Hot smoked bream: a recipe for how to smoke in a smokehouse at home

Not so long ago, we began to think about the fact that the foods we eat are not only not beneficial, but sometimes cause serious illnesses. Against this background, almost everyone became infected with the idea of healthy eating, which does not consist of strict diets or refusal of any type of food.

It’s just that when choosing products of animal origin, you need to especially carefully study all the information provided. Many sellers sell the so-called expired product or the result of genetic modification in a not entirely legal way. As a result, the most reliable way to avoid being cheated is to prepare some dishes yourself.

Smoked fish is one of the sought-after delicacies, which, when prepared at home, is not only healthy food, but also has excellent taste qualities that factory production can never reach.

We decided to talk about how to smoke bream in a smokehouse, because this fish often becomes a trophy for amateurs, and there is nothing better than preparing your favorite dish deliciously yourself. Our individual loves reservoirs with deep pools. You can recognize a bream by its characteristic flattened body with a small head and a small hump in the area of the dorsal fin. It will also be distinguished by silvery scales with a blackish tint.

It is quite difficult to catch a large representative, since bream grows very slowly. The average carcass size varies between 30-40 cm. Giant representatives are the dream of any fisherman, but they are not good for anything other than a fashionable selfie. Bream meat is quite fibrous, and in adult specimens these fibers become dry and tough. For fishing, young animals are more valuable, which amateurs among themselves call “breeder”.

How to prepare fish

Fresh fish is an ideal raw material for hot smoking bream.
The ideal raw material for hot smoking bream is fresh fish. Individuals are selected of the same size. This will help the carcasses be salted and smoked evenly. The cleaning procedure includes several stages:

Evisceration. The insides are carefully removed so as not to damage the gallbladder. The black film from the abdomen is also removed. The carcasses are thoroughly washed to remove any remaining blood and entrails under running water.
Head processing. If you plan to hot smoke the whole bream, then the gills should be cut out. If the fish is cut into pieces, the head is completely cut off.
Washing and drying. The fish is washed inside and outside with water and dried with paper towels. This will remove excess moisture from the bream.

It's better to leave the scales. It will serve as a barrier to prevent carcinogens and resins from entering the meat, and will also minimize the risk of meat falling apart during hot smoking.

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There are several methods for salting bream. The most common method is dry salting. It involves the use of a minimum set of ingredients:

coarse salt;
ground black pepper;
Bay leaf.

It is possible to use ready-made fish seasoning when salting. The composition contains everything to emphasize the exquisite taste of bream.

The salting time lasts 2-3 hours, after which the individuals are washed, dried and dried for an hour.

Pickling

To make hot smoked bream at home more aromatic, you can use spicy ingredients. By experimenting with the ingredients for the marinade, you will be able to obtain a unique delicacy and adjust it to your personal preferences.

Each bream recipe has features that must be followed to obtain an ideal result.

Spicy marinade

To prepare a spicy marinade you will need the following components:

half a lemon and half an orange (it is possible to use other types of citrus fruits);
1-2 onions;
50 gr. salt;
2-3 bay leaves;
5 gr. Sahara;
5 gr. cinnamon;
10 gr. pepper mixtures;
spices: sage, rosemary, thyme - to taste.

The listed ingredients are enough to prepare 1 liter. marinade All components are poured into water and brought to a boil. Boil the mixture for 10-15 minutes. Before salting bream at home in this way, you should cool the liquid. After bringing the liquid to room temperature, the carcasses are dipped into the prepared marinade and left for 9-11 hours.

Marinade with soy sauce and white wine

Hot smoked bream , salted in a marinade with soy sauce and white wine, acquires spicy, sweetish notes. To prepare the brine you will need:

4 tbsp. salt;
4 tbsp. Sahara;
150 ml. lemon juice;
100 ml. soy sauce;
200 ml. dry white wine;
3-4 cloves of garlic;
spices to taste: basil, pepper, coriander.

The proportions are for 2 liters. liquids. Water with salt and sugar are brought to a boil so that the components dissolve. The brine is then cooled to room temperature. Add the remaining ingredients to the cooled marinade and mix thoroughly. To completely salt the carcasses, 12 hours is enough.

Honey marinade

The recipe for hot smoked bream in a smokehouse with honey marinade will be appreciated by true gourmets.
The taste is amazingly delicate and refined, and the appearance of the smoked product is not inferior to restaurant dishes. Adding honey to the marinade helps create an attractive golden crust.

This brine is prepared without adding water. For the marinade you need:

180 ml. olive oil;
100 ml. lemon juice;
120 gr. honey;
5 gr. salt;
1-2 cloves of garlic;
parsley, pepper, fish seasoning to taste.

All components are combined into a homogeneous mixture. The fish is coated with marinade and placed in the refrigerator for 6-10 hours.

Before smoking bream, the fish is first dried. To do this, just hang it in the fresh air for several hours. Excess moisture will result in the fish being baked rather than smoked.

Cold smoking

When cold smoking bream, it is important to maintain an accurate temperature of 25–27 °C and not allow it to increase. The best results are achieved when using factory units - with a smoke generator, hose and smoking compartment. A worthy alternative could be a stationary smokehouse, made by hand, taking into account the cooling of the smoke going to the food. However, making such a device is much more difficult than buying it.

Alder or aspen wood chips are used for cold smoking - this is the standard option. You can achieve a slightly different aroma by using apple, cherry, and plum sawdust. If you add juniper branches to them, you can improve the antiseptic treatment.

When using the cold smoking method, the following subtleties must be taken into account:

do not interrupt the procedure during the first 6–8 hours of fish processing - constantly opening the lid will lead to the penetration of bacteria;
monitor the condition of the wood chips - it should smolder slowly and not burn;
strictly monitor the cooking time - no less than indicated in the recipe, this is important not only to destroy bacteria, but also to obtain the required taste qualities;
ventilate in the fresh air at the end - this is how the ripening process of bream occurs.

Even for the first time, you can achieve perfectly cooked cold smoked bream, but you shouldn’t limit yourself to just one option.

Traditional way

Bream are small and large and are salted in different ways. The recipe uses 3 options for each size.

The traditional method of preparing bream requires a minimum set of spices used for dry salting: for 1–1.5 kg, take 2 cups of salt, a glass of sugar, 1 tsp. red pepper, coriander, allspice, cloves in inflorescences. The fish is salted for 2–3 hours. After this, the resulting liquid is drained and kept under pressure for another 5–6 hours. However, dry salting is suitable if the carcasses do not exceed a weight of 900 g.

For kilograms, it is better to use brine prepared from 1 cup of the salting mixture according to the recipe above and several bay leaves. The brine is boiled for 2–3 minutes, cooled and the fish is placed. The carcasses are salted for 8 hours. Fill them only with completely cooled brine.

The cooking technology looks like this:

Fresh or frozen fish, previously defrosted in the refrigerator, is cleaned of entrails and salted. Small carcasses up to 1 kg, previously frozen, do not need to be gutted.
If bream from 1 kg are used, they need to be flattened, cut along the ridge using kitchen scissors for gutting: lay them skin side up, make an incision along the ridge, remove it, take out the insides.
Clean the layer of remaining entrails and wipe with paper napkins. It is advisable not to wash the carcasses so that the fish does not absorb the liquid.
Along the back, in the direction from the ribs, shallow cuts are made to the bone every 1–1.5 cm.
The cut fish is salted with the same mixture, with the addition of 1 tbsp. l red hot pepper, 10 g paprika.
For convenience, use a baking sheet. Rub the bream on both sides and leave to salt for no more than 4 hours. Place the baking tray at a slight angle to allow liquid to drain.
Cut-up fish may have protruding bones, so when rubbing the carcass it is important to follow safety precautions.
The layers are not washed, just scrape off all the excess salting mixture with a spoon.
Small carcasses are washed after salting, but medium ones after brine are not. Wooden spacers are installed in the abdomen.
Read also: Spicy marinades for cooking fish on the grill
While the fish is being ventilated, add a mixture of apple and alder chips to the smoke generator, turn on the compressor, and set it on fire. Apple tree gives a delicious aroma, and alder gives a beautiful color.
Smoke, laid out on racks or hung on hooks, for 8 hours, not allowing the temperature to rise above 30 °C.

Ready smoked bream is aired for at least 1 day.

With liquid smoke

You can prepare cold smoked bream at home without using the following units:

The cleaned fish is placed in a container, sprinkled with salt, then a second layer is placed and also covered.
Pour a third of a glass of liquid smoke onto 1 kg of raw material.
The carcasses are turned over every 5–7 minutes for an hour.
Place in the refrigerator and leave for 2-3 days.
After the specified time, the carcasses are taken out, wiped with towels and hung out to air for 1 day.
After drying, place the bream in the oven, preheated to 40 ° C, for 1 hour.

The bream is not as tasty as in a real smokehouse, but without any extra effort and with a bright aroma.

In a convection oven

You can prepare smoked bream in an air fryer: for 1 fish, take 100 g of salt and a special seasoning for smoking. The process looks like this:

The carcass is cleaned, gutted, pickled or salted. You can use the simplest recipe with a minimum of additional spices.
Heat the grill to 65°C and set the speed to medium.
The fish is placed on the middle grill.
Cook in this way for at least 3 hours. Carcasses weighing over 2 kg require longer heat treatment (2 times longer).

After cooking, wrap the bream in foil and cool. If you increase the temperature to 140 ° C, you will get hot smoked fish, and the cooking time will be 50–60 minutes.

Hot smoking process

It is more convenient to smoke bream in an industrial smokehouse.
Such installations are sealed and provide fast and efficient smoking. Any recipe can be adapted for a homemade installation. Suitable for making a smokehouse from a bucket or barrel. Regardless of the type of smoking unit, smoking bream in a hot smoked smokehouse must be carried out strictly according to technology so that the product is not only tasty, but also safe. The procedure for preparing this delicious delicacy is as follows:

The smokehouse and wood chips are being prepared. The installation must be clean and dry. The wood chips should be slightly damp to prevent ignition.
Fuel is poured into the smokehouse, a fat tray is installed, and fish is loaded.
The unit is installed on the heater. We smoke hot smoked bream at high temperature: 80-110°C. Gradually the fire should be reduced so that it maintains smoldering at the same level.
How long to smoke hot smoked bream depends on the temperature and the size of the individuals. Small carcasses will be smoked in 15-20 minutes. For larger fish it will take about 40-50 minutes.

To remove carcinogens and improve the taste and aroma of the dish, it is recommended to cool the bream before serving.

Preparing fish and cutting bream

To begin with, I would like to note that it is best to select fish carcasses for hot smoking that are approximately the same in weight and size. This way, all the products will be smoked evenly and tasty; there will be no such thing as small carcasses drying out excessively, and large ones not yet being properly salted.

How to prepare bream for the smoking process.

Each fish should be washed well, the gills removed, a small incision made in the belly area and the entrails removed. Small specimens do not need to be gutted; they can be smoked whole.
There is no need to peel the bream before smoking, just like cutting off the head.
In the back area of each bream, a small shallow cut should be made along the entire ridge.
Now salting the bream for hot smoking. How to properly pickle. In this case, the fish can be salted either dry (rubbed with salt) or wet (dipped in a salty water solution for a certain time). Since the dry salting method is the most common, we’ll tell you about it.

When salting bream using the dry method, you should take one and a half kilograms of coarse salt per 10 kilograms of fish. Next, the gutted individuals are sprinkled with salt on all sides, including the inside of the belly, and laid out in a “jack” in some container. A pressure is placed on top and the bream should be left in this form for 12-14 hours.

After half a day, the salted fish are placed in water for soaking for 2 hours, changing the water in the container every 30 minutes. Then a toothpick or any twig is inserted into each belly of large carcasses, and the drying process begins. This is the final stage of preparing bream for smoking; the fish is hung in a well-ventilated room or place in the open air for about an hour or two.

Composition and properties

Smoked bream has a high nutritional value. I recommend using it when following a diet, when every calorie counts.

This is due to the low calorie content of fish. At the same time, the composition retains important micro- and macroelements, such as chromium, nickel, iron, phosphorus, chlorine, potassium, calcium, sodium. These substances help normalize activity:

cardiovascular;
digestive;
immune;
nervous systems.

The benefit of the product lies in the absence of carbohydrates, which are difficult for the body to digest. Instead, smoked bream contains 27% proteins that perform construction functions and 4 grams. healthy fats.

Nutritional value, benefits and composition of bream

Smoked bream cannot be called an excellent product for dietary nutrition, but it contains vitamins and minerals that provide certain benefits to the human body:

valuable protein is easily absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract;
essential omega-3 fatty acids are necessary for the health of the heart and blood vessels, skin and hair, nervous and endocrine systems;
fish oil helps eliminate insomnia, improves health and strengthens the immune system;
meat has antibacterial properties;
even a smoked product is considered an excellent source of iodine and phosphorus, which are lacking for a person who consumes little seafood;
chromium, iron, potassium, magnesium and other minerals are needed for normal metabolism.

Bream contains about 9% fat when fresh, which is a fairly small figure.

BJU and calorie content of smoked bream
Parameter	Cold smoking	Hot smoking
Calories	160 kcal	172 kcal
Squirrels	29.7 g	32.8 g
Fats	4.6 g	4.5 g
Carbohydrates	0 g	0 g

What method do you use to smoke bream?

HotCold

However, the harm of a smoked product should also not be forgotten: during hot processing, meat absorbs many carcinogens from the smoke, which are partially retained by the scales. When cold smoking, if the fish is not sufficiently treated with a saline solution or mixture, there is a high risk of preserving harmful substances and microbes.

A high concentration of salt can be dangerous for people with heart disease, high blood pressure, a tendency to edema, diabetes, liver and kidney pathologies. Children and women during pregnancy should not indulge in smoked meats.

Storage conditions

The hot smoked product will retain its beneficial properties for 3 days if stored in the refrigerator.
Additionally, it is wrapped in foil or cling film. In winter, it is possible to store bream on the balcony if the temperature allows. Hot processed product may be frozen. In this case, the nuances of defrosting must be observed, otherwise the structure of the meat will change and the fish will lose its taste.

Smoked bream is prepared quite simply, but it has an original taste and aroma. This product will be an excellent decoration for any table. Choose a suitable recipe or create your own to surprise your loved ones and guests with your culinary skills.

Price

The price of hot smoked bream in Russia depends on a number of factors. So, for example, in the warm season the cost of the product will average up to 300 rubles per kilogram, but in winter it can reach up to 400 rubles per kilogram.

The price is affected by the size of the fish and the quality of its preparation. White bream, for example, are a little cheaper than bream themselves, as well as large carcasses, because they are fatter and their meat is denser, more expensive than small bream.

Now you know how hot smoked bream is prepared at home and on the street, what you need to have on hand to prepare such a dish, how much you will pay today for ready-made smoked specimens. Cook bream yourself and save money; you can smoke this fish in any conditions.

Calorie content and beneficial properties

Smoked bream retains the bulk of useful minerals and vitamins. Their meat contains large amounts of phosphorus, iron, potassium, chromium and chlorine, as well as calcium, nickel and sodium. These elements support the functioning of all body systems.

The calorie content of hot smoked bream is only 140 - 145 kcal per 100 g of finished product, protein - 27 g, fat - 4 g.

It is recommended to eat the meat of this fish if you are at risk of hypertension and stroke, as well as if you are on a diet.

Smoking bream at home is quite simple. The main thing is to strictly follow the technology of salting and processing of carcasses. This will allow them to be disinfected and not harm your health when consumed.

The best quality fish is fresh (live, chilled): it contains a maximum of nutrients and vitamins. If the bream for smoking is not caught with your own hands, it’s worth figuring out how to choose the right fish in the store:

The appearance of the fish is important: carcasses should not be damaged or stained. The scales should fit tightly and shine, should not be dry or slippery to the touch - these are signs of damage;

Bream fishing seasons: March – April, August – October. Bream of the autumn catch, with tender and soft meat, contain up to 9% fat. Small bream have skinny, dry and bony meat. The best bream is considered to be the Azov autumn catch. For uniform smoking, it is advisable to select medium-sized bream.

How to pickle bream for smoking

To salt bream before smoking, you can choose any of the following methods:

rubbing fish with dry salt;
soaking in saline solution.

When dry salting, 1.5 kg of salt is taken per 10 kg of fish. The dry salting method involves sprinkling the gutted carcasses with coarse salt. Salt is thoroughly rubbed under the scales and into the belly of each fish. The carcasses are placed in a container so that the heads and tails alternate; a pressure is placed on top to ensure the removal of excess liquid. The salting time for fish is 12 – 16 hours.

For the second method, when preparing salt brine, it is recommended to use 80 g of salt per liter of water. Salt and, if desired, spices are poured with water, after it is completely dissolved, the resulting solution is poured into the fish and left to salt for 6 - 12 hours.

Then the bream is soaked in running water for half an hour, after which it is dried. If the fish is large, then it is recommended to insert spacers inside the belly to speed up the drying process. Small branches with rounded ends can be used as spacers. After drying, the bream is ready for smoking.

A metal barrel is a universal version of a smokehouse for a summer residence

It is convenient to smoke large bream and other large-format products in a structure made from an ordinary metal barrel. The bottom and lid are cut off to form a hollow cylinder. A lid is needed to close the container during the smoking process, and from the bottom you can make a tray for laying wood chips, reducing its diameter by 15-20 cm.

Tips for a fisherman: How to make a side fishing rod for bream - All the nuances

A metal grid of a suitable size is suspended inside the barrel at a distance of 25-30 cm from the top edge on wire hooks. To make it easier to install and remove the barrel from the fire, you can make through holes at the top rim, into which you can insert metal rods - these will be handles. The rods will also come in handy if there is a need to hang any product on a hook inside the barrel.

In working condition, a barrel smokehouse looks like this: • a small fire is made from small firewood in a designated area; • above it, at a height of 20-25 cm, a pallet is placed on a couple of bricks, onto which moistened wood chips are poured; • a barrel is pushed onto the pallet from above, which also stands on bricks; • Place the fish on the grill and close the lid tightly.

The fire in the fire should be small so that the wood chips do not flare up, but smoke. If during the process of hot smoking bream there is a need to add it, you can pour wood chips directly from above, through the grill with the fish. In the middle of the smoking process, the bream should be turned over. To avoid getting burned, you should wear long sleeves and gloves.

It takes 40-60 minutes for a large hot-smoked bream to be fully cooked; the white bream cooks twice as fast.

As a rule, a mixture of fruit and alder sawdust shows excellent results. If equal proportions are observed, the fish will receive a pleasant golden hue, and the aroma will contain notes of high-quality aged wine. A pinch of pine nut shells or a couple of juniper branches will help add variety to the aromatic palette.

Preparing bream for smoking

For smoking, it is best to take freshly caught fish.
Not large, and not small. Smaller fish will have dry and bony meat. Large bream, although fattier, take longer to cook. Yes, and they become saturated with smoke worse. Medium fish are the best option. Moreover, you need to choose carcasses of approximately the same size for cooking. The approximate weight of bream is 900 grams - 1 kg. The selected fish do not need to be scaled. This will keep the meat juicy. We won't remove the head either. We just take out the gills and gut the bellies. An incision should also be made on the back along the ridge. This is necessary for uniform salting of the fish.

For large carcasses, spacers can be inserted between the abdominal walls before smoking. This way the smoking will occur more evenly.

How to smoke bream in a smokehouse

For one smoking in a small smokehouse, in addition to wood chips, you will need at least a glass of sawdust. They need to be pre-soaked in water so that they do not burn, but give off a lot of hot smoke. Next, the following actions are performed:

the prepared fish is laid out on a wire rack pre-lubricated with vegetable oil, preferably with its back down (if the fish is placed on its “side,” the carcasses will have to be turned over for uniform cooking);
chips are laid in an even layer on the bottom of the smokehouse;
a baking tray is installed to drain the fat along with the grill on which the carcasses are laid out;
The smokehouse is closed with a lid and placed on fire.

Correct placement of fish for hot smoking

How much to smoke bream

It is important that at the beginning of smoking the fire is strong, then wet sawdust is added to the fire and the fish is left in thick smoke. Hot smoked bream in small smokehouses takes a quarter of an hour or more to cook. It is important not to overcook the fish, as otherwise it may turn black. To check the readiness of the bream, it is allowed to slightly open the smokehouse lid. Remove the smoker from the heat after the fish has acquired a beautiful golden hue. If the finished fish has a dull or smoky appearance, rub it with fish oil or sunflower oil. Hot smoked fish prepared independently at home can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than three days. If necessary, the product can be frozen, but the defrosting process must occur at a temperature not exceeding 8°C.

Ready-made hot smoked fish

Let’s take a look: which fish would be best for hot smoking in a smokehouse over a fire?

Serious thermal loads with this technology can destroy the surface layer of the product if the scales are not dense enough. This situation can not only spoil the appearance of the fish, but also significantly worsen its taste. Therefore, it is important to choose fish products with strong scales in advance. Representatives of river fauna are ideal:

Perch.
Bream.
Zander.
Burbot.
Acne.
Asp.
Ide.

Now the second question: sea fish for smoking in a smokehouse and which one is better suited for processing with hot smoke? To make a tasty and high-quality product, just pay attention to the following breeds:

Cod.
Capelin.
Halibut.
Mackerel.
Sea bass.

If you have already baked mackerel with potatoes, then you know the taste of this fish. It is almost universal - it has high taste in any culinary recipes.

A few simple rules

Needless to say, you should only choose a fresh product; any housewife knows this. Frozen fish should have a straight body, without bends. In addition, a few more tips:

It is worth buying fish of approximately the same size.
Before the smoking process, fish carcasses should be cleaned of entrails, washed and salted in an aqueous solution.
Freshly frozen products are defrosted in a container with water, which must be changed when it reaches a temperature of 20°C. Another option is defrosting in air at the same temperature.

For fishermen who regularly fill their home freezer with bream, this question does not arise. As a rule, small bream (200-400 g) are sent to dry, larger fish are used for frying or minced meat for cutlets, and the largest specimens are selected for hot smoking.