Smoking is a method of heat treatment of fish, which improves its taste and increases shelf life. However, not everyone can cook fish so that it becomes a real delicacy.
Preparing fish for smoking
It is believed that almost any fish can be smoked. It should be fresh, or at least fresh frozen. You can smoke both small and large fish. Fish of the same size and type should be loaded into the smokehouse, then it will smoke evenly. Fish of the carp family must be gutted before smoking. Zander and pike weighing up to 1 kg do not need to be gutted. All large fish weighing more than 2 kg are always gutted and sometimes plastered.
Before smoking, the fish must be salted. With dry salting, the fish is placed in a container in layers, each layer of fish is sprinkled with salt. Large fatty fish are rubbed with salt and wrapped in a plastic bag. The salting time depends on the size of the fish. Large fish should be salted from 8 to 14 hours, and small - from 2 to 6 hours. Remove excess salt with a dry cloth before smoking.
In order for the fish to acquire an additional aroma during smoking, greens such as celery, parsley or onions can be placed under the gills and in the ripped abdomen.
Hot smoking process
For smoking, you need to choose wood that, when heated, emits a minimum amount of harmful resins. Alder is best suited for hot smoking, very often the wood of fruit trees is also used: apple, cherry, pear. Some gourmets add a twig of juniper or oak.
On sale you can find collapsible and stationary smokehouses, they are made of food grade stainless steel. Small-sized smokehouses are usually equipped with a pallet. It is installed to collect dripping fat.
Sawdust is poured into the bottom of the smokehouse. If the smoking process proceeds correctly, then the wood does not ignite, but smolders. The heating temperature of the bottom of the smokehouse should be 300-350 degrees, and in the smoking chamber the temperature should not be higher than 120 degrees. During the smoking process, it is necessary to maintain a small, even fire. It is necessary to ensure that the smoker is tightly closed, if a gap has formed between the lid and the side of the smoker, then several bricks can be put on the lid. The smoking time depends on the size of the fish.
