One of the oldest and most proven ways to preserve foods for a long time is smoking. It appeared during that period of human development, when fire became its constant companion. Now smoked foods are not vital and harmoniously fit into everyday diet.
Traditional home smoking is much less common than before. A significant share of the products is obtained by accelerated technologies, processing not only the smoke of wood, but also chemical preparations. Smoked meat and lard obtained according to classic recipes are less and less appearing on store shelves, although they are the most popular. High labor intensity, low product yield and long cooking time are the main reasons why smoking at home is rarely used undeservedly.
Smoked meat delicacies are stored for a long time and contain less cholesterol than contribute to maintaining a healthy diet. The unique taste and aroma of smoked meats can be obtained only during the processing of cold or hot smoke. Chemical additives sold on the market (liquid smoke, etc.) do not withstand competition with real smoking and can harm the body with frequent use. Processed meat and fish products by such means do not pass sufficient heat, therefore, they are a favorable environment for the development of pathogenic bacteria.
Home smoked
There are processes of cold and hot smoking, the varieties of which are used in everyday life and in a number of small industries. Cold smoking is the aging of the prepared product (pickled and salted) in smoke at a low temperature (20-30 ° C) for a long time (from one day to seven days). During this time, the meat loses moisture, but retains fat, soaked in natural flavors and preservatives.
Hot smoking occurs at a higher temperature and lasts from 20-30 minutes to several hours. The higher the smoking temperature, the faster the product reaches readiness. The process of hot smoking occurs at a temperature of from 55 to 110 ° C and above.
Product selection
It is advisable to take smoked meat with streaks of fat so that the resulting pieces are less rigid and dry. It is recommended that salo be cut off from the carcass the day after the slaughter, when it managed to tighten and cool.
Poultry meat should be bought only fresh, and not in the form of a frozen carcass, since the applied bird feed can give the finished product an unpleasant odor. The fish is cooked whole or in large pieces previously rewound with twine. Her smoking lasts longer compared to a similarly sized piece of meat, since the dense scales prevent the penetration of smoke.
On how to properly marinate meat for smoking, see the video:
- Smoke machines are stationary and portable. In home cooking processes, smokehouses are often arranged in lofts and chimneys. Modern devices have a diverse design and can be equipped with an electric heating element or work from a gas burner.
- When smoking, small chips are used, not ordinary firewood, which does not provide the required amount of smoke for a long time.
The quality of smoked meat depends on the parameters of wood chips - taste, aroma, degree of hardness, the presence of fat and water.
The existing diverse materials raises numerous disputes about the appropriateness of using wood sawdust of one or another breed. The choice of wood chips for smoking is no less important than the quality of the smoked product, because the taste and aroma of cooked smoked products depend on the composition of the smoke.
What kind of sawdust is needed for smoking?
Wood chips are rectangular or square pieces of wood that have a length of no more than 2-3 cm. Wood chips are harvested in industrial plants that produce materials of various sizes. To achieve the specified size, sawdust is sieved through a set of automatic sieves and divided into fractions. Chips can also be used in the form of thin elongated bends, which are suitable for most household smokehouses.
There are two main methods for harvesting wood chips for do-it-yourself smoking:
- the use of shavings and fragments that remain after harvesting firewood. The smallest sawdust is not suitable, but you can pick up the remaining larger pieces of wood - chips that occur during cross cutting and cutting. Such pieces have an irregular shape, but are suitable for prolonged decay and smoke;
- collection of scraps of small twigs left after landscaping the garden. They must be thoroughly dried before use so that the heat generated is less spent on the evaporation of residual moisture.
Note: during smoking in sawdust, a low temperature should be maintained, which allows to reduce the content of decomposition products. If smoke formation occurs at chips temperatures above 350 ºС (during combustion), a significant amount of harmful compounds gets into the smoke.
Larger chips burn longer than small ones and emit a uniform amount of smoke throughout the process. Depending on the original wood species, the appearance, aroma and taste of the resulting smoked meats can vary significantly.
Which chips to use?
Chips of alder and oak give smoked meat brown or dark yellow color. Such wood is often used to make lard, which acquires an appetizing dark brown hue from the outside. Alder smoke is most clean and provides the right gloss on the top of the smoked product. Mixing slivers of different trees, which makes it possible to give smoked products the necessary color and taste, is no exception.
The golden color of the products is provided by mahogany, as well as the common maple, hornbeam, linden and beech. Beech wood chips have a weak effect on the taste of the resulting product. It is often used for smoking cheeses and fish, giving them a specific appearance and smoky aroma.
The wood of fruit trees gives smoked products a light fruity smell and is used for smoking cheese and meat. Due to the specific smell, the chips of fruit trees are used for cooking meat at home. The distribution of this wood on an industrial scale is hindered by only a limited number of fruit trees suitable for processing.
Which sawdust is not suitable for smoking?
There is a conditional gradation that allows you to separate unsuitable for smoking sawdust. Such a chip does not fit:
- too wet - flares up for a very long time and often goes out. The smoke generated consists mainly of water vapor, and not the products of the slow oxidation of wood;
- overdried - smolders slightly and quickly flares up. Elevated temperatures help melt fat from foods and burn meat. When burning, a little smoke is formed, and smoked meats may turn out to be too fried. In addition, the required amount of dry wood chips is several times higher than the flow rate of the optimum moisture material;
- rotten or damaged by insects - gives a sharp and unpleasant odor during smoldering, which reduces the taste of a smoked product;
- coniferous - the emitted smoke contains a large amount of tar, which not only gives an unpleasant tarry taste, but can also make you feel unwell. For a similar reason, it is not recommended to use birch, also containing a certain amount of resins.
There are separate recipes for cooking meat and seafood on the smoke of wood chips from conifers or cones. If you decide to experiment with needles, wrap the products in two or three layers of gauze. It absorbs most of the resin and minimizes unpleasant tar taste.
When preparing sawdust for home smoking, you should choose wood that grows away from busy highways and industrial enterprises. The collected branches need to be dried in a ventilated room or on the street under a canopy. It is best to select material from healthy trees that do not have visible putrefactive damage.
Choose wood chips for smoking fish, meat, lard and poultry
- meat - a mixture of sawdust alder and beech, in which you can add a small amount of rosemary. The meat is baked in smoke for one to two hours, and the temperature is 100-150 ° C. With hot smoking (80-100 ° C), the cooking time reaches three hours;
- sala - beech wood chips. The process is carried out in a cold mode to avoid excessive fat loss. Smoking occurs daily for a week - two to three hours at a temperature of 30-35 ° C;
- fish - a mixture of alder and oak (or fruit) chips. At home, fish is usually cooked in hot mode, the duration of which does not exceed an hour;
- chicken - pure alder wood chips. Poultry is smoked for one hour at temperatures up to 150 ° C. Game processing lasts 3-4 hours at a temperature of 100-120 ° C.
Watch the recommendations for making chips in the video:
Sawdust storage conditions
The optimum humidity for sawdust for smoking is 15-20%. It can be maintained by storing the material in a place protected from sunlight, which has naturally low humidity. Storage bags are suitable for fabric bags or perforated plastic bags, in which the tree will not sprinkle from accumulated moisture.
To check the suitability of wood chips before smoking, try to set fire to it. If the wood burns quickly, it should be moistened in a container of water. If the wood chips do not burn or smolder, dry them in a dry, ventilated place.
After complete combustion of the sawdust, ash or its mixture with soot remains, if the decay has not completely passed. In some designs, smoke on the smoldering chips can drain fat from the cooking product. It gives the smoke a not very pleasant smell and contributes to the appearance of a flame, and its decomposition products may remain in the form of unburned black lumps.
Self-smoking allows you to get products with a long shelf life, pleasant taste and aroma. Home-made smoked meats are cheaper than store-bought meats and are of high quality. To get delicious products, you should learn the basic rules of the cooking process and choose the right chips. Do not be afraid to experiment, because the optimal wood species and modes may differ for smokehouses of different designs.