Those who want to cook cold smoked fish with their own hands at home can use numerous step-by-step recipes with photos or come up with their own technology. The main requirement is compliance with the hygienic safety standards of the process.
Fish is a very capricious and quickly perishable food product. It is very important for those who want to cook cold smoked fish at home to be aware of this. The product must be properly prepared for smoking - thoroughly cleaned and rinsed, salted, and then smoked well and stored under appropriate conditions. In addition, you need to know which types of fish can be cold smoked and which should only be processed in a hot smokehouse.
What fish can be cold smoked
Hot and cold smoking technologies differ from each other. Accordingly, each methodology is applicable to certain types of fish. Experts recommend cold processing the following types:
- mackerel,
- chum,
- herring,
- salmon.
From river fish for cold smoking, fatty varieties with large carcasses are optimal.
It is important to understand that the process will take a long time, will require constant attention, and the fish must first be properly salted and prepared.
Basic rules for preparing fish raw materials for cold smoking
In step-by-step recipes for preparing fish for cold smoking at home, professionals call it raw material. GOSTs and TUs, compliance with which is necessary to create an initial product that is safe for health, put forward the following requirements:
- you can smoke freshly caught, thawed or pre-chilled fish,
- before putting it into the smoking chamber, the raw material must be washed and thoroughly dried,
- the process must be constantly monitored, monitoring the temperature of burning firewood and the temperature in the chamber for processing fish.
When removing entrails from fish, it is important to thoroughly clean the carcass from everything that can provoke damage to the product - scales, films. Before salting, the carcasses are recommended to be rinsed under a running stream of clean water.
If the fish has been frozen, then it must be thawed in conditions as close to natural as possible - under running water, the temperature of which is no more than 20˚ C. Before salting, the chilled fish must be kept at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
Another very important requirement is that for all types of fish, before salting for subsequent cold smoking, it is better to remove the gills, since they accumulate the remnants of its food, which during storage can trigger the activation of the decay process.
Cold smoked fish can be salted in two ways - dry and wet. And in one, and in another case, before placing in the smokehouse, the carcasses are thoroughly washed. You can marinate the fish, but the best option, which guarantees an excellent result, is salting.
A simple recipe for wet salted fish for cold smoking
The salt concentration in the brine for pretreatment of fish raw materials for cold smoking should be at least 10% of the total water volume. That is, it is necessary to adhere to the following proportions - for 10 liters of water you need at least 1 kg of salt.
Salt is poured with hot boiled water, the brine is cooled to room temperature before placing raw materials in it. In addition to salt, you can and even need to put spices in the saline solution - garlic, chopped herbs, zest, lemon juice or whole lemon, but pierced in several places with a toothpick made of wood. It is important to choose the right herbs - coriander, rosemary, basil, mint, tarragon, thyme are suitable for fish.
With wet salting, the carcass of the fish should be completely covered with brine. If the raw material floats, you can put light oppression. The duration of the salting should not be less than 5 days - only this period will allow the raw material to be thoroughly salted, and then fully absorb the aromatic smoke in the smokehouse.
You can marinate the fish before cold smoking. The recipe for making a pickling solution is simple - dissolve 0.5 kg of salt in 2 liters of hot water, add a bottle of white wine, 2 tablespoons of sugar, garlic, lemon and herbs. The process of marinating fish lasts 4 days.
Step-by-step classic recipe for dry salting fish for cold smoking
For dry salting of fish, followed by its cold smoking, you will need a box or basket made of wood, a clean dense textile fabric (fabric) made of natural fibers, the best option is cotton or satin. Experts recommend using baskets, since there are cracks in their walls and bottom. Through them the juice formed when salting fish for cold smoking will come out - this is very important, since the product must remain as dry as possible.
At the bottom of the container, it is necessary to lay a cloth and lay out an even layer of coarse salt 1-2 cm thick. Prepared fish carcasses are spread on the salt - clean, dry, belly up.
Coarse salt should be around the carcasses, inside them (in the open abdomen). You can add spices - dried herbs, garlic. The salt should cover the top layer of the fish, like a blanket at least 3 cm thick.
In addition, it is necessary to lightly press down the fish in salt in order to exclude the formation of air "pockets" that provoke decay processes, bacteria and microbes can multiply in them.
The process of dry salting of fish before smoking should last at least 5 days. After the required time has elapsed, the fish is washed, thoroughly dried and smoked.
Cold smoking fish technology
Smoking is a way of preserving foodstuffs to extend their shelf life. It is the cold method that is optimal for fish. The smoke emitted by certain types of wood burning has antiseptic properties. It is recommended to use cherry, walnut, apple or oak firewood. It is not worth using birch, since its structure, especially in the bark, contains a large amount of tar, which will make the fish dark and bitter.
Cold smoking of fish is a longer process than hot smoking. Products should be soaked in aromatic smoke for several days, depending on the size of the carcasses and the type of fish. The temperature regime must be monitored constantly. It will take patience, but the original product is well worth it.
In the chamber where the fish carcasses are suspended, the temperature should not be lower than 18˚C and not higher than 30˚C. A low temperature will cause the product to dry out, and at high rates, the fish will cook. To make it easier to maintain the temperature balance in the smoking chamber, you can mix logs and chips. At the end of smoking, on the last day, you can add aromatic twigs of berry bushes, spices - bay leaves, juniper fruits, coriander to the combustion chamber.
How to store cold smoked fish
Cold smoked fish has a much longer shelf life than hot smoked fish. The shelf life of the second does not exceed 5 days, and the first - up to 60 days, but only following certain rules:
- constant temperature regime,
- exclusion of contact with other food products,
- optimum air humidity - from 75 to 90%.
If cold smoked fish is placed in the freezer, then it must be wrapped in foil or cling film. The product will last longer in foil, and its taste will remain excellent.
When storing smoked fish in the pantry in winter, it is necessary to ensure the proper level of humidity in the room so that the carcasses do not dry out. The air supply (ventilation) must also be constant.
