Salmon smoking. Smoking salmon at home

Many people like hot smoking. At home, cooking does not take much time. This ensures a high temperature of 60 ° C. Hot smoked salmon has a loose structure, like boiled meat.

Hot smoking is easy to arrange in the country or on a hike. It is enough to equip a brazier or a bucket - this will be a smoking chamber where fish carcasses will be located. Kindle a fire under the chamber, and put wood chips on the bottom of it. You can make it yourself or buy ready-made.

For self-cooking, you need to prepare wooden blanks of fruit or berry trees. You can add more than one breed. Do not take birch and coniferous varieties - this will spoil the taste. Some professionals have been able to tame these breeds, but for the average layman, this is a difficult process.

Smoked salmon turns out juicy and tasty if the carcass is not cut, but smoked as a whole. You can remove the head and the contents of the abdomen. In principle, this option is better than the first one, since the intestines can cause the meat to taste bitter.

After the meat is cooked, you need to decide what product you want to end up with: salty or fresh. For salty, you will have to make a marinade. By the way, some marinade replaces the entire smoking process. The main ingredient is liquid smoke. Perhaps a good solution, but the taste is still different.

Marinade

The easiest marinade is dry. Grate with salt, seasoning for fish, wrap in foil and leave in a cool place for half a day. For a more interesting taste, add brown sugar to salt at the rate of 1 part sugar to 5 parts salt.
Wet method: dissolve sugar and salt in a minimum amount of water. Do not be zealous, all the salt and sugar should not dissolve. Grind black peppercorns, bay leaf and dried dill until a powder is obtained. Add to the solution and pour over the fish. Rub well with the resulting mixture, put in a container and cover with cling film. After a day, the process is completed and the dish is ready for eating or smoking.

Salmon goes well with basil, garlic, different types peppers, lemon, rosemary, fennel and any greens. Perhaps your favorite seasoning will also work, try adding it to a small piece of fish. If you like it, you can cook according to your author's recipe. If you already have it, then share it in the comments.

To proceed with smoking, dry the marinated salmon meat in a well-ventilated area, or wipe it with napkins.

After that, you can safely proceed to the main process. Put wood chips on the bottom of the chamber: alder, juniper, pear, apple, cherry - take it to your taste. You can add one fruit or a handful of berries. Watch the wood chips during smoking, they should not burn, but only smolder a little and give off high-quality smoke.

Lubricate the marinated and gutted fish with oil (preferably olive oil), put a lemon in the abdomen (it is possible without it) and put it on the wire rack.

You need to cook directly in the chamber for about 15 minutes on fire, and then keep the same amount in hot, but without fire. Smoked salmon is ready to eat, but it is better to wait another day, while drying the finished fish. After all the manipulations, the fish distributes the aroma and taste evenly and you can enjoy this delicacy.

Cold smoked salmon has a slightly oily texture. Its meat does not fall apart, and sometimes it seems raw. This meat is quite expensive, but home-cooked smoked salmon is valued higher and the cost is lower.

Cold smoking is achieved by low temperatures. 4O°C is the highest temperature for the cold method. To obtain such a temperature, the chamber and the hearth are separated and a chimney is let in between them. It is important to release the first smoke. This design is inconvenient to use on a hike, in order for cold-smoked salmon to cook, you need to wait from a day to a week.

To make smoked salmon tasty, you need to marinate it. You can use any kind of salting and add various spices. Drying is important for the cold method. It is best to spend her day, but at the same time, make sure that the flies do not become addicted to your semi-finished product.

When smoking, you need to maintain the right smoke: its constant flow and uniformity. If smoke comes in, then no - the fish will be smoked unevenly. Uniformity also affects the taste, as the smoke from the wood chips gives flavor notes.

Storage

Smoked salmon meat should be stored in a cool place. Better in the refrigerator on the central shelves, closer to the back wall.

Cold smoking disinfects the meat, so it is stored for about a month, while hot smoking is best consumed immediately. Or at least a week later.

Energy value of smoked salmon

Now many people are watching their diet and kbzhu - that's right. Previously, only calories were counted, but scientists have proven that the ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates is more important.

Smoked salmon has 21 grams of protein, 8 grams of fat, but no carbohydrates. I would like to say about the fat in salmon: it has an exclusive value for our body, especially for women. Omega 3 and 6 help to stay beautiful and young for a long time.

A very large number of macro- and microelements, and simple vitamins. It is prescribed for old people to maintain their tone, as well as for those who need high-quality animal protein. Smoked salmon is cancer prevention.

Smoked salmon is low in calories - 160 kcal. That allows you to call it a dietary product. Indeed, even doctors advise eating it a little.

Of course, smoking makes its own adjustments. It has been proven that it has a bad effect on our body, but it is allowed in reasonable quantities, especially since so many pluses are described above.

I look forward to your comments on this topic. Perhaps you have interesting recipes or tips for smokers. Enjoy your meal.

There is an option - smoking!

There are two ways of smoking: hot and cold. The latter takes a long time. You need to smoke for a long time, because the temperature of the smoke in the smoking chamber should not exceed 20-25 degrees Celsius, otherwise it will be hot smoking.

The advantages of the cold method are that after such processing the product can be stored up to six months in the refrigerator. What can not be said about hot: here the shelf life under the same conditions is 3-4 days, but the cooking process takes an average of only 2 hours.

What shall we smoke?

You can smoke meat, fish, poultry, vegetables and mushrooms. This time we will smoke salmon, or rather, chinook salmon.

Chinook is one of the largest representatives of the salmon family, and among the Pacific - the largest. By weight, it can reach 64 kilograms, but on average - about 12 kilograms. It is distinguished by the most delicate meat from orange to deep red, which is a bit like sockeye salmon meat. Outwardly, it resembles another representative of the Pacific salmon - coho salmon. Chinook is quite rare on the shelves of central Russia, so you need to beware of fakes, chinook is always more expensive than coho salmon and is never sold chilled, like any other wild Pacific salmon!

Training

The set of ingredients is quite small: fish weighing 2-3 kg, threads, salt and spices (I used paprika, dried bell pepper and Provence herbs, you can add something of your own, but try not to add strong-smelling spices - they can kill the smell of fish). We will need threads for tying the fish, they must be natural - cotton, linen, jute, etc., no nylon and acrylic, unless you want to eat plastic. The fish is sold already gutted and most often without a head, exceptions are possible, but closer to the place of catch. Residents of the Far East may be lucky enough to get chilled chinook salmon.

Cutting and tying

Although the fish is already gutted, you still have to tinker. It is necessary to mill the salmon, i.e. remove the spinal and costal bones.

They can be fed to animals or set aside for a tasty ear. I used only the belly part, the tail is not meaty, while the main piece is cooked - the tail will dry out a long time ago.

When the fillet is ready, we rub it with a mixture of salt and spices, wait 10 minutes until the meat is slightly salted, and start dressing.

The dressing is needed so that the two pieces of fillet do not fall apart during cooking. One piece can also be used, but then you need to be careful, because the fish can be cooked before the sawdust begins to emit enough smoke for smoking, especially if the sawdust is not dry enough.

Putting fish in the smokehouse

Smokehouses can be of various designs and volumes, but their main device is the same: a sealed container, a grate for the product (sometimes there are hooks) and a pallet where sawdust is poured. Most often they use alder, these are the ones that come with new smokehouses, but you can smoke on sawdust from fruit trees: apple, cherry, plum, etc., then the aroma will be even richer. In general, the choice of sawdust is a separate field for experiments.

We pour sawdust into the pan, put a grate with fish on top, close the lid and put it on fire.

It will be necessary to turn the fish during cooking to avoid excessive soot buildup on the underside. The smoking time depends on the intensity of the fire and the mass of the fish, on average it will be, as mentioned above, about 2 hours.

After this time, you can safely remove the smokehouse from the fire and finally try what happened.

When hot, the meat will be a bit like boiled, and the smell will not be so pronounced. But if you let the chinook cool, that's when the real flavor of smoked salmon comes out!

Enjoy your meal!

Smoking fish at home is an exciting and enjoyable experience. Prepared in a natural way, using spicy herbs, the fish will never be compared with store-bought delicacies. Especially if it's smoked salmon.

Composition, useful properties, calorie content of smoked salmon

In addition to excellent taste and appetizing aroma, salmon is considered a very healthy and dietary product. It contains a large amount of vitamins D, A, E, C, PP and groups B. Also, salmon meat is rich in phosphorus, calcium, and iron.

Omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants contained in fish, a rich vitamin and mineral composition have a positive effect on the functioning of vital human organs.

The product is saturated with protein, well absorbed, gives the body energy. The calorie content of the product is relatively low, although salmon is a fatty variety. Therefore, it can be used by people who monitor their health and figure.

100 g smoked salmon contains:

Proteins - 22.0 g.
Fat - 12.0 g.
There are no carbohydrates.
Calorie content is 196 kcal.

The recipe for hot smoked salmon is very simple and does not require special skills and efforts. Before smoking, the fish must be washed, dried with a napkin and marinade prepared. Marinade recipe for 1 kg salmon fillet (with skin):

Coarse salt - 2 tbsp. spoons.
Brown sugar - 2 tbsp. spoons.
Water - 1 l.
Ground black pepper, lavrushka, dill seeds - to taste.

Dissolve salt, sugar in cool boiled water (as far as possible), add spices.

Pour the marinade over the fillets to cover the fish completely. Place in refrigerator for 24 hours.

After, remove the fillet from the brine and dry slightly with a paper towel. You can start digging.

You will need:

A simple mini smokehouse.
Chips from alder, oak or any fruit trees - 100 g (three small handfuls).
Tea with bergamot flavor - 1 teaspoon.
5-6 juniper berries.
1 cube of refined sugar.

Cooking:

Place the chips on the bottom of the smokehouse in an even layer. Put tea, juniper and sugar on top. The spices will give a piquancy, and the sugar will give a nice color.

Attach the grease tray. Brush the fish a little olive oil, put on the grate for smoking products.

Close the smoker lid and put on fire. It can be like a gas burner, an electric stove or a bonfire.

After the appearance of the first haze, smoke the fillets for 40 minutes over low heat. In this case, the temperature in the smokehouse should be from 80 to 90 ° C.

At the end of the process, let the salmon cool directly in the smokehouse. Of course, you can immediately start tasting, but it is better to let the fish lie down in the refrigerator for 7-8 hours. Then the dish will have a more pronounced and rich taste.

For cold smoking, you can use fish fillet, and if the volume of the smokehouse allows, cook the whole carcasses. If several carcasses are smoked, it is better that they are approximately the same in weight.

Before the process, the fish must be salted. To do this, a solution is made: add 200 g of salt to 1.5 liters of water, boil and cool.

Wash salmon, put in a bowl, pour brine. Spices and spices can be omitted, as the taste of the dish will turn out to be saturated. Salt in a cool place for two days.

After, get out of the brine, rinse under running water. Hang in a ventilated, dark place. Let the fish dry for 12 hours.

The fish is smoked with cold smoke at a temperature of 22-26⁰С. It will take 18-20 hours to smoke steaks or small fillets. If large whole carcasses are cooked, the fish will be ready in two days.

For smoking it is necessary to use chips of fruit trees or alder. During smoking, it is not advisable to stop the process. Salmon should be smoked continuously, at the right temperature, with evenly distributed smoke.

After completion, the fish is kept in a dry, ventilated area for one day. And only after that the dish will reveal its real taste of smoked meat.

Enjoy your meal!

Article rating:

Cold-smoked salmon is an amazingly tasty fish that we usually buy already prepared in the store. What if you smoke your own salmon? How to smoke salmon without a smoker!

Preparation description:

Many of you, I think, have repeatedly tried smoked salmon from supermarkets. Delicious, isn't it? I once challenged myself: to smoke salmon with my own hands at home is no worse, without having a smokehouse or any other special devices.
I studied theoretical questions, tried it - it worked!
Now I never buy smoked salmon in the store - I only make it myself. Try this cold-smoked salmon recipe too - I'm sure that once you try it, you will stop buying this product in the store.

Ingredients:

Salmon fillet - 1 Kilogram
Salt - 1/2 Cup
Sugar - 1/4 Cup
Liquid smoke - 6 Art. spoons
Water - 1/2 Cup
Water - 1/2 Cup

Servings: 20

How to cook Cold Smoked Salmon

1) Rinse the salmon fillet, pat dry with paper towels.
Sprinkle generously with salt and sugar on both sides.

2) Put the salmon in a suitable dish and refrigerate for 12-18 hours.

3) Then thoroughly rinse the salmon from spices under running water.

4) Pat dry with paper towel.

5) Mix liquid smoke and water.

6) Put the salmon fillet in a suitable dish, pour over the mixture liquid smoke and water. The liquid does not have to completely cover the fish, because. from time to time the fish will need to be turned over.
Keep in the refrigerator for 6-8 hours.

7) After this time, remove the fish from the liquid, dry it with a paper towel. Put on a wire rack and leave at room temperature for 6-8 hours so that the fillet is covered with a small crust and reaches the desired condition.

Cold smoked salmon is ready.
Can be sliced and served.

Fragrant freshly smoked salmon at home - sounds delicious, doesn't it? Homemade smoking is an exciting activity available to everyone. It is enough to start, as thoughts of further experiments with ingredients and flavors arise. Fresh smoked fish is incomparable to the one sold in the store. She has a clean, beautiful color. On the palate it is delicate, saturated with the smell of smoke. Exist various options cooking smoked fish. At the same time, various types of marine life are used, up to exotic options.

There are many options for smoking fish at home. You can cook smoked products in a saucepan or in a wok. But it is most convenient to use a smoker. A single principle finds application: sawdust is heated, they begin to smoke. The fish are placed above them on the grill. It is affected by hot fragrant smoke.

Preparing salmon for smoking

Salmon is not a cheap fish. That is why it is necessary to carefully approach the choice of the basis for a smoked product. By the way, if you look for smoked salmon, you will surely notice that its cost is more expensive than that of fresh fish. Self-preparation of a delicacy makes it possible to save money. Also in favor of this option is the absolute safety of the product, its naturalness. It is free from harmful ingredients.

For smoking, it is desirable to select not frozen, but fresh fish. Such a product can be recognized by the soft pink shade of the pulp. You can take whole fish. Also used are steaks or salmon backbone, if desired.

The taste of fresh fish is rich. That's why there is no need for herbs and spices with an intense taste. It is enough to take only salt. Take coarse salt and rub the salmon generously on all sides. Before this, of course, do not forget to clean the fish and wash it. After the salmon has been treated with salt, it is wrapped in foil and sent to the cold for 5 hours.

You can keep it in the refrigerator. As soon as this period passes, the fish is washed under water and dried. The basis for a smoked dish is left in the air for one hour. After this mandatory procedure, you can start smoking. If you want to spice up smoked salmon then add some black pepper or your favorite herbs.

marinade for smoked salmon

The easiest marinade option is dry mix. She was mentioned above. Sometimes chefs recommend adding a little brown sugar to this marinade for a more interesting taste. You can use 1 part sugar to 5 parts salt.

Wet way. It involves dissolving sugar and salt in a small amount of water. You should not make too much effort, because the dissolution of salt and sugar is not necessary. Take bay leaf, black peppercorns, dried dill. These herbs must be ground to a powder. After this, the spices are added to the solution and the fish is poured with the mixture. The fillet should be properly rubbed with the resulting mixture, then transferred to a container and covered with cling film. A day later, the process can be considered complete. So, the fish can be sent to the smokehouse.

What seasonings go well with salmon:

basil;
garlic;
various types of peppers;
rosemary;
lemon;
fennel.

All these spices are optional, because salmon, as mentioned above, already has a rich taste. But if you like it, then no one will forbid you to cook the product according to your own author's recipe. Maybe you have a favorite condiment. You can also add it to a small piece of fish and see the result.

Before proceeding to smoking, marinated salmon meat must be dried in a well-ventilated area. If there is no time to wait, it is enough to wipe the fish with napkins from excess moisture.

How to smoke salmon?

Hot smoked salmon

Hot smoking is the easiest and most affordable. You will need a stationary or portable smokehouse. You will also need to stock up on firewood and the fish itself, necessary for smoking. First, a fire is lit. Do not achieve too intense flame. Let the fire be constant but moderate. A handful of alder chips or chips from fruit trees are poured onto the bottom of the oil lamp. Spread the fish on the grate, close the damper and put the smokehouse on the fire.

The optimum smoking temperature is at 90 degrees. To measure it, just sprinkle water on the smokehouse. If it does not hiss, but quickly evaporates, then everything is fine.

After 35 minutes of this treatment, the fish can be considered ready. The smokehouse must be removed from the fire, the salmon must be taken out, let it cool for at least 20 minutes. After this, you can safely serve the fish to the table.

hot smoked recipe

salmon (fillet) -1–2 pieces weighing 900–1000 gr each
maple syrup - 2-3 tbsp. l. or to taste
brown sugar - 1 tbsp. l.
coarse salt without iodine 2 tbsp. l.
ground black pepper - half a teaspoon
ground allspice - half a teaspoon
ground laurel leaf - 1 tsp.
ground cloves - half a teaspoon

Smoke Ingredients:

Dried juniper berries 15-20 pieces
Strong black tea of any kind 1 teaspoon without a slide
Refined sugar 1-2 pieces

This is a hot smoked salmon recipe for true gourmets. But you will have to work a lot if you really want to get delicious fish. Salmon fillet with skin is washed under running water and dried with paper towels. Rub the fish with a mixture of the above spices and put on cling film. Wrap the salmon in it so that there are no holes. Thanks to this, the juice formed during the smoking process remains inside and does not flow out.

Salmon wrapped in cling film is placed in any deep container and pressed down with oppression. If you don't have the right item, you can simply cover the fish with another glass bowl on top. It is also not worth pressing hard, otherwise the fish will lose its shape and become dry and crumbly in structure. Put the bowl of fish in the refrigerator for 6 hours. It's okay if you had no time to watch the fish and you overexposed it in the cold. But still, it is advisable not to leave it in the refrigerator for more than 12 hours. Salmon marinated in the range from 6 to 12 hours is even tastier.

Remove the bowl of salmon from the refrigerator, unwrap it with great care, and pour the fish juice into the bowl. Rinse the fish fillets under tap water and pat dry. Do not pour juice. Transfer the fish to this juice again and leave for 2 hours in this form. Flip the salmon from time to time to one side or the other. So the product marinates better.

Remove fish fillets from juice and pat dry with paper towels. Place an iron grate over the bowl and place the salmon on it. It's good if you have a chef's brush available. Dip the maple syrup into it. As soon as the fish is ready, it is transferred to the wire rack.

As for the sawdust, if it is too dry, it is advisable to soak it a little in water. It is better to spray them with a small amount of liquid. This is necessary as the sawdust does not need to be completely wet. They should not burn, as happens with dry firewood. Wood chips that are too wet will not produce smoke at all. The above smoke ingredients will need to be added to the sawdust before smoking begins. You can wrap wood chips with juniper berries and other ingredients in a foil envelope and poke a few holes with a knife so that smoke can come out of them. This option is good for a homemade smokehouse.

Hot smoking takes place under standard conditions, which were described earlier. As an additional tip, it would be recommended to hold events in a well-ventilated area if you are not smoking outside. Sawdust from trees such as alder, apple, aspen, plum, cherry, birch, walnut have proven themselves well. Sawdust should be without bark, because it contains tar.

A set of spices is never fundamental. Each person chooses those seasonings that he likes. The main condition is that they are suitable for fish dishes. Basically, in the world it is customary to use rosemary, sage, mint. Wetting the sawdust, by the way, protects the finished fish from a bitter aftertaste.

Cold smoked salmon

What are the secrets of delicious cold smoked fish? First of all, during cold smoking, the processing of a fish product occurs at a temperature of 25 degrees. The quality of the finished product directly depends on the knowledge of the stages of the process. The method is good if you want to extend the shelf life of fish and prepare it for future use.

Salmon is ideal for cold smoking. This fish is often smoked balyk parts. In no case should the smoking temperature exceed 30 degrees. Violation of these conditions will lead to an increase in the content of carcinogens hazardous to health. It will also affect the taste of salmon, as it will become dry and lose valuable fats.

Cold smoking salmon involves 2 salting methods: dry and wet. For smoking, you can use a professional home smoker or a unit assembled by yourself. Pre-treatment of the product precedes any smoking. The fish is cleaned and salted. Gently clean the insides, including caviar and milk. What does it look like? The knife blade is sharpened and an incision is made with its narrow side in the pharynx between the pectoral fins. The length of the incision should be no more than 3 cm and end 1 cm before the gill line. The wide side of the blade then pry the insides and pull through the incision.

After that, they move on to the gill entrails. They need to be removed not individually, but as a whole. They should retire with the shoulder girdle. This method bleeds the fish, which improves its presentation. At the end of smoking, there are no bloody smudges left on the carcass, which protrude if the gills are not well removed. You can leave the large scales, and remove the small ones. After smoking, the peeled carcasses acquire a uniform golden color.

The process of smoking itself goes like this.

First, you need to stock up on fuel so that it is enough for 8 hours of smoking. Without this, it will not be possible to maintain smoke for enough time. During this period, a break in smoking is unacceptable. While working with a fire, it is necessary to periodically monitor it so that it does not give an intense flame. Otherwise, your fish will be smoked not in a cold, but in a hot way. Medium-sized fish is smoked for 4 days. For small specimens, the mass of which does not exceed 500 g, 2 days is enough. Large individuals do require up to 1 week. At the end of the process, the fish is not removed from the crossbars, but left to hang and dry for a while. You can keep it for about 2 days. The fish will acquire an even shade and rich taste.

Algorithm:

sawdust is loaded into the fuel compartment;
put the fish in the smoke cabinet;
connect power;
set the temperature to 28 degrees if it is an automatic smokehouse.

Smoking in an automatic smokehouse lasts a day. All this time you do not have to be around. Sawdust is loaded at the set time intervals cyclically.

How to make a smokehouse yourself?

It is very convenient to smoke fish in the open air. If you are near a river, look for a steep slope. Dig a hole here. At the top, arrange a tunnel for the chimney. Place a container without a bottom near the chimney. This must be done on the surface. Hang the fish inside the specified container and proceed to prepare the fire. The smoke from it should pass to the pipe with the fish. To provide smoke, wet alder branches are thrown up. Smoking lasts from 7 to 15 hours, depending on the size of the fish.