Homemade smokehouse, smokehouse for cold smoked do-it-yourself
A summer cottage often becomes a favorite vacation spot for the whole family, then there is always a place on the site for barbecue, barbecue, stove for cooking original dishes with an incomparable aroma of smoke emitted by burning branches. It is not uncommon for lovers to taste various hand-made delicacies resorting to smokehouse equipment.
Content:
- What is the process of smoking products, types of smoking
- How does a cold smokehouse work video
- Homemade smokehouse - how to make it yourself
- Home-made smokehouse - we conduct the first test video
- Challenges of Cold Smoked Products
What is the process of smoking products, types of smoking
It is easy to guess that the smoking process is nothing more than smoke treatment, but it can be done in different ways. Smoking can be hot and cold. Hot smoking involves the option of treating with smoke at a fairly high temperature, of the order of +90 - +150 C, which is achieved with the help of heat coming from hot coals. Hot smoking gives the products a richer flavor and a pleasant taste, it takes only hours to process.
The second method - cold smoking will require processing of meat or fish semi-finished products for 2 to 7 days, while the processing time will depend on its temperature regime. The temperature recommended for cold smoking is +25 - +35 C. It is not recommended to reduce the processing time, a violation of technology can lead to the fact that insufficiently smoked products can cause food poisoning.
The use of cold smoking technology makes it possible to obtain products that are tasty and fragrant, with a sufficiently dense texture, with a long shelf life.
How does a cold smokehouse work
The principle of operation of a cold smokehouse is to create certain conditions under which wood chips are heated to certain temperatures, but do not ignite, but slowly smolder with active smoke formation. The main task in arranging a home-made cold smoked smokehouse is to maintain a certain temperature regime, some difficulties arise due to the lack of special thermometers, but the problem is completely solved experimentally.
To prevent ignition of sawdust, the smoke chamber body will need to be closed with a metal cover - this will limit the access of oxygen to it. If the smokehouse is intended for processing products by the cold method, then the pit for the hearth is located on the side of the smoking chamber and is connected to it using a special long pipe.
Another very important point is the choice of fuel. Experts do not recommend the use of sawdust from needles or aspen - their smell will not give the dish the desired flavor.
Best of all - stock up with twigs obtained by pruning fruit trees:
- cherries
- apple trees
- bird cherry,
- apricot
- sea \u200b\u200bbuckthorn.
Alder wood gives the original aroma when smoldering, but it must be cleaned of bark - otherwise the smoke will add bitterness to the processed products.
How a cold smoked smokehouse works can be found in the video:
Homemade smokehouse - how to make it yourself
choose a place
An important stage in the construction of the smokehouse will be the selection of the right place for its placement. It should be convenient for the person who will be engaged in cooking, i.e. need a place:
- for the preparation of semi-finished products,
- to monitor the process.
You should also think about fire safety - you should not completely exclude the possibility of fire, the flame can cause irreparable damage to buildings and green spaces in the vicinity. The design of the smokehouse should also be safe. The area allocated for its construction should allow the arrangement of an underground chimney with a length of three to ten meters, the width of the chimney can be from 30 to 50 cm.
how to install a smoke chamber
For the construction of the smokehouse, preparation of the smoking chamber will be required. It can be built from a metal barrel or iron box. It is desirable that the area of \u200b\u200bthe base does not exceed 1 square. m, height - 1.5 m. You can make a box for the smoking chamber yourself, using a sheet of metal of the appropriate size for this. An ideal option would be to use a stainless steel sheet.
First you need to make sure that the material is resistant to high temperatures, and its heating will not cause fumes harmful to humans. For the convenience of placing semi-finished products, additional accessories and devices are attached to the walls of the smoking chamber. Naturally, all of them should be made of food grade stainless metal.
A mandatory element of the smoking compartment is a metal mesh attached to a barrel or other container instead of the bottom. The grid should be fixed at a distance of 10-15 cm from the lower edge of the container, metal screws can be used as fastening components. Since fat may be released from products during smoking, it will be necessary to install a shallow container to collect it on the net. Also, the presence of the grid will exclude the possibility of food entering the chimney, because it is possible that in the process of smoking there is the possibility of the fall of semi-finished products.
For fastening products in the upper part of the smokehouse, transverse bars-holders are mounted; for them, stainless steel fittings can be used, which can withstand the expected weight. As a cover, you can also use a stainless steel sheet of the appropriate size.
arrangement of the furnace
The combustion chamber is built of refractory bricks, however, since it is not planned to achieve high temperatures, an ordinary red brick is quite suitable. The shape of the combustion chamber can be round or rectangular.
For the construction of the furnace, you will need to dig a hole with a diameter of about 70 cm and a depth of 40 cm. Be sure to provide space for air intake. The walls of the furnace can be laid out with brick laid on clay mortar; for the design of the walls, you can also use a metal container of appropriate sizes, the bottom needs to be removed from it, because fire will be kindled on the ground.
Two walls of the chamber are made continuous, on the other two are placed:
- access to the chimney connecting the firebox to the smoking compartment,
- opening for loading sawdust or wood chips.
From above, the camera will need to be closed with a damper - it will block the way out of smoke and heat. It is best to produce a damper from 4 mm sheet metal.
To connect the lid with the walls of the chamber, the canopies holding it are equipped, and a locking device is installed to fix the desired position. To connect the smoking chamber and the furnace, you will need to install a chimney, which can be used as a ceramic chimney or metal pipe. To connect the chimney to the smoke chamber, an elbow is required. To prevent ash or foreign matter from getting onto the foodstuffs, a well-moistened burlap should be pulled over the firebox, it is able to pass smoke well and retain all impurities unnecessary for processing semi-finished products.
Since smoking should be done at low temperatures, the correct calculation of the length of the chimney is of particular importance. There are no specific rules for determining the desired pipe length, since the temperature of the smoke will depend on other factors:
- the size of the smoking chamber and the combustion chamber,
- the angle at which the chimney enters the smoking chamber, etc.
If the smokehouse is built with your own hands, then the calculation of its compartments is carried out individually, in order to get smoke of the right temperature, you may need to build a chimney with a length of 5, or even 10 m.
In the video, the process of building a smokehouse can be seen in more detail:
Home-made smokehouse - we conduct the first test
First, in accordance with the selected recipe, we prepare semi-finished products for smoking, then we lay them out on the wire rack, avoiding touching the pieces. We put sawdust or shredded wood of fruit species in the firebox, melt the stove. With the shutter closed, wait until the chamber fills with smoke. It will take about 10-15 minutes.
For smoking, you can use a variety of products: meat, fish, chicken, lard, home-made sausage. To determine the temperature of the smoke entering the cold smokehouse, a mechanical thermometer should be placed in it.
The recommended cold smoking temperature is from +25 to +35 C.
You can learn more about the smoking process by watching the video:
Challenges of Cold Smoked Products
Drawing conclusions from the information provided above, it should be noted that the construction of a cold smoked smokehouse is not an easy task. And the problem is far from being to find a good blueprint for the smokehouse and build it in accordance with the plan. It is much more difficult to ensure sufficient draft from the combustion chamber to the smoking compartment, since it depends on the difference in temperature of smoke and ambient air.
Previously, to solve this issue, resorted to the construction of smokehouses on the steep hillsides or cliffs, on the windward side. The receipt of the optimum amount of smoke of the desired temperature in such structures was achieved by arranging long chimneys going up the slope and the influence of the wind.
Today, in order to provide traction, quite modern devices are used - fans, smoke exhausters, collectors are included in the system for cooling the smoke. Often resorted to equipping a smokehouse furnace in the basement, it is more rational in comparison with the construction of a very long chimney.
The second difficulty lies in the length of the process itself. After firing up a small fire in the furnace, it will be necessary to maintain a process of weak burning for 2-3, or even more days, depending on the preliminary preparation of semi-finished products and their sizes. Those. for several days, you will need to monitor the temperature in the smoking chamber around the clock (it should not rise above the norm), so that the fire does not go out, you need to periodically lay sawdust or firewood in it. It is almost impossible to automate this process, it will be quite difficult for one to cope with such a task, most likely assistants will be required.
It is these difficulties that can explain the rather high cost of products obtained by the method of cold smoking, especially those made by hand. Do-it-yourself smoking is an opportunity to get delicacies at your table for inexpensive, and possibly to open your own quite profitable business. But before deciding to create a home-made cold smoked smokehouse, you should evaluate your capabilities well.
