Smoked pork is a great delicacy. It is known for its excellent palatability and high nutritional value. Perhaps that is why pork in recent years is increasingly trying to process it in this way.
Processing Secrets
People learned to smoke meat products a long time ago. This processing method gives the finished product an original taste and significantly extends its shelf life. This is due to the fact that as a result of prolonged high-temperature exposure, the initial product gradually loses some of the moisture, which in itself is a unique environment for the development of various bacteria. Pig meat is best suited for this. Delicate and soft, in the process of heat treatment it retains its basic characteristics, acquiring only an additional aroma and unique taste.
Depending on the nature of the temperature effect, three types of smoking are distinguished:
- cold
- hotter;
- fast (baking).
Each of them has its own special technological modes. According to them, smoked pork can be cooked in a few hours or days. Everything will depend on the selected processing method and the amount of the original product. It is interesting that after this smoked pork can continue to be used for cooking a wide variety of dishes, adding its own flavor to them.
Smoked meat
Everyone is accustomed to getting a smoked product only by prolonged exposure to high temperature. However, there are other options. For example, you can make wonderful uncooked smoked meat. And it will take quite a bit of time. For work, it is better to take pork. She has very delicate muscle tissue and a fairly large amount of intermuscular fat. It is this kind of meat that is needed for smoking. The following source products will be required:
- for 1 kilogram of pork 3 cloves of garlic, 15-20 grams of salt, 3 grams of ground pepper and a teaspoon of fragrant seasonings.
Everything is done very simply:
- Rinse the meat, dry it with a napkin and remove all bones from it.
- Stuff the prepared product with slices of garlic.
- Combine the spices with salt and pour part of the resulting mixture to the bottom of the plastic container.
- Put the meat in it.
- Sprinkle the pork with the remaining mixture.
- Cover with a lid, put the container in the refrigerator for 12 hours. During this time, the meat can be turned over a couple of times for uniform salting.
- Take out the pork and remove the juice that has formed from the surface with a napkin, then wrap it in a cloth and leave it in the refrigerator for another 10 hours.
- Then the meat should be a little dried. To do this, you need to hold it for 8 hours in an ordinary electric smokehouse.
The finished product can be served immediately. Smoked pork in this way is very tender and flavorful. In addition, this method is relatively fast and does not require special labor. With its help, you can process a sufficient amount of raw materials.
Soaking smoked
The most popular smoked pork recipe includes the stage of pre-soaking the main product in a specially prepared marinade. In this way, you can even cook meat with streaks of viscous fat. The result will be simply amazing. For work you will need:
- 5 kilograms of fresh pork head of garlic, 5 liters of plain water, black peppercorns, 250 grams of table salt, bay leaf and black pepper.
The process technology consists of several stages:
- First you need to prepare the brine. To do this, boil the water, and then cool it and add pepper and salt and bay leaf.
- Cut the pork into pieces. It is better if their length does not exceed 30 centimeters.
- Put the meat in an enameled pan.
- Pour it with cooked brine so that the liquid covers each piece.
- Keep the container in the refrigerator for 5 days.
- Rub the processed meat with pepper and garlic (it must first be squeezed out through a press), bandaged with a dense thread and hung on a hook in the smokehouse.
After 4 hours, the product will be available. Eat such pork only after it has completely cooled naturally.
Hot Smoked Technique
There is another way by which it turns out no less tasty smoked pork. At home, it is used quite often. This method is especially convenient if it is necessary to immediately process a sufficiently large piece of meat. In this case, it does not even matter whether it is hard or soft. The following ingredients will be required:
- 2.5 kilograms of pork, salt, garlic head and black pepper.
Cooking method:
- Wash and dry the meat so that no excess moisture remains on its surface.
- After making several punctures with a sharp knife, stuff the product with garlic.
- Grate it with salt and pepper, and then wrap tightly in foil and leave in a cool place for 24 hours.
- Prepare a smokehouse for work. Its bottom should be sprinkled with a layer of special wood chips or sawdust. It is better if they are from fruit trees or alder. This will give the meat an extra flavor.
- Set the wire rack and put on it a piece of prepared pork.
- Close the lid tightly and set the smokehouse over the fire.
In just 2 hours, the meat will be ready. But 30 minutes before the end, you can check it by piercing it in several places with a knife.
Smoked recipes
The one who thinks that smoked products can be eaten exclusively in kind is mistaken. A skilled culinary specialist will easily prepare many interesting and tasty dishes from them. For example, smoked pork meat can be stewed with potatoes. It will turn out to be a great option for a mouth-watering and quite hearty dinner. To work, you will need:
- 0.5 kilograms of smoked meat, 1 kilogram of potatoes, salt, 200 grams of onions, ground pepper, 1 can (500 grams) of tomatoes in their own juice, vegetable oil and some greens.
The whole procedure does not take much time:
- First, the products need to be chopped: cut the potatoes and meat into cubes, and simply chop the onions arbitrarily.
- To work, you need a deep pan. It is advisable that it be non-stick.
- In a pan, fry the onions, adding a little vegetable oil.
- Add the meat and let the foods warm up together.
- Fill potatoes and topping ½ cup water, simmer for 10 minutes.
- Mash the tomatoes with a fork and add them to the pan with juice. Simmer for another 5-10 minutes.
The finished dish can immediately be laid out on plates and served to the table, sprinkled with plenty of herbs.
Technique to help
From a photo of smoked pork it is not always possible to guess exactly how it was cooked. For example, many do not even suspect that you can even make it in an ordinary multicooker. For cooking, you need a minimum of components:
- 300 grams of pork tenderloin 3 grams of black pepper and 5 grams of plain salt.
The following are a few simple steps:
- Divide the meat into pieces with a thickness of not more than 1 centimeter.
- Rinse them with cold water and then rub with pepper and salt.
- Wrap each piece in foil.
- Fill blanks in the multicooker bowl and close the lid tightly.
- Turn on the device and set the “Baking” mode on its panel.
Literally after 40-45 minutes, the device can be turned off. But the meat should lie down for a few more minutes. Then you can get it and eat with appetite, while enjoying the wonderful aroma. Even the youngest and inexperienced housewife will cope with such a dish.
Cooked smoking
Many people think that the perfect appetizer is boiled-smoked pork. Recipes with photos always help to better understand how to proceed in order to prepare such a product. Experts advise using:
- 2 kilograms of pork (brisket) one and a half heads of garlic, 70 grams of smoked sausage, 4 tablespoons of salt and peel of onion, ground pepper (red and black), 12 grams of natural honey, 2 tablespoons of grain mustard and coriander, a few leaves laurel and 120 grams of fresh parsley.
To cook boiled-smoked brisket, you must:
- Rinse the meat and dry thoroughly using a towel or napkins.
- Stuff it with peeled garlic cloves.
- Put greens, peppers, husks and bay leaves in a pan.
- To send meat there too. In this case, the skin on it should be on top.
- Add the sausage.
- Pour the contents with cooled boiled water. Products must be covered completely.
- Put the pot on the stove and turn on the fire.
- After boiling, add honey and salt to the pan and stir well.
- Make the flame smaller and cook foods for about an hour and a half.
- Separately, prepare a mixture of crushed garlic, coriander, mustard and pepper.
- Remove the meat and grate the cooked mass, and then wrap it in a cloth or foil and put it under the press.
- After complete cooling, place the product in the refrigerator for a day.
After the specified time, the original smoked brisket can be taken out and cut into thin slices, served as a snack.