Smoked trout: recipes for hot and cold methods at home

Trout belongs to the salmon family, but there are several species and genera of this fish. Thus, Atlantic and Pacific trout and the genus of char are distinguished. Brook, lake and rainbow trout are found on the territory of the Russian Federation. The first category includes small freshwater fish, reaching 2 kg in weight.

The lake species include larger representatives, the length of which reaches 100 cm. And the rainbow is part of the group of Pacific salmon; it is the one that can most often be found on store shelves, since the fish is grown on farms.

Composition, calorie content and beneficial properties

Trout meat is characterized by high benefits. Even hot smoked trout contains over 70% of all vitamins and minerals from its original state. The benefits of this fish are enormous for the body:

strengthens the nervous, cardiovascular system, visual organs, as well as the musculoskeletal system;
thanks to the phosphorus included in the composition, it improves memory and cognitive functions;
helps with psycho-emotional disorders;
easily digestible, and therefore indicated during rehabilitation after surgery;
contains essential fatty acids that cannot be obtained in other ways.

If you do not eat smoked fish too often, salt it to a minimum and do not ignore contraindications, then it will only bring benefits.

Calorie content and nutritional value of smoked trout
Parameter	cotton	g/k
Calorie content	147 kcal	243 kcal
Squirrels	19.3 g	27.7 g
Fats	7.8 g	14.2 g
Carbohydrates	0 g	0 g

We should not forget that the calorie content may change if you use soy sauce, honey, or vegetable oil in the marinade.

You should not abuse smoked products during exacerbation of gastritis and stomach ulcers. They can also cause harm in chronic pathologies of the kidneys and liver.

Serving smoked trout

Smoked trout is a royal dish. Therefore, it must be served accordingly! Use the most beautiful dishes for serving. An oval or rectangular dish according to the size of the fish will do.

What to serve hot smoked trout with? Place the carcass in the middle of the dish. Place beautifully sliced lemon, olives, green leaves (dill, parsley, lettuce), cherry tomatoes, pickled gherkins, small pickled corn cobs in a circle. You can supplement the serving with boiled potatoes, turned into balls, barrels, as well as grilled vegetables - slices of zucchini, eggplant.

What to serve with cold smoked trout? It's good for making sandwiches. It goes harmoniously with butter, eggs, fresh cucumber, white or black bread, fried toast, and herbs. You can include it in assorted fish. This fish looks good in salads and gives them a piquant taste.

Trout can be served with a sauce made from 1 part mayonnaise, 1 part honey, 1/2 part mustard and finely chopped dill to taste.

Dressing trout for serving

How to select and cut fish

To prepare cold or hot smoked trout, both fresh and frozen fish are suitable. However, with the cold processing method, it is recommended to pre-freeze the trout. If you plan to cook the whole fish, then carcasses weighing up to 800–900 g are suitable. Larger fish are cut into fillets or layers.

You need to defrost fish in the refrigerator. It must reach room temperature before smoking.

Next, they begin cutting, making sure to remove the insides and black film. Some gourmets recommend smoking trout only without the head. However, other smokers do not agree that its presence adds bitterness to the meat. However, this rule necessarily applies to large trout, weighing more than 2–3 kg.

The note

Vladimir Kuznetsov

Professional smoker

You need to gut the fish with a very sharp and thin knife; it is easier for them to penetrate inside and carefully cut out the organs without damaging them, as well as cut off the tail and fins. This knife makes it easier to separate the backbone and rib bones when forming fillets and steaks.

As for the choice of smoking form, preference is usually given to whole, medium-sized carcasses. For cold smoking, it can be cut into balyk and tesha.

Trout cutting methods

The easiest way is to remove the entrails through the abdomen. In this case, the head is either left with only the gills cut out, or completely cut off along the gill line. Use scissors to remove fins and tail if the recipe requires it. The insides are also removed, thoroughly washing the fish.

Cutting into balyk and tesha usually happens at the same time, here's why:

In the classic way, the entrails and fins are removed from the fish, and the tail and head are cut off.
Then, along the white line of the abdomen, where there is very little meat and a lot of fat, the meat is cut off. These long layers are smoked along with other parts of the fish and used as an appetizer for beer.
2-3 pieces of tesha are tied with twine to make smoking more convenient.

The trout is not cut up for butterfly, but neat layers are formed from large carcasses:

Gut the fish in the classic way, removing the head, but you can leave the tail.
Holding the tail area, cut off the meat on both sides along the rib bones.
The remaining bones are then removed with tweezers, resulting in a skin-on fillet.

To form steaks, proceed as follows:

Gut the fish, remove the head and tail.
Cut the carcass along the ridge into two halves - the spine should remain on one of them.
Then, using a very sharp knife, cut off the ridge along with the rib bones, capturing a 1 mm layer of meat.
Cut off the ribs on the other half and cut both layers into portioned pieces.

To form neat steaks without skin, after the final stage, take each piece and, turning it perpendicular to you, pass the knife between the skin and meat away from you at an angle of about 20 degrees.

To prepare yukola, the layers of fillet along with the skin are divided lengthwise in half again.

Preparing for smoking

Only fresh carcasses should be used for smoking.
Fresh trout should have burgundy gills and protruding eyes. Frozen fish is pre-thawed in the refrigerator compartment. You cannot speed up the process and place trout in water or in a microwave oven. A sharp temperature change will significantly worsen the taste of the delicate delicacy and make the meat softer.

Salting and subsequent smoking of trout is carried out after cutting it. For this:

the carcass is gutted;
washed with cold water;
dry with a paper towel;
if necessary, cut into pieces or filleted. In this case, the head and fins with the tail are first cut off.

Small fish are cooked with the head, but the gills must be removed.

If the fish is cooked whole, then spacers are inserted into the belly before smoking. This preparation helps to evenly smoke the product not only outside, but also inside.

Traditional hot smoking

Hot smoked trout is a real delicacy with a delicate texture and amazing aroma. However, to get excellent results, you must use the appropriate smoker. You can buy it on the Internet - the online selection is much wider, and the prices are lower than in regular stores.

Ingredients! For 3 pcs. For gutted carcasses, take 30–40 g of salt or a little less. At the second stage, you need spices for pickling: 2 tbsp. l. salt and 1 tbsp. l. fish seasoning.

The carcasses are gutted, washed and sprinkled with salt, placing them in a container. Leave for 4-5 hours in the refrigerator. You can increase the time to a day. Then the trout is washed and marinated:

Wipe with paper towels. Mix seasoning and salt. Sprinkle the carcasses with the mixture and leave for 2–4 hours. Be sure to rub the marinade on the belly.
Assemble the smokehouse according to the instructions and light the fire. Place the unit on it, pour wood chips on the bottom. Install a grill and place fish on it. Place lemon slices in the bellies. You can use a mixture of alder and apple.
Cover the smokehouse with a lid and wait 15–20 minutes until white smoke comes out of the tube.

The fish is cooled and served fresh along with vegetables. At the second stage of marinating, you can use other recipes.

Options for trout marinades

The most delicious, unusual and colorful recipes include:

With greens

. First, a mixture of lemon or orange juice and olive oil is added to the slits on the trout carcass. Make a dry mixture of fennel, black pepper, a small amount of sweet paprika and coriander. Fresh herbs are placed in the belly: rosemary, parsley and tarragon. The fish is packed in foil and left for several hours.

Marinating in brine and stuffing

. For 2–3 kg of fish, 0.5 tbsp is required for brine. brown sugar, 0.5 tbsp. coarse salt, 2 liters of water, 5 ml of lemon juice. Tomatoes and onions are used for stuffing. First prepare the marinade by bringing water to a boil and combining all the ingredients. The fish is soaked in it for 8 hours. Then it is stuffed with pieces of chopped vegetables.

With allspice and thyme

. You will need 1 large lemon, coarse sea salt, a bunch of fresh thyme, 1 tsp. allspice peas, a few bay leaves and a little olive oil. Mix the zest of 1 lemon and chopped thyme. Leaves and peppers are poured with a small amount of oil. Salt is mixed with the lemon-herb mixture. Add oil with pepper and leaves.

With garlic and dill

. To prepare, take salt and pepper and pour it into the belly of the fish. Crushed garlic and chopped dill are also placed there. Place in a saucepan and fill with cooled brine prepared from a mixture of a third of a glass of salt and 0.5 liters of water. Marinate for 2 to 4 hours.

Each of these recipes is suitable not only for smoking, but also for cooking fish in the oven.

Composition and value of the product

Incredibly tasty trout is obtained when cooked due to meat rich in vitamins, amino acids and Omega-3 fatty acids. It contains a huge number of microelements, which are of primary importance. The concentration indicators of most of them in 100 g of trout meat are fully capable of meeting a person’s daily need for such useful elements:

vitamin A (10 mcg/100 g);
vitamin D (32.9 mcg/100 g);
vitamin B 12 (5 µg/100 g);
vitamin E (2.7 mg/100 g);
aspartic acid (2 g/100 g);
glutamic acid (3.1 g/100 g);
alanine (1.4 g/100 g);
leucine (1.7 g/100 g);
sodium (75 mg/100 g);
potassium (17 mg/100 g);
calcium (20 mg/100 g);
magnesium (28 mg/100 g);
phosphorus (244 mg/100 g);
cholesterol (59 mg/100 g).

How many calories are in hot smoked trout?

This fish belongs to the Salmon family and is classified as a low-calorie product. Under the influence of high temperatures, fat permeates the carcass, which significantly increases its nutritional value. In terms of calorie content, hot smoked trout has up to 200 kcal per 100 g of finished delicacy.

Semi-hot smoking

The method is ideal for preparing medium-sized trout, such as rainbow. Carcasses do not require long-term salting and quickly undergo heat treatment.

Ingredients! For 4 kg of fish take 140 g of salt, 4 liters of water, 5–6 pcs. bay leaf, 1 tbsp. l. allspice peas, 1 tsp. crushed coriander seeds and 6-7 sprigs of thyme.

Gutted fish is placed in a cold marinade for 8–12 hours. When it is salted, start cooking:

The trout is ventilated for 2–4 hours in fresh air to remove excess moisture.
Prepare the smokehouse: light a fire in the grill, place the unit on top and pour alder or fruit chips inside.
Dried trout carcasses are laid out on the grill. If hooks are selected, then you need to hook it not by the eyes or by one gill, but by covering the entire head so that the carcass does not fall down when heated, becoming soft.
The fish are smoked for 2.5–3 hours at a temperature of 50–60 degrees. Once cooked, allow to cool completely after removing from hooks.

Ready trout has a bright dark brown hue with golden flanks.

How and for how long can you store smoked trout?

The required conditions and time for storing fish are presented below.

⇒ Cold method. Store at a temperature of “-5” degrees, 90% humidity, ventilation (fish should be packaged so that air flows freely). It can be stored for up to 50 days in the freezer.

⇒ Hot method. Store at a temperature of “-2” degrees. Maximum storage time is 3 days.

A way to extend shelf life is to use vacuum packaging. This container can increase the shelf life of fish up to 3 months.

In the smoker grill

The smoker grill allows you to achieve heat treatment that is not available when using other units. This massive equipment with precise adjustments is suitable for cooking large fish, small trout and steaks.

First recipe

To implement the recipe, take a stand between which you can insert the fish, for example, a wide dish drainer (like in IKEA).

While the fish is drying, prepare a marinade from 1 liter of water, 1 tbsp. l. juniper berries, 1 tbsp. l. allspice peas, 1 tbsp. l. mustard seeds, 10 pcs. bay leaves. Bring to a boil and cool completely. Instead of marinade, you can use classic dry salting with a small amount of ingredients.

In a separate container, mix 1 liter of water with 70 g of salt, pour in the cooled marinade. Trout is marinated in the solution for 24 hours. The carcasses are put on pins through the abdomen and dried in the fresh air.

Prepare the starter by lighting a fire in a special compartment. The temperature should reach 80 degrees. It is supported in a range of 120 degrees. Smoke dried fish directly on a stand for 1.5–2 hours.

Second recipe

The note

Author: GEORGY KAVKAZ

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHK357UDDmL6EMTb4YPE7ew

This option involves smoking along with frying. And the marinade is prepared semi-liquid:

1 tbsp. sunflower oil;
5–6 tbsp. l. paprika or to taste;
1–2 tsp. black pepper.

Cover gutted fish carcasses with marinade inside and out. Sprinkle with salt inside and outside. Start smoking:

Heat the smoker to 400 degrees – at this temperature peak smoke production occurs. The grate is greased with vegetable oil so that the trout skin does not stick.
Cook for 15 minutes, reduce the temperature and add cherry twigs or other wood chips to the coal compartment.

After another 20–30 minutes, the fish will be completely ready and ready to serve!

What else do you need to smoke trout?

You also need sawdust or wood chips. Better than fruit trees - apple, pear, cherry. Oak and beech are also suitable. But even here you can find a way out, because in field conditions even green alder branches give excellent results, except that the color is very saturated. You can easily find all this in any large supermarket; they will also give you defrosted or even chilled trout.

Sawdust or wood chips? The sawdust must be wet, otherwise it will burn immediately. The wood chips can be left dry - we need a little time - or you can wet them just in case. How many of them do you need? Yes, a little, a handful or a cup. Of course, if you have a trough and you smoke two half-pound salmon, you need more sawdust and chips, but we all count for one sea trout, roughly 2 kilograms.

It’s quite possible to get by with foil, but if you have an old trough or a large basin, then you can even move on to smoking on an industrial scale.

Grill smoking

Modern grills allow you to prepare a very tasty and healthy fish delicacy. Moreover, both massive expensive units and small country options are suitable. The only difference between them is capacity.

Cooking whole carcasses

The recipe requires the use of carcasses up to 40 cm in size. It is ideal for smoking river trout. The cooking process uses indirect heat.

Ingredients: salt, pepper to taste, 50–100 ml olive oil, 4–6 sprigs of rosemary and 2 lemons. The quantity indicated is for 6 trout.

After gutting the fish (the heads are left) proceed to salting and smoking:

Install the grill by placing the dividing grid on ¼ of the side of the unit. Pour coals into the middle, using half the amount recommended by the manufacturer. To make them flare up, use a special round limiter. The wood chips are soaked for 30–40 minutes.
While the coals are reaching, they salt the trout: grease the carcasses with olive oil on both sides, mix the dry ingredients. Place a sprig of rosemary and a few slices of lemon inside the gutted fish, after rubbing the inside with salt and pepper and sprinkling the mixture on the outside.
The charcoal in the grill is pushed to the prepared side, and a foil container with holes filled with wood chips is placed on top. They install another grate over all this.
A container is placed at the bottom to collect fat. When the temperature reaches 170 degrees, place the fish on the grill. Cook for 20 minutes. If the heat rises above 190 degrees, open the lower and upper dampers. 10 minutes after the start of cooking, carefully turn the carcasses over with a spatula.

Serve the fish when it has cooled down a little. The head and skin are easily separated from the tender meat.

Fillet with cognac

To prepare you will need 2 layers of trout fillet with skin, 6 tbsp. l. salt, 4 tbsp. l. brown sugar, 3 tsp. ground black pepper, 30–40 ml cognac, 40 ml vegetable oil.

First, mix the dry ingredients and sprinkle both parts of the fillet, slightly driving the mixture into the fibers of the meat. Refrigerate the meat for 2 hours. Remove the salt and sugar, wash the fish and dry it with a paper towel. Mix cognac with oil and apply with a pastry brush to the dried fillet. Leave to brew for 15–30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the grill:

Pour in half the starter of coal briquettes and set it on fire.
After 20 minutes, pour the briquettes onto one side of the grill.
Place 2 handfuls of wood chips on the coals.
A grate is installed on top and fish is placed. You can put a tray down to collect fat. The fish should be placed on foil to prevent it from falling apart.

Cook trout for 1.5 hours at a temperature of 140 degrees.

While the fish is smoking, make a sauce from 3 tbsp. l. sour cream, a pinch of salt and black pepper, 1 tsp. orange zest, a small amount of chopped mint and dill leaves.

On a cedar board

To implement the recipe, you will need a special cedar board, which is soaked a couple of hours before cooking. Also take:

2 layers of fillet;
Lemon Pepper Seasoning from Kotanyi;
1 lemon;
1 tsp. brown sugar;
soy sauce without additives.

Be sure to remove all bones from the fillet before cooking.

The bellies are cut off from the layers and smoked separately.

Start marinating:

Place the layers in a tray and pour in a small amount of soy sauce so that it slightly envelops the fish. Sprinkle with a mixture of peppers and a little sugar. Cover with cling film and shake a little. Leave to marinate for 2 hours.
Prepare a third of the starter coals, bringing it to a temperature of 120 degrees. When the coals are hot, level them in the middle. Open the lower vent. Place 1-2 handfuls of apple or alder wood chips on the coals.
They put a grate and on it - a cedar plank with fish. Cook the trout for 30–35 minutes, then let it sit for a while.
Sprinkle with lemon juice and serve.

You can use slivers of other fruit species: cherries, plums, apricots. If the grill is prepared in winter, then the temperature is raised slightly.

Smoking trout: composition, preparation, cold and hot methods

Here are the best trout smoking recipes that can be easily prepared at home. Affordable products and detailed cooking instructions will help you surprise your loved ones with the delicate, refined taste of smoked fish.

Smoked trout beautifully served on the table

Very tender, juicy, noble trout is an exquisite treat for any table. In this article you will find smoked trout recipes that you can easily prepare at home. Choose what you like and cook with pleasure!

Hot smoking in a smokehouse

You can prepare hot smoked trout quite simply if you have quality fish, good wood and a smokehouse.

When choosing raw materials, you can choose any trout, as long as it is fresh and well-fed. It is believed that smoked rainbow trout, a river species of salmon, tastes best. This species differs in that it changes its color depending on the environment.

Connoisseurs will argue that there is nothing better than hot-smoked Finnish trout, grown on the Alan Islands.

The choice is yours, in any case, any trout is ideal for smoking.

The process of smoking trout in a smokehouse

Preparing for smoking

According to the recipe for smoking trout in a hot-smoked smokehouse, fresh-frozen trout is first defrosted in the air or in the refrigerator, the belly is cut, and the entrails are removed through the resulting cut.

Wash thoroughly, removing blood clots and films. A medium-sized fish is used with the head, the gills are first removed. Large fish are beheaded. Can be cut into pieces or flattened and filleted.

The scales can be left or cleaned.

Trout meat is capable of maturing during salting, that is, it acquires new taste qualities and becomes more tasty.

Trout for hot smoking at home is salted dry or wet. When dry salting, carcasses are rubbed with medium-ground salt, part of the salt is used for salting the abdominal cavity, and part is poured under the gill covers. You can add ground black pepper to the salt.

The trout is placed in a curing container made of non-oxidizing material, covered with a lid and put in the refrigerator. For hot smoking, it is enough to salt semi-finished products for 2-3 hours. After salting, carcasses or pieces of fish are washed to remove excess salt and blotted with paper towels.

The following recipe for hot smoked trout involves the use of marinade:

trout – 1 kg;
soy sauce – 250 g
semi-sweet white wine – 250 g;
lemon juice – 250 g;
thyme, rosemary - to taste.

You can buy classic soy sauce or replace it with mushroom, spicy, or for sushi.

To obtain the marinade, combine wine, soy sauce, lemon juice, herbs, and heat without boiling. Leave to infuse for 15 minutes, filter, cool, pour over the fish, press down with pressure and marinate in the cold for 8 hours. Remove the carcasses to paper towels and dry them.

Advice! When marinating trout, you can add brown sugar - 1 teaspoon per 1 kg of fish.

After salting, the semi-finished products are hung in the air to dry for several hours. You can insert wooden spacers into the abdominal cavity and put dill, rosemary, and thyme inside.

Hot smoking at home

Smoking trout at home in a hot-smoked smokehouse is carried out at a high smoke temperature, so smoking the fish is quick and easy.

First, prepare the smokehouse chamber. Wooden materials are poured into the smoking container. You can smoke trout on alder shavings, branches of apple, cherry, grape, and juniper. They make a mix and add almond shells and rosemary sprigs. The wood chips can be lightly moistened with water to prevent them from igniting during the smoking process.

To prevent grease from dripping onto the wood chips during smoke treatment, it is covered with a metal sheet tray, or you can cover it with foil. Grills are installed in the chamber for fish. The grates are lubricated with refined vegetable oil so that the semi-finished products do not stick during the cooking process.

Important! Place the fish so that the distance between the carcasses is at least 1 cm. If this condition is not met, the side surface will remain unsmoked.

The smoking chamber is closed with a lid, then set on fire. This could be a stove, fire or burner.

The duration of smoking depends on the size of the carcasses and ranges from 30 to 40 minutes.

Read now: Cold and hot smoked halibut: cooking recipes

The cooking temperature is maintained in the range from 80 to 110 °C. This temperature of hot smoked trout softens the layers of the fish and makes it cooked.

Culinary readiness is checked by the golden surface and pulp, which easily separates from the bones.

The fish must be cooled directly in the smokehouse, since hot smoked products are soft and can fall apart when transferred. After cooling, the smoked products are left in the air or in the refrigerator for several hours, giving them the opportunity to better soak in the smoked products.

Calorie content of hot smoked trout

One cannot ignore such a question as the benefits and harms of hot smoked trout.

Trout is not only a tasty fish, but also healthy. Nutrients such as proteins, fats, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins A, D, E, minerals (Ca, K, Mg, Fe) help our body have strong immunity, strong teeth and bones, a strong nervous system, good digestion. In smoked trout, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates completely retain their properties.

Calorie content of boiled trout is 132 kcal. During the smoking process, the layers of pulp are saturated with fat, therefore, the calorie content of hot smoked trout is 233.6 kcal.

Storage and shelf life of hot smoked trout

Hot smoked trout should be stored in the refrigerator, as it is a perishable product.

Important! When storing in the refrigerator, observe the product proximity. Do not store smoked meats and foods such as butter, pastries, cakes, and cheeses, which easily absorb odors, on the same shelf.

If it is not possible to store at low temperatures, then the shelf life of hot smoked trout is significantly reduced. To extend shelf life, smoked meats are frozen.

The storage conditions and periods for hot smoked trout, in accordance with GOST 7447-97, are presented in the table:

Storage conditions, t °C, at W=75-85% Shelf life

from +2 to +6	48 hour
-2 to +2	72 hour
-18	30 days
-10	15 days

Cold smoked trout

Cold smoked trout cooked at home is an extremely tasty and environmentally friendly product.

Cold smoked rainbow trout is very tasty. Although other types of trout are also suitable.

Cold smoking

This type of smoking has a low temperature. Cold smoked trout therefore has denser meat and is easily cut into thin slices.

Prepare the smokehouse for cold smoking. You can use both a homemade smokehouse and a smokehouse with a smoke generator for smoking. If a smoke generator is used, then chips from alder, juniper, and beech are poured into its body. Connect the smoke pipe to the smoking container. In it, pieces or carcasses are hung on hooks or placed on racks. Close the container with a lid.

Turn on the compressor and set fire to the wood. The smoke generated in the generator goes to the products. It is necessary to maintain the food processing temperature within 25-27 °C.

Important! If the temperature exceeds 40 °C, the fish will cook, as if smoked hot.

The smoke treatment time depends on the size of the semi-finished products and ranges from 8-10 to 24 hours. At the end of smoking, the carcasses are hung outside to ventilate from excess smoke and ripen. During this time, the pulp will become softer and more aromatic.

Calorie content of cold smoked trout

Let's talk about the benefits and harms of cold smoked trout.

The composition of smoked trout, BZHU, does not differ in principle between hot and cold smoking, except for the calorie content.

The calorie content of cold smoked trout is 183 kcal. This figure is lower than that of hot smoked fish due to the fact that the carcasses are more dehydrated and the fat is less absorbed into the pulp.

Storage and shelf life of cold smoked trout

The shelf life of cold smoked trout depends on storage temperature and relative humidity. The lower the temperature, the longer smoked meats can be stored.

Due to greater dehydration, a large amount of salt and long-term treatment with disinfectants, cold smoked trout is stored longer than hot smoked products.

Important! Frozen smoked meats must be defrosted properly. It's best to put them in the refrigerator. In this case, with slow defrosting, there will be less weight loss and better taste.

The storage conditions and periods for cold smoked trout according to GOST 11482-96 are presented in the table:

Storage conditions, t °C, at W=75-85% Shelf life

from 0 to +4	72 hour
from -2 to 0	7 days
from -3 to -5	14 days
at -18	60 days

Recipe for smoking trout with liquid smoke

The recipe with liquid smoke is used when it is not possible to use a smokehouse. This is easy to do even in an apartment.

First, the fish is processed. After removing the scales, entrails, head, fins, the carcass is washed well, dried and cut into pieces with skin. If the fish is large, then you can strip it.

Pieces of fish are lubricated with a “liquid smoke” product. The side with the skin is soaked more abundantly.

Rub the semi-finished products with salt and pepper (you can add fish mixture), put them in plastic bags and put them in the refrigerator for a day. Every 6 hours the pieces are turned over so that they are better salted.

After salting, wash off excess salt from the pieces with water and dry with napkins. Leave at room temperature for 2-3 hours to dry.

Then you can cook in the air fryer. Place the trout on the grill of the air fryer, close the device with a lid and cook at a temperature of 180 °C. The smokeless smoking process lasts for 25-30 minutes. After cooling, transfer to a serving bowl.

You can cook smoked trout in the oven. First, the fish is marinated with the addition of soy sauce (1 tbsp), lemon juice (1 tbsp), olive oil (1 tbsp) and liquid smoke (1 tsp).

To marinate, place the dishes with fish in the refrigerator for half an hour. At this time, preheat the oven to 190-200 °C. The fish is wrapped in foil and placed in the oven for 20-30 minutes, depending on its size.

The finished products are cooled.

Trout smoked with liquid smoke has a pleasant smoky aroma and delicate taste.

In a cauldron on dried leaves

You will get an unusual smoked trout if you use a cauldron and a combination of fresh aromatic leaves for cooking.

Ingredients:

a handful of plum or apple leaves, as well as blackberries and raspberries;
2 trout carcasses with heads (total weight 500–700 g);
a mixture of salt and pepper;
tomato relish with dried tomatoes, basil and onions.

First, mix the dry ingredients and rub them on the trout inside and out. Then they begin to form the smokehouse:

Make a fire in the grill, immediately put a cauldron and put all the fresh leaves in it. They should dry within 10–20 minutes.
When the coals burn out, set up a cauldron with dry leaves poured into it.
Apply 1-2 layers of foil on top, forming a protective tray.
The carcasses are placed on foil, you can use chopsticks to make them hang a little.
Time it for 20 minutes, then remove the cauldron from the heat and let the fish brew for a while.

Serve the smoked meat immediately or leave it in the refrigerator for several days.

How to smoke trout in the oven

Home-style smoked fish is prepared as follows:

Wash the trout, remove the entrails, and remove the head.
Pour water into a container, add salt, bay leaf, pepper, and liquid smoke. The marinating time for fish is one day in a cool place under a tightly closed lid.
Remove the carcasses, dry with a paper towel, and coat with vegetable oil. Place the trout on the grill. To drain the fat, place foil under the baking sheet, folding the sides. Cooking time 25-30 minutes at 200 °C.

Trout smoked in a frying pan with tea

For 600 g of fillet or 2 steaks you will need a mixture for smoking: 3 tbsp. l. sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 2-3 tbsp. l. rice and the same amount of tea leaves. For salting, you will need salt and a little seasoning for the fish. Start cooking with the following manipulations:

Pieces of trout on the skin are sprinkled with salt and spices, sprinkled with lemon juice.
Mix tea, rice, sugar and cinnamon, place in foil, folded in several layers. An envelope is formed and pierced with a knife on one side.
Place a wire rack on the frying pan and place the fish on top. You can put the fish on skewers and place it on the sides of the dish.
Turn on high heat and place a bag of smoking spices on the bottom of the frying pan.
After 2-3 minutes, when there is light smoke, cover the fish with a lid and reduce the heat.
Cook for 7-10 minutes and then turn off the stove.

With the lid closed, the fish is left for the same amount of time. Then open and serve immediately.

How to prepare trout for smoking

Preparatory activities mainly consist of cleaning the fish, removing the entrails and gills. When all manipulations with the carcass have been completed, it is thoroughly washed and wiped with a paper towel to remove residual water. If you take medium-sized individuals for smoking, then you should not divide them into parts. If you use large fish, you can cut it.

All recipes where trout is hot smoked require pre-salting. Thanks to this simple technique, it is possible to get rid of pathogens and improve the taste characteristics of the finished product. For marinating you will need:

pepper;
dill;
garlic;
set of spices

How to pickle trout for smoking

There are several ways to salt trout before smoking:

Dry salting. This method involves rubbing the fish with a mixture of salt and pepper, the ratio may vary. You can’t over-salt here; when washing the carcasses, excess salt will come out. Alternatively, you can add herbs and spices. The salting time is 12 hours.
Wet Ambassador. This method will require a brine of salt (80-120 g), water (1 l), ground pepper, sugar (100 g), dill and bay leaf. The trout salting time is 8 hours in the refrigerator, then it needs to be soaked for 30 minutes and dried with a paper towel.
Salting in marinade. First you need to boil water, add salt and sugar to it, and let it cool. Then let stand for 8-12 hours, rinse and start smoking.

How to marinate trout for hot smoking

For an original taste, marinade for smoking trout can be made from wine, citrus fruits, and honey. Spices are used based on personal preference.

Recipe for spicy marinade with honey:

2 liters of water;
100 ml flower honey;
100 ml lemon juice;
10 g cinnamon;
15 g salt;
150 ml vegetable oil;
two pinches of ground pepper.

All components must be combined and boiled in a suitable container. Place the fish in the cooled marinade and keep it in the refrigerator for 6-12 hours with the lid closed.

Citrus fruit marinade recipe:

1 liter of water;
half a lemon;
half an orange;
1 onion;
2 bay leaves;
10 g thyme, rosemary, sage;
on the tip of a tsp. cinnamon;
1 tsp. Sahara;
2 tbsp. l. salt;
5 g red and black pepper.

Cooking process:

Peel and chop fruits and onions.
Combine all components in a container.
Boil the solution for 10 minutes, then let it cool and sit for a quarter of an hour.
Immerse the carcasses in the solution filtered through a sieve and leave for 12-20 hours.

In a saucepan

To prepare this recipe, you will need 18 sugar cubes per 1 kg of trout, 300 g granulated sugar, you can take brown sugar, 300 g salt, 1.5 liters of water.

Step-by-step cooking plan:

Soak 100 g of alder chips for 30 minutes.
Place 2 layers of foil on the bottom of the pan. Additionally, wrap a ceramic bowl with a diameter 5–8 cm smaller than the size of the bottom of the pan.
Place the wood chips around a bowl placed in the center, avoiding their contact with the walls of the dish. Pieces of sugar are placed on the wood chips.
The plate is wrapped in foil and parchment is placed on top. Place fish fillet on it, pre-marinated in a solution of salt and sugar for 2 hours.
Cover the top of the pan with foil to prevent smoke from escaping, and put a lid on. Place on medium heat on the stove and cook for 15–20 minutes. If the smell is too strong, reduce the heat slightly.

For larger pieces, the cooking time is increased. But it’s better to under-smoke a little than to over-smoke. After all, such heat treatment can lead to the formation of bitterness.

How to smoke fish in a smokehouse on a grill?

If the smoking device is not too large, it is most convenient to place it on the grill. The coals under the smokehouse should be distributed as evenly as possible, it is a good idea to leave a few unburned logs, but the fire should not be too strong.

As the smoker heats up, white smoke begins to come out. This means that the alder (or other) chips have warmed up and the smoking process has begun.

When the smokehouse is properly warmed up, the burning logs can be removed and smoking can continue using only coals. For medium-sized fish, the process will take no more than half an hour.

Before opening the lid of the smokehouse, you should wait until it has completely cooled down and smoke has stopped coming out of it. Trout can be considered ready when the surface of the carcass turns a dark golden reddish color. If the fish is still light, it means it is damp.

Finnish smoking on a board

One of the traditional methods of cooking fish in Finland is on a board. You can use a variety of tree species, except pine.

For the recipe you need to take 1 kg of meat, coarse salt, pepper to taste and fresh lemon:

Trout fillets, skin side down, are attached to a board using wooden pegs.
Rub with pepper and coarse salt. Sprinkle with lemon juice immediately or before serving.
Make a fire and, when the wood burns out a little, place the boards vertically along the edges of the fire pit. There should be 20–25 cm left to the fire.

The fish cooks for about an hour; from time to time you can sprinkle it with water or lemon juice. Served directly on the board - aromatic, original and very beautiful.

What types of smokehouses are there?

The main requirement for any smokehouse is tightness. Under no circumstances should air get inside the device, as this often leads to firewood fire, which can significantly reduce the quality of the future delicacy. The smokehouse must have considerable depth. Otherwise, the fish hung in it will touch the wood and the bottom, which can lead to burning or cooking of the product, but not to smoking.

How to prepare hot smoked fish at home? You can smoke fish in a smokehouse in your home kitchen, on the river bank or in your country house. A bucket, barrel or any other container, for example, an old beehive, is suitable as a container. More “advanced” options are smoking using gas or charcoal grills, as well as in a metal box on the grill. Homeowners in the private sector set up a smokehouse in the attic, in a chimney, or adapt a stove to this process.

The most correct option is to purchase a reliable portable smokehouse of industrial production, equipped with all the necessary devices for high-quality and efficient smoking.

Cold smoking

For this method, fish carcasses are selected, the size of which is suitable for forming steaks. Fish must weigh at least 2 kg. After cutting into pieces, they begin salting and smoking.

Teshu, or bellies, are cut off and smoked separately:

Prepare the ingredients for 1 kg of steaks: 25 g salt, 12 g brown sugar.
Mix the dry ingredients, spread cling film and place pieces of fish skin side down on it. Sprinkle with the mixture, then take other pieces and rub them, placing meat to meat on the first layer. Can be placed in vacuum bags for better salting. Wrap the film and put it in the cold for 48 hours.
When the fish is ready, it is washed and tied with twine. Hang out to dry for at least 9-10 hours. The room must be ventilated. You can build a box with a gauze curtain and put it on the balcony.
To protect meat from smoke carcinogens, dry pieces are wrapped in one layer of gauze, removing the string. Place everything in the smoker on a cold processing rack.
Small pieces (about 7 by 12–14 cm) are smoked for 3–4 hours at a temperature of 20–22 degrees.

The finished cold-smoked trout is aired for another 7–8 hours in a place protected from flies.

Salting secrets

Before smoking, the trout is salted with a small addition of spices.
During the salting process, it “ripens” and acquires a new taste. It is always worth remembering that this fish has a pleasant taste unique to it, so a large addition of spices will only hide this shade. Experts recommend using only a little pepper and salt for pickling. To do this, they are mixed and the carcasses are rubbed. Grains of salt are carefully rubbed under the scales, then the workpieces are covered with cling film.

It is ideal if the fish sits in the refrigerator compartment for a day. After this, excess salt is removed and the workpieces are wiped with a cloth. At this point, there is still a lot of moisture left in the trout fibers, so you can’t smoke it yet. Since with the cold method the workpiece can become rotten, but with the hot method it will become like boiled. The marinated carcasses need to be hung up and aired a little, only then sent to the smokehouse.

Recommended reading: How to cook carp on the grill

For lovers of spicy salting, a liquid marinade prepared in water is well suited. To better dissolve the components, water is heated and depending on the recipe, pepper, spices, herbs, bay leaves, lemon slices, sugar, wine, and soy sauce are added. Stir and cool completely. You cannot pour warm marinade over the fish, otherwise the high temperature will scald the fish.

The liquid marinade soaks the meat faster, and the lemon breaks it down well, making it tender. It is enough to fill the carcasses with liquid for 3-4 hours, and ideally for 8-9 hours.

Trout yukola

Yukola is a simple, tasty and beautiful fish appetizer. It looks like a filleted balyk with thin slits in the meat right down to the skin. To prepare delicious yukola, you can combine the salting method with cold smoking:

Cut into layers, removing the bellies and using them in other recipes. The layers are first frozen for 2–3 weeks, wrapped in cling film.
One layer with separated bellies is cut in half lengthwise.
Then, at a distance of 3-4 mm from each other to the skin itself, trying not to damage it, incisions are made. They should be made at an angle of 45 degrees from the tail, so that during the drying process they fall down a little under their own weight and do not stick together.
Head down, strips of fish are hung in a cool place. You can turn on the fan to dry the trout faster. Before this procedure, the pieces are slightly salted.
After 3–4 days, the dry yukola is removed and sent to a smokehouse for cold smoking at 20–25 degrees for 1–2 hours.

Immediately after the final airing, smoked trout yukola can be eaten!

Installation of a smokehouse in an apartment (on the balcony)

For installation in a small city apartment, you will need a more compact device. It is desirable that it be sealed and not allow smoke to pass through. The smoking chamber is installed at a height of about 0.5 m. The stove pipe is inserted into the opening of the smokehouse at an angle of 20–45 degrees. Wood with sawdust is loaded into the stove and the fire is lit. 10 minutes after the firewood ignites, the vent should be closed (the stove will cool down in 5 minutes). The chimney pipe is inserted at the desired angle into the opening of the smoking chamber, the container is closed with a lid, after which the smoking process begins. Turn on the compressor, set fire to the wood and sawdust. Smoke from the generator reaches the food being prepared. The temperature should vary between 25-35 °C. It should be taken into account that exceeding the temperature to a level of 40 ° C is fraught with the risk of getting fish that is not cold smoked, but boiled, as with the hot method.

The duration of the smoke treatment depends on the size of the semi-finished products, usually it is 8-24 hours (sometimes longer). At the end of the process, the carcasses are hung outside. This is necessary so that they are ventilated from excess smoke and ripen. During this time, the pulp of the product becomes more tender and aromatic. Any suitable container - a box or barrel - can be used as a homemade smokehouse. Even a thick cardboard box (quite roomy) with a small smoke generator located on the balcony is suitable for cold smoking.

In the oven with liquid smoke

The easiest way to taste smoked trout without resorting to the smoking process in a special device is to cook it in an oven with liquid smoke. But you need to observe certain subtleties:

The carcass is completely cleaned of entrails, the fins and head are also cut off, and the tail is removed.
The trout is washed, dried and cut into portions; this is the only way to get thoroughly processed meat in the oven.
Each piece is smeared with liquid smoke and sprinkled with salt and seasonings to taste.
Marinate for at least 20 hours in the refrigerator, placing in several bags. During this time, shake the pieces 6-7 times, but very carefully.
Leave to air for 2 hours in the open air.
Smoke for 30–40 minutes in the oven at 190 degrees, wrapping the fish in foil.

In an electric oven, the time may increase slightly.

How to smoke trout in a hot smoker

The process of smoking fish in a smokehouse from a barrel involves the following steps:

Place wood chips with sawdust from fruit trees at the bottom of the smokehouse, layer thickness 2 cm. To add flavor, use several juniper branches.
Place the salted and marinated trout carcasses on the grill in the smoking chamber. They shouldn't touch each other. If both large and small parts are used, then the latter are placed on a grate located at the top, and the former - at the bottom. There is no need to remove the twine, otherwise the fish will fall apart.
Build a fire, but a strong one, so that the heat is uniform and long-lasting. Then the smokehouse is closed with a lid. A quarter of the time allotted for smoking fish is spent drying the product; the smoke temperature is approximately 80 °C. The direct smoking process begins at 100 °C.
Smoking time for fish varies from 30 to 40 minutes, it all depends on the size of the carcasses.

In a slow cooker

Tender smoked trout can be prepared in a slow cooker at home. These recipes are ideal for small carcasses. But you can also smoke steaks that have been prepared in advance.

With liquid smoke

For 2 trout you need to take salt with aromatic spices and black pepper to taste. The fish is rubbed with a dry mixture and coated with liquid smoke inside and out with a culinary brush. Further:

Wrap each carcass in foil.
Place in the multicooker bowl.
Bake for 30 minutes in the “Baking” mode.

The finished dish is served hot with rice or vegetables.

Using wood chips

To prepare, you will need a suitable multicooker with the “Smoking” mode. The ingredients are trout steaks, salt and a little alder or fruit chips. Start cooking:

Pieces of fish are rubbed with salt and placed on a two-level grill, if one is included in the device.
Wood chips are placed in a special container and placed in a multicooker.
Place everything in the device, select the “Cold smoking” mode for 20 minutes.

Serve the prepared fish with tomatoes, cucumbers or other vegetables.

About smoking methods

Experts call cold and hot smoking methods and variations as the main methods of smoking. They resort to baking in smoke and semi-hot smoking much less often. The differences between these technologies lie in their duration and the characteristics of the temperature conditions used. Smoking time directly depends on temperature: the longer the process lasts, the lower the temperature used. But the shelf life increases accordingly.

Many people consider hot smoked trout to be the most delicious. Fish prepared in this way is an undeniable delicacy with an amazing taste.

In a convection oven

The juiciest trout can be prepared at home using any air fryer. You will need liquid smoke and salt to taste. For this method, trout is cut into steaks or fillet layers are used:

The meat is seasoned and brushed with liquid smoke using a pastry brush. Leave to marinate for 40 minutes, placing skin side down.
Set the air fryer to 180 degrees and place the meat on the middle rack.
Cook at medium speed for 25–30 minutes. If the backbone is easily separated from the meat, then the trout is ready.
After cooking, wrap the fish in foil to help it cook better.

Serve slightly cooled along with tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh bell peppers and herbs for beauty.

Is it possible to smoke trout

In a hot smoked smokehouse you can cook meat, homemade sausages, and fish, including trout. To obtain an ideal result, you need to choose the right raw materials. You should pay attention to the following points:

Quality of fish. To successfully smoke trout at home, you need to purchase only fresh specimens with bright, bulging eyes. The color of the gills should be red, the surface of the carcass should be without obvious deformations. No specific, putrid odor should come from the trout. Living individuals are always distinguished by their mobility, the absence of spots and damage to the scales.
Carcass sizes. For uniform salting and smoking, it is better to give preference to individuals of the same volume.

There is no need to peel trout from scales for smoking in a homemade smokehouse; it allows you to protect the product from soot

Advice! If the trout is after freezing, then for hot smoking it must first be thawed, changing the cool water several times. Only after this can you start salting.