, for example, of a hot smoking device is shown in the figure.

As can be seen from the figure, fish can be placed horizontally or vertically in the smokehouse. The main thing is that the carcasses do not come into contact with each other and are at a certain distance from the bottom (100 mm for a horizontal arrangement, 120 mm for a vertical one). The fish is mounted either on suspensions (vertical method) or on a net (horizontal method). To exclude the ingress of fat on the smoldering sawdust, a pallet is placed between them and the fish. The smokehouse itself and all its components are made of stainless steel. Although, if necessary, you can arrange it from a film in field conditions, for example, as in the photo.

The device for cold smoking looks somewhat different. One of its variants is shown in the figure:

This difference in design is due to the characteristics of the smoke used. When smoked hot, it does not have time to cool down, but when it is cold, on the contrary, it must significantly reduce its temperature.

Smoke

The problems with how to properly smoke hot smoked fish in a smokehouse are largely caused by the firewood used. All that has been said, by the way, will apply equally to cold smoking.

It is believed that alder chips are best suited for this purpose. According to various experts, juniper, willow, hornbeam, ash, hazel, apple, pear and other deciduous trees can produce good results. Pine should not be used, it gives too much resin, which affects the taste of the fish.

Mixes can be made from different types of wood, each of which gives the finished product its own flavor, so you can experiment in this matter. Smoke material should be in the form of shavings, sawdust or small twigs. Moreover, preference should be given to dry wood, since otherwise the amount of soot, water vapor and ash grows in the smoke, which leads to a deterioration in the quality of the finished product.

About the smoking procedure itself

Before the fish gets into the smokehouse, it must undergo a certain preparation procedure.

How to properly prepare fish for smoking

Preparation is carried out in several stages.

  1. The fish must be processed. Initially, it must be gutted. There are several differing opinions, some consider it unnecessary, some - on the contrary. So if you like the taste of bitter fish, you don't have to gut it, if you want to enjoy tender and tasty meat, then gut it.

    In addition, the available catch must be sorted by size, if, of course, there is something to spread. Usually, carcasses of the same size are loaded into the smokehouse, so set aside small, medium and large fish separately.

  2. Salting. The taste of the finished product will largely depend on the degree of salinity. Therefore, the process, depending on the approach and personal preferences, takes time from several hours to a whole day. Usually large fish are kept for 2.5 hours, medium - 1.5, and small - 1 hour. Salt is rubbed against the scales, laid in the abdominal cavity and gills (large specimens), and then kept for the specified time.
  3. Rinsing and drying. After salting for the required time, the fish is washed from the salt residues and kept in the air in a suspended state. Some experts advise greasing it with oil after that, others recommend adding spices or leaves, which will give the finished product a special flavor. This is a matter of personal taste, but in general, you can already start cooking.

How to properly smoke hot smoked fish in a smokehouse

It should be noted that this issue is considered for field conditions, as a last resort for cooking in a country house or a garden plot. Initially, smoking material is placed at the bottom of the container - sawdust, small chips and twigs in a layer 2 cm thick. To give the finished product a special aroma, everything can be covered with a layer of leaves on top. Then a pallet is placed in the smokehouse, the fish is placed, and the whole thing is closed with a lid and placed on the fire (fire), as shown in the picture.

The fire must completely cover the bottom. Initially, it is kept strong enough until white smoke appears from under the lid. It indicates that the process has begun. After a while, no more than 10 minutes, the fire must be somewhat reduced. If blue or gray smoke comes out from under the lid, this means that the process went wrong and the sawdust burned out.

Then the smokehouse must be removed from the heat, cooled, carefully open the lid, remove the burnt material, fill in a new one, put the fish inside again, close the lid and continue the procedure. The duration of smoking depends on the type of fish, its fat content, size and other factors. Typically, the entire procedure takes 30 to 60 minutes. The degree of readiness of the fish can be determined visually - on the outside it should be golden in color and with dry skin. If the fish falls apart, it means that the smoking time was exceeded or the temperature was too high in the process.

The desired result is largely achieved by adjusting the fire under the smokehouse. Temperature control can be done indirectly. This is checked as follows - if a drop of water placed on the lid evaporates, but does not hiss, then the correct mode is maintained. The prepared product can be stored for up to 3 days.

How to smoke fish in a cold smoked smokehouse

This process is more time consuming and laborious. And it can take up to several days in total. Fish for such smoking, depending on its size, is salted for 2 days. After it is salted, it must be rinsed and dried. Then the smoking procedure itself begins, for which a special smokehouse is used, which provides a smoke temperature of no more than 40 ° C. The cooking process can take up to 3 days.

A fire is made in the combustion chamber, and then the flame is covered with sawdust, which gives the desired smoke. The finished product turns out to be drier, but its shelf life can be several months.

Smoking is one of the ancient ways of processing food, providing the possibility of their long-term storage. Often it helps out in field conditions, especially if the catch, for example, is large enough and it is necessary to somehow save it. In the manufacture of a smokehouse, it can be built from improvised means, and sometimes for these purposes it is enough to dig an ordinary hole in the ground. The main thing is to use the right wood and fulfill certain requirements for the preparation of the product.

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