Smoking is one of the most delicious and popular ways of cooking fish. The benefits of smoked meats from store shelves are a big question, but smoking in home smokehouses is another matter. Even if you don’t have the skills, you can cook fish yourself, so if you decide to get down to business, it’s important to take a responsible approach to choosing a product and follow the processing technology.
How long does smoked fish last?
Smoking is not only a way to give fish a characteristic taste and aroma, but also to preserve the product for some time. At the same time, the shelf life is directly affected by the method of preparation, packaging, conditions (humidity, temperature, air access) and the type of smoked fish.
Thus, the cold method produces a shelf-stable product, since it is well saturated with smoke and salt. You can store it for up to 10 days in the refrigerator, but certain types of fish spoil earlier and with careful processing, for example, mackerel, horse mackerel. Low temperature conditions and vacuum packaging facilitate long-term storage of up to 30 days, and at -18ﹾC fish can be stored for 60 days.
A product prepared by hot smoking is perishable and can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than 2-3 days; for a frozen product, the period increases to a month.
How to store smoked fish?
Hot smoked fish cannot be stored in the refrigerator for a long time. The maximum storage time is no more than four days, after which the product must be disposed of.
Cold smoked fish can be stored much longer. In the refrigerator, fish can remain fresh for a long time by wrapping the carcasses in gauze or other thin cloth.
You can use canvas bags for storage and store the carcasses in this form in the cellar or attic. The use of dry sawdust for storage can also have a beneficial effect on the duration of the storage process of the finished product.
Note! Smoking fish using any of the presented methods is not so difficult, but an exciting activity, which will subsequently allow you to enjoy a wonderful fish delicacy without containing nitrates. The most important thing in the smoking process is to observe your own safety measures.
The best types of fish for smoking
Almost any fish, both sea and freshwater, can be smoked, and the final result will be significantly affected by the fat content of the product, the structure of the pulp, the elasticity of the skin, as well as the dimensions of the carcasses. Smoking methods are fundamentally different, which also needs to be taken into account when deciding which fish would be best to smoke.
For cold smoking
You can choose river or sea fish; it is better if it is fattier, then the flesh will be more tender. The processing process takes a lot of time from several hours to 5 days. The larger the carcasses, the longer they will be smoked, so it is advisable to choose small or medium-sized fish, and chop large ones.
Sea creatures are best suited for cold smoking; the most popular are salmon, chum salmon, pink salmon, salmon, mackerel, herring, and mullet, although with the right approach to smoking, river species also work well.
For hot smoking
For hot cooking, fatty fish with a thick skin that does not allow the carcass to fall apart is well suited (during the processing process, the meat becomes looser, and the skin holds its shape). The carcass inevitably loses fat during smoking, so fatty varieties will be more juicy. Bream, ide, asp, burbot, perch, and pike perch are good fish. For the hot cooking method, not only river fish, but also sea fish are suitable; mackerel, which is characterized by sufficient fat content, is ideal in this regard.
Regardless of the method used, it is best to choose fresh fish. In the absence of this, a chilled or frozen product is also suitable, but it is important to determine the quality and freshness of the carcasses. You need to pay attention to the smell, appearance and evaluate the condition of the fish, and then purchase or refrain from purchasing.
The fish should defrost naturally; you should not resort to using a microwave or other methods of accelerated defrosting, since these actions will negatively affect the structure of the fibers, and subsequently the smoking result.
You can smoke carcasses correctly by choosing fish of the same type and size. Only then can you count on uniform salting and smoking.
Traveling recipes: hot smoked fish
There is a huge advantage in camp cooking: liberation, complete freedom in movements and decisions. You can smoke, scatter and spray as much as you like without any damage to the interior. Moreover, some culinary techniques can only be done outdoors. For example, smoking. One of the most delicious options for preparing fish. If grayling has just been pulled out of the river, and the smokehouse has been waiting for its “exit” in the car for a long time, we will not hesitate. Let's light a fire on the shore and create hot smoked fish. A culinary masterpiece is guaranteed! There are many options for smokehouses. This recipe uses a box smoker with two grates and a drip tray.
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Ingredients for 1 bookmark:
• 3-4 grayling, 300-400 g each (small lenkas are also perfect); • salt to taste.
We gut the graylings and remove the gills. There is no need to remove scales; they retain the juice inside the fish. Rub the carcasses inside and out with salt. Leave to salt for half an hour.
During this time we make a fire. We collect thin dry willow twigs - they will give us the desired smoke. You can use wood shavings or sawdust. However, planing a thick branch takes longer than collecting what the willow itself is ready to give. Why willow, you ask? Because its smoke does not taste bitter, like coniferous smoke. Willow bushes are easy to find; they grow almost everywhere along river banks. If desired, you can use twigs or sawdust from other species suitable for smoking.
Fire burns? Begin. Place the broken branches on the bottom of the smokehouse.
We install one of the grates, the one with low legs. We place a tray on it to collect fat. Now it’s the turn of the second lattice with long legs.
By the way, about the pallet. You can, of course, do without it by installing the main grill (which is for fish) immediately above the branches. But in this case, fat and juice will drip down onto the smoking coals and burn. And the fish will come out with a bitter taste.
We place our graylings and lenoks on the grill.
We install a smokehouse stand over the fire. In our case, it was this special grille. It is inserted into a campfire stake.
Close the smokehouse with a lid and put it on fire.
We keep the entire structure on an even, moderate flame for 15-20 minutes. At some point, smoke will come out from under the lid: our willow branches have smoldered and smoking has begun.
Towards completion, the process must be controlled by removing the smokehouse from the heat and opening the lid. The finished fish should have a pleasant brown-smoky color and look delicious.
Preparing fish for smoking
Preparatory work includes several stages, and the next important step will be the mandatory pre-processing of the product. So, before the smoking procedure, you will need to cut and salt the fish.
Cleaning and cutting fish
Preparing fish for hot and cold smoking differs insignificantly. So, the first thing you need to do is sort the product by size, clean and gut it.
It is enough to wash small fish well, there is no need to gut it, medium-sized carcasses are freed from the entrails and gills, the head can be left, large fish are gutted and decapitated. Large carcasses are rarely smoked whole; they are usually prepared for cutting - they are cut crosswise into steaks or along the backbone to obtain fillets.
Methods of smoking fish
Smoking involves treating fish carcasses with smoke. Smoke has the ability to penetrate deeply into the fibers, thereby disinfecting all their layers, i.e. smoke has the properties of a reliable natural antiseptic.
In addition, smoke treatment allows you to obtain a beautiful, aromatic and very tasty home-smoked product. Active smoking is ensured by the slow smoldering of wood chips and sawdust of certain types.
How can you smoke fish?
Hot smoking;
Cold smoking;
Semi-hot smoking.
To generate hot smoke, you need to prepare a special, hermetically sealed container (pan, bucket, steel box or barrel, etc.).
Also, this container should be provided with a grid on which the product is laid out. The main requirement for a hot smoked smoking container is its chemically resistant internal coating. Not a single harmful compound should be released into the product.
Of course, the best solution would be to buy a factory-made smokehouse - a convenient hermetically sealed container for smoking food. It is equipped with a grill and a tight-fitting lid, which allows you to smoke fish directly in the kitchen.
The process of smoking fish in a smokehouse
There are two main methods: hot and cold. They are fundamentally different, and therefore different smokehouses are used for each. We will look at how to smoke fish correctly using both methods.
At what temperature should you smoke fish?
When hot smoking, the fish is processed with smoke at a temperature of about 100ﹾC, it can vary in the range of 80-120ﹾC, depending on the specific method, but in any case, the hot method involves maintaining a high temperature in the chamber.
Cold smoking is carried out at low temperatures of about 20-30ﹾC, no more. This is the main difference between processing methods, which also determines the cooking time.
How long does it take to smoke fish?
The time of the procedure depends on several factors, and first of all it is the method of preparation. Hot smoking is done quickly, but cold smoking is a long process that can last for several days.
Which fish to choose for smoking?
Before you start choosing a fish product for smoking, you should decide which method will be used for processing - cold or hot.
Hot smoking will be to your liking:
- herring;
- eel;
- mackerel;
- bream;
- cod;
- sturgeon;
- burbot;
- beluga;
- zander;
- herring;
- asp;
- sea and river perch;
- ide;
- red mullet
You can cold smoke:
- whitefish;
- mullet;
- beluga;
- chum salmon;
- sturgeon;
- cod;
- omul;
- sockeye salmon;
- pike;
- all cyprinids - carp, crucian carp, roach, ram, roach;
- perch;
- pike perch;
- burbot;
- mackerel;
- soma;
- salmon;
- pollock;
- trout;
- pink salmon;
- salmon
Let's celebrate! As can be seen from the description, there are a lot of types of fish for smoking by any method, therefore, you can please absolutely any gourmet.
Preparing fish for smoking
Regardless of the method chosen, the fish must be prepared. The best option for smoking is freshly caught fish. If the fish has been stored in the refrigerator (freezer) for some time without processing, the meat may become saturated with toxic substances.
The fish carcass must be cut up in advance. If there is no need to smoke the entire product, then some part can be frozen, but be sure to cut it up and gut it.
If you need to smoke a pre-frozen product, then you need to defrost the fish only naturally.
Before cooking the fish:
- sorted by size;
- cleaned and gutted;
- salted out.
These are the main stages of preparing any type and size of fish.
Any type of fish is sprinkled with coarse salt (you can even use sea salt) and placed under pressure, followed by storage in a cool, dry place. Large fish are salted for at least two weeks, and small fish - about eight hours.
After the fish is salted, the liquid formed during the salting process (brine) is drained, the salted fish carcasses are washed in cold water and only then soaked in clean water for two hours. After soaking, the fish should be dried in the wind.
Many smokers additionally marinate the fish and believe that this marinade can give the fish a wonderful rich taste.
To prepare the marinade you will need:
- water - one liter;
- salt - five tablespoons;
- garlic - three chopped cloves;
- cilantro, thyme, ginger - half a teaspoon each.
Note! All ingredients are mixed and boiled over a fire for at least half an hour. After the marinade has cooled, you can marinate fish carcasses in it.
How long does it take to smoke fish?
With the hot processing method, the average procedure time for small fish is no more than half an hour; larger fish need a little more time - about three hours.
When choosing the cold processing method, small fish will be processed within 24 hours, larger fish will take up to four days.
But to a greater extent, the following factors influence the time of heat treatment with smoke:
- type of fish;
- carcass size;
- fat content of meat;
- the size of the smokehouse itself.
How to choose wood for smoking?
For smoking, only dry wood is used in the form of sawdust or wood chips of certain wood species. When burned, wet wood chips will release carcinogenic resin and tar, which will settle on the smoking fish.
When choosing wood chips, it does not matter whether it is hot or cold smoking.
The best materials for smoking will be wood chips:
- apple;
- pear;
- cherry;
- apricot;
- nutty;
- alder;
- willow;
- beech;
- rowan;
- poplar.
Note! The best way is to mix alder chips and sawdust from fruit trees. This will give the finished product a unique shade of gold and add some winey, spicy notes to the taste.
How to cook smoked fish at home without a smokehouse
There is another cooking method that involves the use of liquid smoke. So, smoking fish can be done at home without a smokehouse, although by and large, this is not really smoking.
Liquid smoke can be purchased in stores or prepared independently, which requires burning wood and passing the emitted smoke through a pipe directed into water. When the smoke is collected, the water is filtered to rid it of combustion products that could get in with the smoke. The pieces are soaked in liquid smoke for 4 hours, after which they are fried on a grill or grill.
Smoking, regardless of the method, is not a complicated process and can be done by anyone, but one must strictly adhere to the technology and observe safety measures.
Secrets of delicious smoking
Experiment, complement existing recipes to get a tasty, aromatic and nutritious dish
- Spices. Black and allspice, cloves, cardamom, fennel seeds, mint and peppermint, bay leaf, cumin, coriander. All these flavors are either added to the brine or placed on top of the wood chips.
- Do not add too much sawdust or wood chips. 2-3 handfuls per bookmark is enough.
- Add 1 tbsp to the wood chips. l. granulated sugar. The smoke will be sticky and viscous and will be better absorbed into the meat flesh.
- Each preparation is exclusive. At home there are no special timers, everything is done by eye, approximately. Therefore, check the readiness of the fish every half hour.
