If you are a fan of
smoked fish, then do not rush to go to the market for the next batch. Products on the shelves are not always distinguished by freshness and compliance with manufacturing technology. To try guaranteed fresh and tasty fish, you just need to know how to smoke fish at home. It’s not at all difficult. Consider the most popular recipes.
Cold Smoked Mackerel
To make fragrant mackerel at home, you will need the following ingredients:
- fresh mackerel, 2 pcs;
- liquid smoke, 100 ml;
- onion husks, 2-3 handfuls;
- bay leaf, 2 pieces;
- sugar;
- salt.
Knowing
how to smoke fish at home, you can get wonderful fragrant mackerel from these ingredients. So, onion husk must be thoroughly washed and filled with water. Add sugar and salt, leave to boil. The broth should boil about 20 minutes. Then it is necessary to strain it, add liquid smoke, bay leaf and leave it with a tight closed lid for half an hour, so that the broth is infused. After the specified time, we take out the
bay leaf and put the prepared mackerel into a pan.
The fish in the marinade should be cooled at room temperature, and then sent to cool in the refrigerator for two days. It should be remembered that mackerel should be periodically turned over to evenly distribute the marinade. In two days, an appetizing and tasty fish is ready.
How to smoke fish at home?
The previous version was a simplified version of cooking smoked mackerel, the so-called. cold smoked fish at home. However, if you are a fan of hot smoked, this is not an obstacle to cooking such fish at home. You only need to build a smokehouse, the basis of which can serve as a metal barrel. In addition, smoking is not possible without sawdust. Experienced craftsmen who know how to smoke fish at home, are advised to use any sawdust except conifers, since aromatic resin stands out from them. The best option is sawdust from birch or alder. You can use any fish for such smoking, to your taste. So, hot smoking at home suggests the presence of the following ingredients:
- fish;
- sawdust;
- seasoning for pickling fish;
- salt;
- allspice;
- Bay leaf.
So, the fish must be thoroughly cleaned and marinated in advance in seasoning. Pour sawdust into the smokehouse and mark the fish on a special grill. Small fish can be smoked whole without gutting. Large can be pre-stuffed with spicy herbs. A fire is built under the smokehouse and the temperature is closely monitored. So, first the fish should be dried at a low temperature, and then smoked directly. The temperature in the smokehouse is easy enough to check - you need to drop water on the lid. If it boils, it means that the heat is large and it is worth lowering the temperature a little. The smoking process can take from 40 minutes to several hours, depending on the size of the fish and heat in the smokehouse. At first, you will need to remove the fish and try it periodically, but then, when you already remember well how to smoke fish at home, everything will become much easier and faster.
Enjoy your meal!