Recipes for hot smoked meat in a smokehouse. How to smoke meat in a hot smoked smokehouse

Smoking hams, briskets, sausages, bacon, fish, poultry carcasses and other products gives them a special pleasant smell, improves taste and appearance, and prevents spoilage.

When making smoked meats, products must be exposed to smoke. The easiest way at home is to smoke products in a chimney in the attic, in which special hangers are arranged (to strengthen small hams, brisket, sausages, etc.) and dampers to regulate the intensity of smoke.

A more complex, but more perfect way is to set up a small smokehouse in the attic made of bricks and boards (upholstered with iron from the inside) in the form of a cabinet with a door approximately 1 × 1 m in area and about 2 m high.The smokehouse should adjoin directly to the chimney and be connected to it below (for the entrance of smoke) and above (for the exit of smoke) with two holes with dampers. In such a smokehouse, it is very convenient to place products on the bars, and it is also easy to regulate the correct smoking. A similar type of smokehouse can be installed somewhere in the yard, having arranged a hearth (or a semblance of a stove) below for smoke generation.

The smoking chamber is best made of brick or other non-combustible material; you can use a wicker coated with clay and boards, upholstered with iron from the inside. To distribute smoke more evenly throughout the chamber, an iron sheet is strengthened at a short distance (5-10 cm) from the ceiling. For smoke generation, an iron pan is used, where there are smoldering sawdust, or a small stove is attached to the smokehouse.

If the farm does not have a special smokehouse, you can use two barrels stacked on top of each other for this purpose. In the upper barrel, at a distance of about 10 cm from the edge, transverse crossbars are attached, on which you can put sticks (hangers) with products suspended from them. In the lower barrel, an entrance is made for storing fuel. A hearth of sawdust is kindled on the ground with a small fire made of splinters or by pouring hot coals into a hole at the top of a heap of sawdust. The upper barrel is closed with a lid with a hole (for the passage of smoke) or burlap (for retaining smoke). In this way, you can smoke ham, brisket, loin, etc.

In all cases, regardless of the smoking method, the following conditions must be observed: products to be smoked must be salted in order to avoid spoilage during the smoking process; smoke should be started with the lightest smoke, and then let out more smoke, carefully making sure that the fire is not large.

Deciduous trees are especially good for smoking; other breeds are also suitable, with the exception of resinous ones (spruce, pine, etc.), which give the smoked meats a bitter taste. Do not use raw firewood for smoking.

The best smoking result is obtained when the slow burning - smoldering of the combustible material - is maintained, thereby providing thick, but not hot, smoke. Smell and taste smoked products can be improved by adding juniper branches with berries, mint, etc. to the firewood.

Basically, two types of smoking are used: cold and hot.

Cold smoked products are exposed to smoke at a low temperature (about 20 ° C), but for a relatively long time, as a result of which the smoked meats are well saturated with smoke and lose a lot of moisture. Cold smoked products ( smoked sausage, cold smoked fish, etc.) keep well for a long time.

Hot smoked products are processed with hot smoke for a relatively short time - from one hour to several hours. The duration of smoking depends on the type of product and the method of smoking.

SMOKING LEGS

Salted hams are soaked for 2-3 hours (strongly salted up to 5-6 hours) in fresh water... Then a loop of thick twine is made in the leg of the ham and the ham is hung to dry in a cool room, preferably in a room with a draft. The dried ham is outweighed in the smokehouse.
If the ham is supposed to be boiled, then it is smoked hot, that is, smoke with a temperature of 45-60 ° C for about 12 hours.
The ham is first smoked with a weaker smoke, then the density of the smoke is slightly increased.

For smoke generation, they use firewood folded in a tight pile, covered with a small layer of sawdust on top. Make sure that the fire does not flare up strongly, reducing it by adding wet sawdust. The end of smoking is determined by the appearance of the ham, the surface of which should be yellowish-brownish and well dried. At the end of smoking, the ham is boiled or baked.
The hams intended for long-term storage in a raw smoked form are smoked in cold smoke at a temperature of 20-25 ° C for 2-4 days, after which they are kept hanging for 3-5 weeks in a dry room. During this time, the hams dry out and acquire the taste and smell of raw smoked ham.

The best source of smoke for hams is sawdust, which produces a thick, cold smoke.

JAMBON (HAM)

For making jambone, the most suitable parts are the front and hind legs. Before cooking, carefully remove the bones without affecting the cartilage, since meat spoilage usually begins near the bones. If the bone is not removed, the meat is slightly separated from the bone with a wooden spatula, and the resulting hole is filled with salt.
The meat prepared in this way is salted. This can be done with dry salting and salting in solution.

With dry salting, the meat is rubbed with a mixture of sugar and saltpeter at the rate of 5 g of sugar and 2.5 g of saltpeter per 1 kg of meat. Then the meat is sprinkled with salt (for 1 kg of meat - 60-70 g of salt), put in a tub or wooden trough, covered with a layer of salt on top so that air does not penetrate, and kept for 10-15 days at a temperature of 3-4 ° C.

If salting is done in brine, then the brine is prepared as follows: boil, removing the foam, 10 liters of water together with 1800 g of salt, 30 g of saltpeter, 50 g of sugar.

The finished ham is placed in a tub, pressed down on top with a wooden lattice or board and poured with cold brine. Kept in brine for 6-8 days. Brine concentration can be checked fresh egg: after cooling the brine to 10-15 ° C, an egg is dipped into it. If the egg drowns, the amount of salt is not enough. In this case, add salt until the egg floats to the surface.

The salted ham is removed from the brine and placed in clean cold water. They are kept in water for 2-3 days, while the water is changed several times. After that, the ham is washed well and smoked for 2-3 days at a temperature of 25-30 ° C, until its surface acquires a reddish-brown color.
The finished jambon is rubbed with red pepper, put in a parchment paper bag and hung in a cold, ventilated place.
To smoke jambon, you need to use dry firewood and hardwood shavings (beech, hornbeam, ash, etc.).

SMOKING LAT

The most tender and delicious smoked bacon is obtained from the loin. Salt must be salted before smoking. The fat is separated from the pork carcass the next day after slaughter, when the meat has cooled and shrank.
The fat is cut into regular quadrangular helmets, salted, rubbed with an abundant amount of salt on all sides, and placed in a tub or jar with the skin facing down. Large and empty spaces are filled with scraps of bacon, smaller ones are covered with salt.
After 20 days after salting, the bacon is ready for smoking.

The fat is removed, the salt is scraped off and washed cold water... Smoked for 8-10 days until golden brown.
After smoking, rub each piece with red pepper and garlic if desired.
Store in a dry, cold room.

SMOKING FILLET

Bones are removed from a piece of pork fillet and placed in a digested and cooled brine for two weeks.

For making brine take 5 liters of water, 900 g of salt, 15 g of saltpeter, 25 g of sugar.
After 2 weeks, the fillets are washed with cold water, dried with a towel, tied with twine, dried and smoked until the meat turns brown.

After that, fillets can be stored in a ventilated cold place, wrapped in paper or gauze, hanging.
Shelf life 2-3 months.

SMOKING BREAST ROLL

For the roll, use the brisket of the pork carcass. The meat is freed from the ribs and placed in a digested and chilled brine for two weeks.

To prepare the brine, take 1.25 kg of salt per 5 liters of water.
Then the salted meat is washed with cold water, dried with a towel and spread on the table. Rub the brisket with crushed garlic, sprinkle with black and red pepper and roll it into a roll, which is tied with twine at a frequency of 2-3 cm.
The roll is smoked until it turns brown.
Store it in a cool place. Shelf life is up to 2 months.

SMOKING RABBIT

Having separated the ribs from the carcass, it is cut into four parts: two scapular and two back. Suspended in a draft for 2-4 days. Without this exposure, the rabbit meat after smoking turns out to be harsh. The temperature for such ventilation should not exceed 10 ° C. At colder temperatures, the holding time is increased.
After airing, the meat is immersed in brine.

The prepared brine should cover the whole meat, it is not necessary to boil it. Rabbit meat is kept in brine for two days, 2-3 times during this time, shifting the pieces from bottom to top and vice versa.

Before smoking, taking out the meat from the brine, make up to 5 cuts in each piece with the tip of a knife and put in them a creeper of garlic and cubes of bacon (lxl cm). The meat is saturated with lard and garlic and becomes tender, aromatic. Next, pieces of rabbit meat are placed on a chopping board. They also cover the top with a board and beat it with the butt of an ax to flatten the joints and large bones. Then the finished product will not have the redness that is often found near the bones.

After that, the rabbit meat is placed in a smokehouse. It is better to heat the stove with alder wood. Melt the stove until the meat is hot. After that, the fire is reduced. You don't need a lot of smoke for smoking rabbit meat, so sometimes a large enough hole is left for the smoke to escape. As they dry, the pieces are periodically dipped in brine.

Smoke for 3-4 hours, depending on the strength of the fire. Before the end of smoking, it is advisable to add juniper branches to the fuel - their smoke has strong antimicrobial properties, and the meat less often grows moldy and lasts longer.

To check if the meat is ready, pierce the pieces with a sharp wire pin. If it goes easily, the rabbit meat is ready.
Store smoked rabbit meat in a ventilated area (in the attic) or in a draft under a canopy. In order to preserve the rabbit meat for longer than a month, it is lightly smoked again for 15-20 minutes, adding juniper branches to the fuel.
If mold has formed on the surface of the product, wipe the pieces with a cloth before smoking. After the second smoking, the meat may become tough.

MANUFACTURE OF SMOKED SAUSAGES

Homemade smoked sausage

Home smoked sausages cook only in the cool season. They usually last a long time.

For 10 kg of main raw materials- 4 kg beef meat, 3 kg of pork without fat, 3 kg of hard spine fat, 400 g of salt, 20 g of sugar, 5 g of black and allspice, 5 g of saltpeter (incomplete tablespoon).
The meat freed from coarse tendons, films and visible fat is salted and placed in the cold (at a temperature not higher than 4 ° C) for 4-5 days.

Salted meat is crushed in a meat grinder, thoroughly kneaded, adding saltpeter, sugar, spices, and at the end of kneading, chopped bacon. After distributing the minced meat in the dishes in a layer not thicker than 10 cm, keep it in the cold for 2-3 days, after which the minced meat is tightly stuffed into the small intestines, trying to strongly compact it in the shell and prevent air bubbles under the shell. To get rid of bubbles, the shell is pierced in this place with a needle.

Ready loaves are tightly tied and hung for drying and compaction in a cold room at a temperature not exceeding 5 ° C for 5-7 days. During this time, the minced meat becomes bright red, when pressed, it is not pressed in, the shell is dry and tightly fits the sausage loaf.
After that, the sausage is smoked, if possible, continuously with cold smoke at a temperature of about 20 ° C for 2-3 days. Smoked sausages are placed in a cool dry place, preferably with a temperature of about 10-15 ° C, where they are kept for about 4-6 weeks.

Homemade smoked sausages are prepared without heat treatment of raw materials. Therefore, it is necessary to use immaculately fresh raw materials, especially strictly observe the temperature regimes for salting meat, holding minced meat and sausages, and maintaining the cleanliness of tools and dishes.

Cold smoked smoky sausage

Cold smoked smoky sausage can be prepared from the meat of any animals, including wild ones. The more varied the meat in the minced meat, the tastier the sausage will turn out.

Fresh meat is cut into pieces of 2-3 cm, laid out on a board in a thin layer and kept in a draft for 3 days at a temperature not exceeding 5 ° C. During this period, the pieces are turned over and mixed 2-3 times. If the meat of elk, deer or wild boar is used for sausage, then it is good to add 1/3 of the meat of domestic pig and more spices to it. The meat of wild animals cut into pieces is kept in a draft for longer - up to 7 days.
The aerated meat is passed through a meat grinder 2-3 times. During the first processing, bay leaf and garlic are scrolled through it along with the meat. For 1 kg of meat, 3-4 cloves of garlic and 2 bay leaves of medium size are consumed.

For the second time, the fat is also passed through the meat grinder (50 g of fat per 1 kg of minced meat). The more times you grind the meat and the longer you stir the minced meat, the better the sausage will turn out.
Then the minced meat is placed in a basin and 1 tablespoon is poured for each kilogram of it. potato starch, ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon of caraway seeds, scrape a nutmeg with a knife (1 nut per 10 kg of minced meat).

The addition of pounded ginger is required - for 10 kg 2 teaspoons and 5 percent of the mass of minced bacon, chopped into pieces. Salt is put in no more than 2.5 percent. Instead of water, vodka is poured (0.5 liters per 10 kg of minced meat) - in this case, it will act as a preservative, and then the smoky sausage can be stored for up to two years. It is better not to add onions so that the meat does not oxidize.
The minced meat is thoroughly mixed with your hands until it begins to peel off from your hands (only a layer of fat should remain on them). Now force the minced meat into the intestine as tightly as possible with a mechanical syringe. The ends of the sausages are tied with ordinary thread or thin twine.

In the smokehouse, the loaves or circles of sausage should not touch, otherwise they may stick together. The stove is heated with alder wood, and juniper is added at the end of smoking. First, the sausages must be strongly heated, then with the quiet smoldering of the wood, smoky smoking occurs for a week. You need to constantly monitor the smokehouse, putting firewood or sawdust into the firebox, turning the sausage, hanging from the edges of the chamber to the middle and vice versa.
Readiness is determined as follows: when the sausage has cooled down overnight, squeeze it with your fingers. If the sausage is soft, it is not ready yet. Only an elastic, firm sausage can be considered ready.

Hot smoked sausage

Meat pretreatment and additives are the same as for smoky sausage. Bone broth is added to the minced meat (for 10 kg of minced meat - 1 liter of broth). It is useful to replace part of the broth with vodka (up to 200 ml). Minced meat is pumped into the intestine, but not rigidly, but so that when pressed, the surface of the sausage remains flat. The sausage casing does not need to be punctured.
Smoke intensively for 2 to 3 hours. Make sure that the sausage does not catch fire. At the end of smoking, the heat is reduced and juniper branches are placed.
In the attic in a draft, such a sausage can be stored for six months.

Smoked pork sausage

2 kg of pork must be minced twice, add 50 g of salt, 10 g of sugar, 3 g of black pepper, 4 g of red pepper, 2 tablespoons of starch, a spoonful of crushed coriander, a few cloves of garlic.
All this is carefully mixed, 200 g of broth is added, mixed again, and the intestines are stuffed with the minced meat obtained.
Then they are tied with rings and smoked in hot smoke for 12 hours.
Sausages can be stored for up to 8 months in a cool place.

Fillet sausage

1 kg of pork fillet with small layers of fat is rubbed with a mixture of the following composition: 15 g of salt, 5 g of sugar, 3 g of black pepper, 3 crushed bay leaves, 2 crushed juniper berries.
The cooked meat is kept in a cool place for 24 hours, then dried with a towel, wrapped in cellophane, tied with twine and smoked in cold smoke.
Store the sausage in a cool place.

Dry sausage "Easter"

1 kg of pork, 1 kg of beef to be chopped small pieces, pour in 13 g of salt and put in a cold place for 2 days. Then the meat is passed through a meat grinder twice, add 10 g of sugar, 4 g of food nitrate (optional), 3 g of pepper, 2 g of marjoram, 100 g of alcohol. The mass is stirred.
Chop finely 400 g lard and mixed with minced pork.
Prepared meat is placed in a flat dish with a layer of 10-12 cm and kept for 3 days in a cold place.
Then rectum up to 0.5 m long is stuffed with this minced meat. The ends are tied with twine and hung in a cool ventilated room for 3-4 days.
After that, the sausages are smoked in cold smoke until the casing is wrinkled.
After that, the sausages are kept for 2 months in a cool room. During this time, they mature and acquire a great taste.

Sausages "Hunting"

1 kg pork meat, 0.5 kg of veal is cut into pieces and sprinkled with a mixture of the following composition: 40 g of salt, 10 g of sugar, 2 g of marjoram, half a spoonful of coriander, 3 g of black pepper, 1 g of allspice.
After that, the meat is kept overnight in a cool place, passed through a meat grinder and 2 glasses of broth are added to it. All this is thoroughly mixed and the small intestines are stuffed, which are ligated every 20 cm.
Circles from such small sausages should be smoked in hot smoke, and then boiled for half an hour over low heat.

Sausage "Peasant"

2 kg of pork, 2 kg of boneless beef cut into thin pieces and beat well. Then the meat is cut into small pieces. 600 g of lard is also finely chopped.
The meat and lard are placed in an enamel bowl, 200 g of salt, 15 g of coarsely crushed pepper, a teaspoon of crushed coriander, 6 g of cloves, three glasses of water are added. All this should be mixed well.
Then the dishes are covered and put in a cool place for a day.
After that, the washed intestines are tightly stuffed with cooked meat and smoked with cold smoking.

Semi-smoked sausage "Tallinskaya"

Minced beef is ground in a meat grinder using a grid with a hole diameter of 2-3 mm, bold pork is rolled through a grid with a hole diameter of 5-8 mm. The bacon is crushed into cubes of approximately 4x4x4 mm.
Spices are added to the chopped beef and pork: black pepper, fresh peeled and chopped garlic, ground coriander or caraway seeds, salt, sugar and mix thoroughly, then add the fat and mix all the minced meat again. You can use a 2.5% solution of nitrate (3 ml per 1 kg of sausage) to preserve the red color of the meat and as a preservative.

Using a meat grinder with a nozzle, stuff the prepared sausage casing with minced meat. Loaves are formed with a length of 25-30 cm, tying them at both ends with twine. If small air pockets are formed during filling, the casing is pierced with a needle to release the air.
The tied loaves are kept in a refrigerator at a temperature of 4-8 ° C for 2-4 hours.

After that, the suspended sausage is placed in the oven and processed at a temperature of 90-100 ° C for 30-40 minutes. The end of the process is determined by the reddening of the loaf surface.
Then the sausage is boiled in a kettle or in a saucepan at a temperature of 75-80 ° C until the temperature in the middle of the loaf reaches 70-72 ° C. For this, as a rule, the sausage is boiled for 40-80 minutes: the thicker the loaf, the longer it should be cooked.

Having done all this, the sausage is smoked for 6-8 hours at a temperature of 35-50 ° C.
At the end of the heat treatment, it is advisable to dry the sausage at a temperature of 10-12 ° C for 1-2 days.
For 1 kg of sausage 550 g of beef, 200 g of bold pork, 250 g of bacon, 30 g of salt, 1 g of sugar, 1 g of black pepper, 0.4 g of fresh peeled and minced garlic, 0.25 g ground coriander or cumin.

Smoked goose brisket sausage

Skin is removed from the brisket and two legs of the goose, the meat is taken out and all this is cut into small pieces. The resulting minced meat is mixed with 1 tablespoon of salt, 1/4 clove of garlic and spices (pepper, marjoram, caraway seeds).
Medium pork intestines are stuffed with this mixture and smoked for a day in warm smoke so that the sausages are slightly baked.

Semi-smoked nutria sausage

Nutria meat has a lot in common with rabbit meat in its qualities.
Fresh nutria meat is salted with coarse salt (for 1 kg of meat - 25 g of table salt) and placed in the refrigerator for a day for aging. After that, the meat is passed through a meat grinder equipped with a grid with large holes.
Add 10 g of granulated sugar, 5 g of black pepper, garlic to the minced meat and mix everything well.
The resulting mass is filled with cleaned and well-washed intestines, the ends of which should be tied with a thread.
The sausage loaves are fried in hot smoke for an hour, then boiled over low heat for 90-100 minutes, after which they are smoked again for 12-24 hours.
The finished sausage is stored in a cool place.

Trojan Lucan

The Trojan onion is prepared from boneless pork, hard lard (from the shoulder blade) and brisket in a ratio of 1: 3: 5.
The meat is cut into pieces of 100 g, mixed with 25 g of salt, 1 g of saltpeter and 3 g of sugar (per 1 kg of meat) and placed for a day on an inclined board in a cold room with a temperature of 4 ° C so that water is glass.

Then the meat is passed through a meat grinder with a large grid.
Minced meat is mixed with seasonings: 4 g of ground black pepper, 3 g of crushed caraway seeds, 1 g of crushed allspice, 1 clove of garlic per 1 kg of meat. The minced meat mixed with spices is again passed through a meat grinder with a fine grid.

The next day, beef wide intestines are stuffed with ready-made minced meat, pre-soaked in cold water and cut into pieces 40 cm long. The filled intestines are tied at both ends with a strong thin string, pierced with a needle to remove air trapped in the loaf along with the minced meat.

The Lucanca is hung on a rod and left for 2-3 days in a room with a temperature of 10-12 ° C to allow the water to drain.
Then the onion is smoked in a cold way at a temperature of 14-16 ° C, lighting a fire from raw sawdust for 2-3 days.

Drying at a temperature of 8-12 ° C and a relative humidity of 75-80 percent lasts from 30 to 60 days. At this time, the bow is rolled and pressed so that it dries evenly.
Store the bow in a dry, cool, well-ventilated place. It keeps well if wrapped in paper and placed in a box of water.

SMOKING Poultry

Cold smoked poultry

The carcass of chicken, duck, goose, turkey is thoroughly processed, washed, small feathers (hemp) are removed, cleaned of entrails, cut in half lengthwise and processed.

The carcass is sandwiched between two chopping boards and the butt of an ax is used to flatten bones and joints, release cerebral fluid, and flatten the carcass.
Suspended in a draft for 2-4 days. Without this exposure, the poultry meat after smoking turns out to be harsh. The temperature for such ventilation should not exceed 10 ° C. At colder temperatures, the holding time is increased.
After airing, the carcasses are immersed in brine.

In lukewarm boiled water, per carcass, add 0.5 tablespoon of salt, 2-3 bay leaves, 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic, a few peas of black pepper, 5 ripe dried juniper berries, cinnamon, 0.5 teaspoon of crushed ginger, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons 30 percent vinegar.
The prepared brine should cover the whole poultry meat. It is not necessary to boil the brine.

Poultry carcasses are kept in brine for two days, two or three times during this time, shifting the pieces from bottom to top and vice versa. The more ingredients are put into water, the tastier the poultry meat will be. After the carcasses are removed from the brine, pieces of bacon and cloves of garlic can be put into the lean chicken half-carcasses in shallow cuts, which will give the chicken meat a special flavor. Duck and goose carcasses are not stuffed with pieces of bacon.
Before smoking, pieces of meat are hung up so that they dry out a little, and during smoking, on the contrary, they are periodically dipped in brine.
When smoking, they immediately give maximum heat so that a shiny film forms on the surface of the meat. When the film begins to peel off easily, the meat is considered finished. The half-carcasses of the goose are smoked longer, since its meat is fatter, and excess fat should be melted out. The aroma of smoked poultry is well preserved by the parchment wrapper.
Poultry ribs can be smoked separately, but when smoking, be sure to dip them in brine.

Hot smoked goose and ducks

Geese or ducks are carefully processed, washed, small feathers are removed, rubbed with salt, placed in a deep dish and placed in a cold room for 3-4 days.

Then you need to boil water with spices at the rate of 1 kg of processed goose or duck - 1 liter of water, 100 g of salt, 0.5 g of cloves, 0.5 g of cinnamon, 0.3 g of allspice, 0.2 g of bay leaf, 10 g sugar. Cool boiled water in a sealed container.
Then salted geese or ducks are poured with this broth so that they are covered with brine, stirred to dissolve the salt, and kept in a cold room for 2-3 days.

After that, the bird is removed from the brine and suspended for 3-4 hours to dry. Prepared poultry is placed in a smokehouse for 12-15 hours, and the initial temperature in the oven should be 70-80 ° C, then it should be kept within the range from 50 to 60 ° C.
The geese or ducks are then removed from the oven. If the bird is not ready yet, it is smoked again.
Hot-smoked geese and ducks should be stored in a cold room for no more than six months.

SMOKING FISH

Which fish is preferable to smoke?

There are no categorical recommendations in this matter - it all depends on individual preferences and tastes.
The main types of fish popular for smoking: roach, silver bream, flounder, crucian carp, carp, beluga, rudd, pike perch, salmon, mullet, bream, tench, burbot, perch, sturgeon, halibut, stellate sturgeon, kaluga, sterlet, roach, carp, trout, saury, pike, herring, mackerel, catfish, horse mackerel, sterlet, ram, silver carp, cod, eel, ruff, sabrefish, shemaya, ide and others.

About wood

The best firewoods for smoking are alder and juniper. When harvesting the latter, gently break off only dry branches, besides, raw ones are still not suitable. Just a few branches of this wonderful plant are enough to give the fish a golden color and a unique aroma.

If there is no alder, you can use dry wood of any hard species: oak, hazel, ash, maple, apple, pear, cherry, plum; bark must be removed from birch - it contains tar. In no case should you use pine, spruce, cedar - they have a lot of resin. The wood must be chopped into small chunks or chips of 4-6 cm. When smoking, you can also use sawdust. Chocks, twigs and sawdust are poured into the bottom of the barrel in an even layer. They will begin to smolder and emit smoke as soon as the bottom of the barrel or bucket from the fire made below is calcined.

A few words about the fire itself. When smoking fish, it should be small, but give a lot of heat - you can choose any firewood. Maintaining a steady fire for a long time is an art that is acquired only by one's own experience. But the quality of the cooked smoked fish depends on this experience.

How to prepare fish for smoking?

1) Evisceration

It is most convenient to cut a large fish after gutting into two halves (longitudinally). The fish of average size is subject to ordinary gutting. well and small fish you can, in general, not gut. Scales do not need to be removed.

2) Salting

At this stage, the fish should be rubbed thoroughly with salt. If the dorsal part of the fish is rather thick, then it is recommended to make longitudinal cuts on it and rub salt in there too. The approximate amount of salt is from 3 to 6% of the weight of the fish (large ones take more than small ones).

There are also methods of keeping fish in a container with a saline solution, under oppression.
In addition to salt, some recipes require the processing of fish with all kinds of herbs and spices.
The duration of salting can be different (from 5 to 16 hours), but preferably at least three hours. If, after the end of smoking, traces of salt are visible under the fish scales, then its amount was excessive.

3) Drying

Salted fish should be dried by hanging it for a couple of hours in a well-ventilated place. Residual brine and salt must be removed (for example, you can rinse the fish and then wipe it off with a clean cloth, or simply wipe it off).

Hot smoking

This method has many advantages. It's fast, reliable, simple; the fish is immediately ready to eat. And complex structures are not necessary. There is a metal barrel - fine, no - you can get by with an old bucket, only they must be thoroughly ignited. A prerequisite is well-fitting lids. How to use these containers is clear from the figures. Insert nets, on which fish are placed, are made of annealed steel wire with a diameter of 4-6 mm.

In the barrel, you can place an insert for fish from annealed steel fish on 3-4 nets. wire. The diameter of the wire of the supporting structure is 4-6 mm, the mesh is up to 1.5 mm.

This is how the bucket is placed over the fire.

So, if you are going to smoke in a hot way, small fish are not cut, medium is gutted, large fish are cut into a layer or sidewall - cutting along the spine into two fillets. The cut fish are washed and salted dry. To do this, you need a board or a piece of plywood, coarse salt. Sprinkle salt on the board and fish, rub salt into the carcass, moving it along the table with slight pressure.

The inner surface of the abdomen is rubbed with salt by hand. If the fish has a thick back, a cut is made in it along the ridge, and salt is rubbed into it.

The ambassador of fatty fish (capelin, mackerel, halibut, horse mackerel, catfish, flounder, silver carp, catfish, burbot) is somewhat different from the above. Each fish, rubbed with coarse salt, is wrapped in parchment or tracing paper so that fats do not oxidize. Then the fish is placed in layers in an enamel dish, preferably in trays with a lid. From above, everything is covered with parchment, and the edges are folded over. It is advisable to lay the fish in a small slide, and press the lid down, fixing it with a rope or wire.

Salting fish thawed in cold water lasts a little longer than fresh fish - from 4-6 hours to a day.

Under the influence of salt, proteins coagulate, taste and smell are lost raw fish, its meat is compacted and becomes edible without further culinary processing.

The next operation is the withering of the fish for 40-60 minutes. During this time, its salinity reaches the required 1.5-2%, and the fish is partially dehydrated, as brine, a salt solution, flows down. The fish is tied with a string, hung on hangers and covered from flies with a gauze canopy.

The fish can now be smoked. A mixture of alder or other chicks with the addition of juniper is loaded at the bottom of a bucket or barrel, and fish is placed on metal wire grates in the middle and upper parts of the container, the larger one is placed at the bottom. It is laid loosely in one layer. The harness, made with a harsh twine (do not use synthetics!), Is not removed. A fire is made under the barrel and, if possible, close it with a lid or metal sheet. After 30-60 minutes. (depending on the size of the fish and the smokehouse) the smoke from under the lid becomes dry and takes on a characteristic aroma. The final readiness is determined by the appearance of the fish: golden tea color and dry skin surface. In this case, the smokehouse can only be opened for a very short time, so that the lumps do not ignite due to the access of air.

The temperature inside the barrel is about 80 degrees, with drying, which is about a quarter of the time, and about 100 degrees, with direct smoking. As a result of this process, proteins are coagulated, low-resistant organic compounds are destroyed, some nitrogenous substances are lost together with moisture, fat is melted.

Determining the temperature is simple - just splash water on the lid, if the water does not boil, but simply evaporates, the smoking mode is maintained correctly.

The finished dish cannot be stored for a long time, it must be eaten in 2-3 days.

Cold smokehouse but 100 x 100 or 1 50 x 150 mm. From above it is covered with a board and turf. Below is a pit for a fire. Above - a box for smoking.

Cold smoking

This method is more time consuming. It is necessary to build a special smokehouse, salt the fish longer, and the process itself takes from 2 to 3 days.

The device of the simplest smokehouse is clear from the figure. The optimal length of the inclined chimney should be at least 7-10 m. If there is a cellar on the site, you can use it, no - you will have to arrange an artificial embankment.

Fresh fish is salted for 5 days, thawed - twice as long. Moreover, the fish, laid in trays, are additionally sprinkled with salt. Soaking lasts longer - 4-6 or more hours. After that, the fish is tied and dried for 24 hours. The smoke temperature in the smokehouse should be no more than 35 degrees. After smoking, the fish can be dried for 24 hours - this will increase the shelf life.

When smoked cold, the fish loses a significant part of its moisture and is soaked, as if preserved by smoke from a fire. And one more addition: the more salt in the fish, the lower the temperature should be.

Semi-hot smoking

For him, fish with a salting period of more than a day is suitable, soaking can be carried out "by eye". An ordinary iron stove "potbelly stove" with a pair of additional elbows on the pipe is used as a smokehouse so that the smoke temperature is 50-60 degrees. The blower is covered to ensure smoldering in the firebox, and the fish is hung at some distance from the pipe cut in the zone where the smoke and air are mixed. One daylight hours are enough for smoking. The taste of the fish is somewhat unusual, but appearance and the aroma is closer to hot smoking. This technology is currently not widely used, but it is interesting for its simplicity and great opportunities for experimentation.

Smoke in a simple way

A convenient option to smoke fish directly near the reservoir from which it was caught. Required materials: metal bucket with lid and grate, metal rods or wooden stakes.
Sawdust is poured into the bottom of the bucket. The fish is placed on a wire rack and placed in a bucket. The bucket is closed with a lid and hung over the fire with stakes or rods.

The temperature is adjusted by adding firewood or raking coals, as well as the distance from the fire to the bucket. To make it easier to determine the temperature, you can drip water onto the bucket lid: if the water immediately starts to boil, then the temperature is too high, and if it evaporates without boiling and does not hiss, everything is fine.

At the end of the smoking process, you should wait until the bucket and fish have cooled down, and then dry the fish.
Do not forget that before you smoke river fish, it needs to be salted for at least a few hours.

Hot smoking of meat is the preparation of a product until cooked, using high temperature smoke. This technology allows you to preserve a large number of useful properties and substances in products, including protein, vitamins A and C. Pork, beef, rabbit and other types of meat are used for cooking.

Preliminary preparation

Before the smoking process itself begins, raw materials for it should be prepared. For preliminary preparation the ambassador, soaking, drying is used. The meat intended for processing should not be too fresh, it is left to “mature” for a while, the duration of which depends on the type of raw material. You can determine that it is ready by the pH level, which should not exceed the value of 6.0.

Ambassador is the use of salt, herbs and spices for pretreatment. It can be dry or wet. In the first case, the duration of the process reaches from 2 to 6 weeks. Wet salting involves the use of a cold saline solution. It is much faster than the previous processing method, however, and the shelf life of the finished product will be reduced.

What kind of firewood to take

In order for hot smoking of meat to get the desired result, you should choose the right firewood. It is the chips that greatly affect the taste of the future product. Alder or juniper is considered the best option. In addition, the following types of wood are used:

• pear;
• Birch tree;
• hazel, etc.

Each type of wood gives the smoked meat its own aroma and, accordingly, taste. If desired, you can make prefabricated mixtures using chips of different species. Before starting the process, it is necessary to remove the bark from the branches, which contains a lot of resin. Dry wood chips are used to obtain many smoked products. However, there are recipes in which the wood is pre-moistened. You can throw juniper twigs, almonds, aromatic herbs... Rotten or moldy wood chips are not allowed.

Features of hot smoking

To make hot smoked meat in a smokehouse, wood is evenly laid on its bottom. It is necessary that the chips are approximately the same size. Before you start smoking meat, the room where this will happen is warmed up for half an hour. Raw materials are laid out on grates or hung on hooks. It is important to make sure that the meat pieces do not come into contact with each other, the smoke should go around them from all sides. Properly performed home smoking will allow you to get a variety of products with a pronounced aroma and delicate taste... If you do not follow the cooking technology, then the meat can be bitter, sour and have an unappetizing appearance.

Before starting smoking, it is necessary to dry the raw materials. This is done in the same smokehouse, however, the temperature should not exceed 50 degrees. Drying time depends on the type of raw material and the amount of liquid in it, but usually it is 2-3 hours. If you skip this stage, then the product may burn, the appearance of bitterness in its taste.

After the required temperature is reached in the smokehouse and the raw materials are laid, it should be tightly closed. Oxygen must have no access to the steaming wood chips, otherwise it may catch fire. It is believed that smoking began after the smoke appeared. The process time depends on the type of meat and the size of the pieces. The temperature in the smokehouse is controlled by increasing or decreasing the intensity of the fire. It should be in the range of 100-150 degrees.

To prevent juice from dripping onto coals or wood chips, it is recommended to put foil under the raw material. This will help keep your smokehouse clean without much effort. Carbon deposits and dirt will negatively affect subsequent procedures and the taste of the resulting products. Several pieces of meat are recommended to be interchanged periodically, especially if the hot smoking time is several hours. This is necessary so that the products are baked well from all sides. If desired, you can periodically moisten the raw materials, for which they take not only ordinary water, but also beer.

When cooked, the meat will decrease in size, become soft and tender in taste. The peculiarities of hot smoking are that the product loses a minimum amount of moisture and is soaked in smoke. Because of this, the finished product is not recommended for long-term storage. Hot smoked meat must be consumed within a few days after its preparation.

Add a comment

Fields marked * required. HTML tags are disabled.

Appetizing delicious smoked meat delicacies always popular on festive feasts... A huge assortment of smoked products is presented in markets and supermarkets. However, the quality and price of such delicacies sometimes leaves much to be desired. Therefore, you can always try to cook such dishes yourself. Smoking meat at home is not particularly difficult. The main thing is to choose the right suitable recipe, and decide in which way you will cook - hot or cold.

Preparing meat for smoking

You can smoke absolutely any meat: poultry, beef, veal, pork. But any product must first be prepared. It must be washed, if necessary, remove the veins and excess fat, cut into portions. Then dry it a little with a towel and place in the marinade. It will make the dish tender, salty, and rich in spices. There are many options for its preparation.

To begin with, you can try the simplest: 1 liter of water; 100 g of salt, 2 cloves of crushed garlic, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar, some of your favorite spices to taste (pepper, lavrushka, hops-suneli). Boil and cool all components. Place the meat in the prepared brine.

How much to marinate depends on the type of meat product and the way you smoke. For hot smoking chicken, 1-2 hours are enough, pork - 4 hours, beef - up to 8 hours. With the cold method of cooking, the meat is marinated in a large amount of salt from several days to several weeks.

After pickling, future smoked meats must be dried. To do this, they are hung out in a draft or under a fan so that the glass is extra liquid, and they wither. For the hot method, products can be dried for 1 to 3 hours. With the cold method - at least 24 hours.

If the cooking process takes place in the warm season, you need to make sure that insects do not sit on the meat. To do this, you can make a frame from a mesh and place semi-finished products in it. Or wrap them with gauze soaked in vinegar.

When all the preparation procedures are completed, you can begin the next stage - smoking. There are several methods for preparing smoked meats.

Hot smoked meat in a smokehouse

The hot smoking process is very simple and takes very little time. In the arsenal you need to have a hot smoked smokehouse. You can easily buy it in the store. They come in different sizes, but the principle of their work is the same. It is desirable that the device has a water seal. If you wish, you can build a smokehouse with your own hands.

• The smokehouse should be set on fire. It can be a fire made in a brazier, a gas or electric stove. As a rule, if you have a private yard, smoked meats are cooked over a fire. For fire, you can take wood of any species. This will not affect the quality of the finished product in any way.
• The fire should burn out well and give a strong heat. Since food is cooked quickly with a hot method, they must have time to smoke evenly. The temperature in the smokehouse should be between 90-110⁰С. You can check this by splashing water on the surface of the smokehouse. If the water quickly evaporates from the surface, then the temperature is optimal.
• While the heat is on, you can prepare the smoker. A uniform layer of chips must be laid on its bottom. Better to use fruit wood or alder. Conifers cannot be used, as they have a very specific smell and will give bitterness to dishes.
• A pallet is installed above the sawdust, slightly smaller than the bottom of the smokehouse. It will prevent juice and fat from getting on the chips, and they will not burn in the process.

• A grill for smoking is installed at the top. If the smokehouse is bulky, there may be two grates. The meat is laid out on the grates. If the meat is cut in portions, then the pieces should not be laid out tightly so that the smoke evenly envelops each piece.
• Close the smoker tightly. If there is a water seal, fill it with water. Set the device on fire. Soon (5-6 minutes), smoke will appear from the hole in the lid. The process has begun and the cooking time needs to be timed. The smoking time is individual for each type of meat. Chicken will be ready in 1 hour, pork - 1.5-2 hours, beef will be cooked up to 3 hours. From time to time you can open the lid and check the readiness of the dish.
• When the process comes to an end, take out the smoked meat and let stand in the air until it cools completely. During this time, the meat is ventilated and evenly saturated with a smoked aroma.

If you do not have a country house, you can cook smoked meats without leaving your apartment. To do this, you just need to put on a thin hose on the tube coming out of the lid of the smokehouse and bring it out into the window, hood or ventilation, then the smoke will not enter the room.

This method of smoking is long and requires attention and preparation. But on the other hand, products prepared using this method can be stored for several months. And the taste of the finished delicacy turns out to be more intense.

Cold smoked smokehouses often have a larger volume than hot ones. Since the process takes time, it is better to smoke food in reserve. The meat is laid out on grates or hung by hooks. You can smoke whole carcasses of chicken, duck, rabbit, pork hams and other delicacies.

Smoke processing time depends on the size and weight of the products. For poultry, 48 hours of smoking is enough. Large pork hams are smoked for several days or even weeks. The first 8-10 hours of smoking must be continuous. Therefore, in advance, you need to prepare a large amount of firewood and chips in order to have time to put them during the process. Then you can take breaks for the night. The more breaks, the longer the cooking process.

Cold smoking evaporates excess moisture, dries up the surface of the meat, and the aroma of smoke evenly penetrates inside. At the same time, the fat content is not lost, and the smoked meats remain juicy.

After finishing cooking, the delicacies should dry well. To do this, they are placed in a dry, ventilated, dark room. For such purposes, an attic, closet or storage room is suitable. The room temperature should not exceed + 10⁰. Meat is dried from 7 to 30 days. And only after that it becomes ready for use or storage.

How to store homemade smoked meat

Hot smoked delicacies are not stored for a long time - up to 4 days. To prolong the life of such products, they are wrapped in a cloth cloth dipped in a strong salt solution and placed in a paper bag. In this way, they remain edible for up to 3 weeks.

For longer-term storage, the product can be wrapped in food foil and place in the freezer. You can eat them within a month.

Pork is a high-fat and high-calorie product. They knew how to smoke meat in ancient times, and thus they tried to extend the shelf life of this product. Some believe that after passing heat treatment(hot smoking), a delicacy may lose its beneficial features... The cooks assure that if you follow all the rules of cooking, the meat will become even healthier.

Useful properties of pork meat and lard

Lard - this excludes pork fat deposits, pickled and salted according to an individual recipe. Lard is considered to be no less useful than the meat itself. Therefore, most often these products are used together. Smoking meat is a rather laborious process. It is important in it that the product does not lose its properties.

Properties of lard and meat

Consider the beneficial properties of products:

Negative properties of pork meat

It should be noted that due to its high fat content, smoked meat is not recommended for people with obesity, as well as with cardiovascular diseases. Limiting the intake of such a product is also worth the part of the population who have problems with the liver and pancreas.

You need to understand that everything is good in moderation, and fatty meat can bring the main harm only when consumed in excessive quantities.

Many housewives want to know how to smoke meat at home, and what is the secret of cooking this product. There are over 100 recipes for salting meat and using it with other products. Meat, like lard, can be boiled, smoked and fried, salted in jars with berries and spices. Many recipes tell you how to make an original product from such a product. cold appetizer... The main thing in all these recipes is the beneficial properties of lard.

How to smoke meat at home?

For successful cooking, you must follow a few simple rules:

Cooking hot smoked meat

The process of preparing hot-smoked delicacies does not require much effort. In addition, not so many products are required for this. However, a smokehouse should be available at home. It can be purchased from a specialist store. You will be offered both large and capacious devices, as well as miniature ones. The principle of operation of home smokers is the same. Some people make such devices on their own.

Many beginners are interested in the question of how to properly smoke meat in a home smokehouse. If you decide to cook a treat on the street, then it is better to install the device on a fire. At the same time, wood does not matter at all and on taste qualities will not be affected. In the apartment, the device for smoking meat products can be installed on both a gas and an electric stove.

The main thing is that the heat from the stove or fire is enough to heat the smokehouse to 90-110 degrees.

What does a smokehouse for cooking meat at home consist of?

Hot smoking meat means cooking it using the steam generated inside the smoking appliance. That is why it is better to put fruit wood or alder chips on its bottom - this way the dishes will acquire a pleasant aroma. But it is better to refuse conifers. Otherwise, the product will acquire bitterness and specific taste.

A special pallet is installed above the sawdust, it will not allow fat and juice to get onto the chips. On top of the pallet there is a grate on which meat or other sausages are laid out.

Almost everyone experienced cook knows how to smoke meat in a smokehouse. But the time of its preparation is always individual and depends on many factors. For example, chicken can be tasted within an hour, and pork - after 1.5-2 hours; beef should not be taken out earlier than 3 hours after the start of the cooking process.

It should be noted that when you put the meat in the smokehouse and close the door, after 5-10 minutes a light smoke and a pleasant smoked aroma will appear. The cooking process has begun. The readiness of the meat is checked in any convenient way. Some are pierced or cut, and some are guided by sight.

Do not forget that cooking a smoked delicacy in an apartment environment will require a little more skill than in a country house. Do not forget to lead the pipe from the smokehouse through the window so that smoke and the smell of smoked meat do not accumulate in the apartment.

Cold smoked meat

Cooking such a delicacy requires skill, dexterity and time. Not every housewife knows how to smoke meat in a cold way. However, everyone understands that such a product is stored for a long time.

This type of smoking with smoke should be continuous for the first 10 hours, and then you can take a break for the night. The bird will not be ready earlier than in 48 hours, but Ham can prepare for a week.

During cold smoking, moisture from the meat evaporates gradually. At the same time, the product does not lose its juiciness and fat content.

After that it is necessary to dry well. To do this, it is suspended in a dark room with a temperature of no higher than 10 degrees for 20-30 days. It is necessary to ensure that insects do not sit on the meat at this time, and that the room is clean.

How to store homemade smoked meats

Hot smoked flavors must be eaten within 4 days. Some try to prolong the life of the delicacy by wrapping it in a cloth dipped in a strong saline solution. However, this significantly impairs the taste of the meat. Therefore, it is best to consume a freshly prepared product.

Cold smoked products can be stored for up to two years. The more they are salted, pickled and dried, the longer their shelf life.

Products prepared in any way are stored in the refrigerator, in their own packaging (foil, burlap).

Smoked meat recipe without a smokehouse

You can cook meat at home without a smokehouse. To do this, you need to buy a ready-made solution of liquid smoke, meat (2-3 kg) spices, bay leaves and onion skins.

We boil a liter of water, adding bay leaves, onion peels (for color), spices and 6 tablespoons of liquid smoke to it. The meat must be placed in boiling water, then brought to a boil again and cooked for 1-1.5 hours. After cooking, the product is cooled and hung in a well-ventilated room or outside to dry. Keep refrigerated.

Now everyone knows how to smoke meat at home without a smokehouse and at no special cost.

Everyone likes smoked meat, and there is no shortage of it in modern grocery stores and markets. Everyone can easily pick up some suitable piece, be it beef, pork, poultry or game.

If you have the desire, patience, free time and an intelligent recipe, you can smoke meat with your own hands. You don't need to have any special talents for this. The various ways of how to smoke meat only at first glance seem difficult and time-consuming. As a result, having prepared an appetizing piece of fragrant brisket in this way, you can forever get rid of the thought of buying smoked meat from your head. For now, once you have tasted it, you will always smoke the meat yourself.

A bit of theory

The essence of smoking lies in the effect on the meat of substances found in the smoke. We are talking about dozens of compounds with bactericidal action and antioxidants, which penetrate into the thickness of the product and protect it from early spoilage.

For greater permeability of products that will be smoked, they are pre-salted. As a result of the smoking process, the meat gets a more tender consistency, refined taste and a characteristic "smoked" aroma. In addition, smoked products can be stored longer - the shelf life directly depends on the method of smoking.

In practice, there are two main methods of smoking meat - hot and cold. At home, hot smoking is much more often resorted to as shorter and more convenient in time.

More rare are the following subspecies of the hot method: baking in smoke, semi-hot smoking.

The main differences between all the listed methods of smoking meat:

• temperature conditions;
• time of exposure to smoking smoke on the product.

The relationship between these factors is as follows - the higher the used smoke temperature, the shorter the whole process of smoking meat lasts, which means that the shelf life of the finished smoked meat will be shorter.

Preparation for smoking

What are the smokehouses

In order to cook smoked meat at home with your own hands, you will certainly need a special installation. It can be either a home-made device or an industrially produced smokehouse.

In general, the following types of smokers are found:

• woody;
• coal;
• gas;
• electric.

The best option is by far the wood smokehouse. It "works" on wood chips, wood, due to which the meat acquires a natural powerful aroma.

It is more difficult to use - you need constant control over maintaining the desired temperature level. However, this complexity is more than compensated for by the final result - incredibly tasty and aromatic smoked meat products.

Charcoal smokers are fueled with matching wood chips and special charcoal at the same time

Such coal gives a more stable fire, smolders longer - which gives charcoal smokers some advantage over wood smokers. It is quite possible to make such a structure yourself in the yard or in the country, for example, use a street grill for it.

Even easier to use. With them, you do not need to constantly monitor the temperature. However, the meat in the smokehouse on gas is not as high-quality and tasty as in the first two cases.

Electric smokehouses are made for modern lazy people. With them, you can not follow the cooking progress at all. However, full disclosure of meat taste in such a smokehouse will not work. Moreover, such designs are not cheap.

Fuel selection

A much more important question is how to smoke meat in a smokehouse. The main thing in this whole process is the quality of the smoke. For a great end result, you need the "right" smoke, one that turns a lifeless piece of meat into an amazing delicacy, not just spoil it. It is clear that such a smoke will require a suitable fuel.

Wood (branches, sawdust, shavings) of hardwood is best suited for smoking. These are oak, maple, alder, cherry, ash, mountain ash. These rocks, when heated, emit a small proportion of harmful resins.

Avid smokers prefer to supplement the main species with dry twigs of fruit trees. They bring subtle nuances to the final taste and aroma of the meat. The most popular species are alder with juniper. Smoked meats prepared with their participation are stored for the longest time and are even more aromatic.

Coniferous wood, which contains a lot of resins, is best ignored. Wood boards, painted or varnished boards are absolutely not suitable for smoking.

Ultimately, the choice of the right wood comes down to the individual preferences of the smoker.

Smoking methods

Having dealt with the fuel and the installation, you can already think about the method of smoking.

Cold option

Cold smoking is the processing of products with thin smoke at a relatively low temperatures(20-25 degrees Celsius). The process time depends on the size of the meat carcasses or pieces. As a rule, it lasts from two to four days. For whole carcasses, it can take up to a week.

With this method, there is no need to create a large flame. The wood burned is used exclusively for the production of smoke. Sawdust plus a small amount of wood chips and shavings are most often used.

In the course of the process, moisture from the meat will gradually leave, its surface will begin to dry out. Smoke compounds, which the smoke is rich in, will slowly begin to penetrate into the meat mass.

Cold-cooked meats can be stored for up to three months.

Hot option

Hot smoking of meat is much more suitable for home conditions. With this method, meat is processed not only with smoke, but also with heat. The smoke temperature is between 40-60 degrees. Cooking time from an hour to 12 hours, sometimes up to two days.

Depending on the type of meat product, smoking is carried out with different smoke temperatures: from 40 degrees for brisket, half-smoked sausage to 100 degrees for poultry, hams.

The main advantage of this method is the cooking speed. It also determines the main drawback - too short shelf life. Hot smoked meat becomes cooked too quickly - only a small amount of moisture has time to come out of it. The maximum shelf life for this delicacy is three days.

At the same time, the meat, which has lost an insignificant amount of moisture, manages to be well saturated with fat. That is why hot smoked meat products have such excellent taste, juicy, delicate texture, attractive smell. That is why this method of smoking is especially popular among amateurs and professionals.

Selection and preparation of meat

Any meat can be smoked perfectly. Traditionally, it is customary to use the harder parts of the carcass for this purpose. In the course of unhurried cooking, fats and connective tissues will gradually collapse - while the meat will become soft and tender.

Classic parts of smoked meat carcasses:

• beef - ham, brisket, ribs, shoulder blade, tongue
• pork - brisket, ham, fillet, ribs, legs, head, tails, ears, tongue, bacon;
• lamb - saddle, shoulder blade, back.

For future juiciness and rich taste, meat should be pre-treated with standard processing before smoking: pickle, pickle, grate with spices, dry slightly

For salting, you need to prepare a special brine for smoking meat. Ham, poultry or ham should be soaked there for at least two days. For different parts carcasses use different salting: dry, wet. You need to salt in a cool, dark room. At home - use a refrigerator. Salting will give the product a specific taste, which will only intensify during smoking, and ideal salinity.

Marinating or rubbing with spices is used for specific parts of the carcass - brisket, ribs. Pickle recipes can be very diverse.

Before starting smoking, it is important not to forget to bring the meat cuts to room temperature... This will allow them to smoke evenly.

How to smoke properly

So, the home smokehouse has been purchased, the instructions for it have been read, chips and shavings are prepared, the meat is salted and is looking forward to its time, what to do next?

First you need to estimate the time - how much to smoke. It must be determined based on the technical characteristics of the smokehouse, the type and size of a piece of meat, a well-chosen recipe

A well-marinated brisket can be smoked in an average of 4–6 hours, fillet balyk is smoked for 6 hours, carefully salted pork - 4 hours. In general, smoking recipes are very diverse, so you should carefully read and fully understand them in order to properly plan your efforts and time.

Meat in home smokers is usually placed on a wire rack or tray. It is not necessary to wrap it with thermal paper or foil - the smoke should easily reach it. Meat pieces should not be exposed to direct heat.

In the process of cooking, the brisket or ribs can be poured with special mixtures of water, vinegar and spices.

The temperature indicated in the recipe should be controlled using a special culinary thermometer. Determining the optimal temperature inherent for each type of meat is especially important, since there are simply no other accurate ways to determine readiness.

Visually, readiness is determined by the color of the meat piece. Ideally, its surface should have a red-brown or golden crust, while being dry, elastic and shiny.

Pink rings that form in its thickness during smoking can also help to understand whether the meat is ready. To do this, you need to cut a piece - the presence of rings will indicate a successful outcome of smoking.

Meat products hot smoking, as a result, they are excellently saturated with fat, become juicy. They can be used boiled for soups and various main courses.