How to smoke hot or cold smoked pike

Pike is a fairly dry freshwater fish that contains many nutrients, especially healthy fats. It is very easy to smoke, since the smoke is evenly absorbed into the pulp, and it acquires a great taste and aroma. Let's look at several smoking recipes so that you can choose the most suitable one.

How to choose

Fish is smoked when it is still fresh, so if you are not dealing with your own catch, but buy pike in a store, pay attention to the following:

You should only take live, chilled or frozen fish with scales.
The carcass should not have a dubious odor.
The body should be intact, without damage, blue tint, brown old blood stains and large pieces of ice, hinting at re-freezing.
Immediately reject pike with cloudy eyes covered with a gray film.
Feel the carcass: a nasty, slippery, slightly sticky coating indicates that it is about to rot.
Pinkish or reddish gills are also a sign of freshness.
Gutted fish should have dense, light-colored meat that does not disintegrate into fibers when lightly pressed with a finger.

Appearance of fresh pike

Interesting Facts

The benefits of eating pike are undeniable: it contains Omega 3 and Omega 6 non-fatty acids, vitamins A, C, E, several groups B, PP and F, many different macro- and microelements: iron, phosphorus, manganese , chlorine

Pike meat can be considered dietary: it contains only 1-3% fat, but 18.4% protein. It needs careful heat treatment, as it naturally smells like mud. The meat contains a lot of bones, so when eating a pike dish you need to have water at the ready, or better yet, milk and a piece of black bread. This is necessary to push the bone through, if you can't spit it out.

For smoking, it is best to buy chilled pike rather than frozen. When defrosted, it may come apart and lose its shape, which is not what we are interested in. When buying, you should pay attention to the smell: it should give off mud, water, but not rotten or rotten meat. The eyes should be clean and protruding, without films or mucus. The scales should be smooth, without greenishness or plaque. If you have the slightest suspicion that it is unsuitable for food, do not take the product. Only fresh fish is needed for smoking.

Ready-made smoked pike may not be inferior in taste to your analogue, but it will certainly lose in the competition in terms of the level of “usefulness” of the product. In order for the product to be stored longer and not lose its appearance, it is stuffed with various additives that increase shelf life. You won’t do this, so your treat will definitely turn out better. You can read about the dangers and benefits of smoked fish here.

How to cut a pike

For smoking, it is important to properly cut the carcasses. Small and medium ones can be cooked whole, but large ones are better cut up so that they are properly saturated with smoke. The following options are possible:

Rip open the belly and take out the entrails, cut off the gills.
Cut into pieces across the body.
Cut lengthwise, removing the spine and ribs along with the entrails.
Make an incision along the back slightly away from the spine, separating the flesh with a sliding movement of the knife. This is a little difficult for a beginner with no experience, but only fillet remains without extra bones.

Gutting a pike
Whatever method you choose, do not peel off the scales; it protects the edible flesh from peroxides formed as a result of strong heating of fats, and dioxins - combustion products. Both types of compounds are harmful to humans.

How to salt and marinate pike for smoking

Before smoking, fish should be salted to preserve it longer. There are two ways:

Dry. Weigh the fish and prepare salt - 20 g per 1 kg. pike. Salt the carcasses outside and inside. You can add dry seasonings to the salt: special mixtures for seafood, cumin, thyme, cilantro seeds, etc. The fish should be placed in layers in any container, but not a metal one, and a weight should be placed on top and left for a day.

Salting pike
Wet. Dilute a quarter glass of salt in a liter of water (calculated for 1 kg of fish) and boil the mixture, adding bay leaf and seasonings. Cool the solution and lower all the fish into it, place a weight on top. Salting lasts three hours.

Wet method of salting pike

Instead of salting the pike in the usual way, you can marinate it. Here is a recipe for a very tasty marinade:

To 2 liters of water add 120 g of coarse salt, 3 tablespoons of sugar, 4 bay leaves, half a lemon, 4 garlic cloves and 1 tablespoon of peppercorns.
The solution should be brought to a boil, removed from heat, allowed to cool, pour over the pike and leave in the refrigerator overnight.

Pike in marinade
Salted fish should be washed to avoid an unpleasant, overly salty taste.
Place the carcasses in the water and they should float to the surface. If this does not happen, leave the pike in the water for a longer time.

Simple salting methods

The strong aroma of pike can be overcome by different combinations of herbs and spices. It goes well with coriander, thyme, cumin, bay leaf, and pepper. The level of salting is checked as follows: the fish is placed in a container of water; if it does not float, it means that it needs to be soaked to remove excess salt. If the fish is salted correctly, its eyes become sunken and light-colored, and its scales turn white.

Dry method

The easiest way to properly salt pike is to use a traditional dry mixture of 1 tbsp. l. salt per 1 kg of fish. The carcass is rubbed inside and out, then placed under pressure for 1–2 days, depending on its size. Add herbs and chopped lemon zest to taste.

Wet method

Traditionally, brine is used for cold smoking - a brine of 20–50 g of salt per 1 liter of water. You can prepare a marinade using brine as a base and adding black pepper, bay leaf and other herbs. Infuse the fish in a cooled solution for 3 hours to 24 hours.

Hot smoking of fish

Let's start with how to smoke pike using the hot smoking method - it does not require constant control over the smoke temperature for a long time.

Here are some recipes for hot smoked pike:

Standard recipe. Place split branches of currants, grapes, blackberries or alder on the lower tier of the smokehouse. Place a second tray on top to collect the juice and, so as not to wash it later, cover it with fireproof cooking foil. The series of tiers is closed by a grate greased with vegetable oil, where the pike carcass is placed with its open belly down. If the fish are small, you can fit several at once, just keep an interval between them, otherwise the contacting parts will not be smoked. Place the container on the fire (barbecue, hearth, etc.), cover with a lid, when smoke starts pouring out, leave for 40 minutes. The temperature should be 80-120 degrees.

Hot smoking pike
In the apartment, in the Bravo smokehouse. In the absence of a barbecue, you can cook pike in the Bravo home smokehouse - this hot smoking method is not inferior to the previous one. The carcasses must first be dried in the fresh air (but protected from flies) by stringing them on wire or twine. After 24 hours, the carcasses are tied with strong rope, like sausage, and hung on special hooks. The lower tray is filled with sawdust, the smokehouse is closed and placed on the stove. A special chimney pipe is led out into the window. Cooking the fish will take four hours.

Appearance of the Bravo smokehouse
In a wood-burning frying pan with quince. If you don’t have a smokehouse at all, but have a grill or just a free place for a fire, you can smoke the pike in a special grill pan. It is a slightly convex plate with handles and a tight lid where a wire rack is placed. Cut the fish into pieces - whole carcasses cannot be smoked this way. Place the sprigs on the bottom of the dish, place a foil tray, then a greased wire rack and place the steaks on it. Place the frying pan on the fire and add a few slices of quince to the fish for taste. It will take about half an hour to prepare.

The total time to process all the fish depends on how many carcasses are placed in the smokehouse at one time. Now that you know how to cook and smoke pike in a hot way, let's move on to semi-hot.

Smoking pike in a hot smoker. Little tricks

To make smoked pike really tasty, you need to be able to create the “right” smoke:

for flavor, you can add apple, plum chips (up to 1/3 of the total volume) or juniper berries;

the smoke should not be too moist, otherwise the pike will be cooked and not smoked.

The temperature in the smokehouse needs to be increased gradually - this way the fish will remain juicy. Pike does not contain much fat, and any loss of it will worsen the taste of future smoked meats.

However, there is one trick: to make smoked pike more tender and juicy, place apple slices in its belly. It will soften the fish and give it an unusual aftertaste.

There is no arguing about tastes, but few people remain indifferent to homemade food, in particular, smoked pike. In order to appreciate the full taste of this dish, you should strictly follow the cooking technology. And then everything will work out!

Freshly caught fish with your own hands is an exquisite delicacy. And elite white or red fish from the supermarket can compare with it. Smoking pike at home makes the meat juicy, tender and at the same time spicy. So, in the fall it becomes oily and stringy, which gives it a wonderful taste when cooked.

However, smoking pike in a smokehouse does not guarantee a long shelf life - without refrigeration, it remains fresh for no more than three days.

Semi-hot smoking of pike

How to smoke pike using the semi-hot method:

The dish with fish is covered with a lid and placed on the grill.

Container for semi-hot smoking on the grill
Wait until there is thick light smoke and remove the lid. Because of this, the temperature inside the smokehouse drops significantly (from 50 to 70 degrees), and cooking is extended for half a day.

Pike smoked in this way retains freshness for a long time, so the method is popular among fishermen who come home with a large catch that cannot be eaten at once.

The process of cooking pike in smoking boxes

Now let's move on to the practical part of the smoking process. The smokehouse can be placed on an open fire in the house or on a fire in natural conditions. Sawdust is poured into the bottom of the smoking cabinet, then firewood is placed.

Small pike are impaled on a ramrod through the fish's eyes. Large fish are hung on slats or on a grid. Large fish are sometimes cut along the back, leaving spacers. After hanging, close the smokehouse with a lid for half an hour. After this time, the lid is lifted to release excess moisture. This stage of smoking is called drying. When the surface of the hung fish becomes dry and the fins turn pale, the drying is completed and the chamber is closed again. At the very beginning, do not put a lot of wood in the smokehouse box, as this will quickly increase the temperature, and it should rise slowly and gradually.

It is important to maintain the temperature inside the box at 110 degrees until the fish is thoroughly heated through. The next stage is the actual smoking. In order not to lose control over the preparation of pike, you need to check it from time to time. Small fish are examined by the fin - it is torn off and the meat at the base is examined: the fin should have a white matte color, not glassy. A large pike is controlled by removing small pieces of meat from the ridge area with a special stick.

Video on how to smoke pike:

In order for the pike to please you with its impeccable golden color as a result of cooking, you need to sprinkle burnt ash on top of the firewood. The entire cooking process should not last more than 3 hours.

Cold smoking

Cold smoked pike
Cold smoking of pike involves treatment with smoke, the temperature of which barely reaches 30 degrees. Because of this, the process takes about three days and even a little more, but the fish will be stored for several months and will not spoil.

The traditional method requires a different type of smokehouse - not the one mentioned above. It can be built from an ordinary wooden box or an old refrigerator. You will also need a smoke generator and a fairly long pipe (about 4 m), through which smoke from the fire source will flow into the smokehouse. If the channel is too short, the smoke will not have time to cool, and cold-smoked pike will no longer be produced.

In the box, all the carcasses are hung on hooks, and a few wood chips are poured into the smoke generator box. Please note that you should not take spruce, fir, pine and their cones - they will spoil the taste. The fire is lit and the smoking process begins. You need to constantly monitor whether the smoke is too hot. After 48 hours, try cutting a piece from the fish and evaluate how ready the product is to eat.

Pike in a cold smoked smokehouse

There are also alternative recipes:

Cold smoked pike yukola. Even at the salting stage, a special mixture consisting of 1 kg is prepared. coarse salt, one and a half glasses of granulated sugar, a teaspoon of suneli hops and the same amount of paprika, cilantro and mustard seeds, a pinch of dried garlic or garlic powder. Rub the fish with this mixture, wrap it in cling film, and then leave it in the cold for 24 hours. After this, it should be kept in water for ten minutes, removed, wiped, and air dried (48 hours).

Pike yukola
With liquid smoke in the oven. Liquid smoke is a flavoring that imitates the effect of smoking. The salted pike should be placed on a baking sheet, sprinkled with “smoke” and baked in the oven at 200 degrees for 40 minutes. If the oven heats only from below, the fish should be turned over.
In a slow cooker. Some models of multicookers have a “cold smoking” mode. Place twigs in a bowl, place a bowl on top to collect the juice, and above it - a wire rack with fish (pre-salted). Wait an hour.
In an air fryer. Chips are placed underneath, and pike is placed on the grate. Turn on high temperature and low ventilation mode. Cook for half an hour.

Smoking in a convection oven

As you can see, smoking pike correctly is not difficult.

How long to smoke hot smoked pike

Products must be placed evenly in the smokehouse, not too close to each other, so that they do not interfere with the smoke rising freely. This rule is especially relevant for multi-level smokehouses, since if the first tier is “clogged,” the fish on the upper level will not have time to become smoked.

Dry the fish at low heat, and then you can bring the temperature to 80-110ºС. With this mode, smoking pike in a hot smoker lasts 30-60 minutes.

The duration of the process is determined by the size of the fish and the characteristics of salting.

Many people, especially novice smokers, are interested in how to tell when pike is ready. You need to look out for the following signs:

meat falls off the bones easily;
meat from “glass” becomes white;
the carcasses are covered with a uniform golden tan.

Storing smoked products

If you plan to eat the entire stock of fish quickly, you can leave it in the refrigerator:

pike will last a week after hot treatment;
after a cold one - two weeks.

It is better not to wrap it in plastic or other packaging. You can put the remaining product in the freezer. In this way, hot-smoked fish will retain its properties for three months, and cold-smoked fish for six months.

Which smoking method do you prefer? Share your own recipes in the comments.

Spare no salt

But it’s too early to smoke. First you need to salt the carcass. This way the smoking process will go faster, and the smoked fish will turn out tastier. If you cook freshly caught fish outdoors and plan to eat it right away, then choose dry salting. In this case, the salting procedure will take 2–4 hours, depending on the size of the catch. However, those who want a more pronounced taste leave the fish for a longer time - from several days to a week.

Rub the carcasses with salt (preferably sea salt) in the direction against the scales, cut large specimens along the ridge and salt inside. Place the fish in a row in a bowl and sprinkle generously with coarse salt. Lay the next layer in reverse - tails to heads. And add salt again. Press the top with a weight and leave for several hours. If you salt at home, put it in the refrigerator, but in nature you need to dig a hole and cover it with a blanket to prevent flies.

Original dishes on the grill. What to cook at a picnic besides barbecue

When the fish is salted, rinse it under running water and hang it out to dry so that it wilts a little. This will take from 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on your preferences. Next, add black peppercorns, bay leaves and chopped garlic to the bellies. You can add other spices to taste. Before placing fish carcasses on the smokehouse grate, generously grease them with vegetable oil.

The wet salting method involves placing the fish in a concentrated salt solution - the so-called brine. It is prepared at the rate of 1:5, that is, 1 kg of salt per 5 liters of water. We place the fish in a container and fill it with salt solution, and put a weight on top for pressing. In this case, the salting lasts for 1.5 – 2 days. After this, the fish does not need to be washed, but simply dried for several hours before the smokehouse.