Home-made smokehouse, hot smoked smokehouse in stages
The technology of hot smoking products is quite simple, its process is less time consuming and will take a little time. It was these reasons that contributed to the widespread distribution of hot smoked smokehouses of various designs, and smoking itself has become a favorite way of cooking food for a picnic in the country.
Content:
- What are the features of cooking products by hot smoking
- Hot smoked smokehouse and its varieties video
- Do-it-yourself smoked smokehouse - construct from metal sheets video
- Hot smoked smokehouse at home - the principle of work
- How and how much hot smoked foods can be stored
- Preparation of semi-finished products for smoking
- What sawdust and wood chips can be used for smoking
- Hot smoked smokehouse at home - different options for home and camping smokehouses
What are the features of cooking products by hot smoking
To achieve the preparedness of the smoked product with a hot processing method, it will take only a couple of hours. The processing temperature should reach from +75 to +150 C, the processing time will be determined depending on the size of the semi-finished products and the degree of their preliminary processing.
If the smoking regime is respected, then smoked fish, meat or lard will remain juicy, acquire a pleasant aroma and a golden hue, pathogenic microbes that can be in a raw cake mix die under the influence of temperature. The texture of the processed product becomes softer, a tendency to delamination appears in it, this is especially evident when the fish is smoked hot.
Hot smoked smokehouse and its varieties
Today you can find a large number of the most diverse devices for hot smoking, both manufactured industrially and home-made. For the manufacture of home-made, you can use a wide variety of metal containers:
- buckets
- pans
- kegs
- containers for sterilization of medical instruments.
Such a container should provide for the possibility of hermetic closure. If there is a choice, it is better to give preference to a vessel with thicker walls - the heat will be stored in it longer.
Inside the tank you will need to fix the grilles and the drip tray. One lattice is placed in the upper part of the structure, since semi-finished products will be laid out on it, it is advisable to use stainless steel for manufacturing.
Hot smoked smokehouse is easy to do with your own hands, it is enough to study the design of the smokehouse and prepare suitable materials. The principles of arranging a smokehouse for fish and meat are practically no different.
Do-it-yourself smoked smokehouse - construct from metal sheets
Before starting work, we will prepare the following materials and tools:
- sheets of 2 mm metal of the appropriate size,
- thin reinforcement
- grinder
- welding machine,
- corner, tape measure.
The order of the work will be as follows:
- Using a grinder, metal sheets will need to be cut into 4 equal parts.
- Measuring the accuracy of the angles using a square weld the cut metal pieces at an angle of 90 degrees. From the remaining sheet, cut the bottom, weld it to the resulting structure. Then you need to boil each inner seam - this will ensure the tightness of the structure.
- After creating the box, you can proceed to the lid; to make it, you will need to cut 4 strips of metal, larger in length than the size of the box. With the help of welding, assemble a deep cover that could be freely put on the body.
- Next, you need to cut off pieces of reinforcement of the appropriate length and weld them in two levels inside the smokehouse - at the top for laying products, at the bottom - for placing a tray for draining fat. For convenience, it is advisable to weld handles on both sides of the box.
In principle, the smokehouse can be considered finished. An electric stove or gas stove can serve as a heat generator for it, they are more convenient, because make it possible to adjust the temperature inside the smoking compartment. If a higher temperature is required, you will have to lay a fire.
Smoking chambers can have a variety of sizes and shapes - the main condition for their successful functioning is ensuring the tightness of the smokehouse. To determine the required amount of materials, before making a smokehouse, you should draw a detailed diagram of its design.
Hot smoked smokehouse at home - the principle of work
Now you can start smoking meat or fish. Their preliminary processing will be required - salting in accordance with the selected recipe. Before placing, the semi-finished products are pulled out of the brine, and their surface is dried with a paper towel.
At the bottom of the smokehouse, a small amount of sawdust is covered. Then, semi-finished products are laid on the upper grill, it is desirable that small gaps remain between the pieces. Now you can light a fire or turn on the stove.
The processing time of the products is counted starting from the time the desired temperature and the appearance of smoke are reached. In the process of smoking, you need to control the temperature, it is not difficult to do this on the tile, you just need to turn the regulator or reduce the gas supply. If we get heat from the fire, we will have to dig out the coals from it or remove the smoke chamber for a while. It should be noted that heating the smokehouse to very high temperatures can cause combustion of products. But at the same time, the temperature in the chamber must be high and allow the efficient processing of semi-finished products; it is impossible to allow the smoking chamber to cool.
How and how much hot smoked foods can be stored
While cold-smoked products can be stored for months, hot smoked products should be consumed within 10-12 hours, the ideal option is to use immediately after cooking. Another option, which involves storage for a long period, is freezing in a vacuum package at a temperature below -5 C. Naturally, during storage, the taste and aroma of the product will slightly change.
Preparation of semi-finished products for smoking
You can smoke a variety of meat and fish semi-finished products. Preparation of meat and fish for smoking consists in their preliminary salting or pickling with all kinds of spices. To determine the readiness of the semi-finished product, it is enough to pierce it with a knife, if the juice that is secreted has acquired a light shade without blood impurity, then the product is completely ripe and can be moved to the smokehouse.
Experienced smokers recommend when preparing chicken carcasses to first clean it of pads, scorch it on fire, rinse, cut lengthwise into two halves. Then you need to put pieces of carcass between two chopping boards and, using gentle blows with an ax, flatten joints and bones. Then the carcass is rubbed with salt mixed with spices, suspended in the cold, and if possible a draft is arranged. After such preparation and smoking, the meat will be very soft.
Smoked fish can be taken salted or fresh. If a large fish is cleaned, gutted, cut along the spine or into layers. Small fish can be smoked whole, if the fish is very small, then you can not even gut it. Higher tastes are pre-salted and dried fish.
The preparation of fish carcasses is as follows:
- they are rubbed with coarse salt,
- very fatty fish are wrapped in parchment paper,
- put the fish in a container and press down with a load, which can be used as a brick,
- stand for 3-5 hours, then hang up and allow the brine to drain completely,
- washed fish from salt residues with cold water, wiped dry,
- immediately before smoking, the carcass is rubbed with spices.
What sawdust and wood chips can be used for smoking
The main condition for high-quality smoking is the presence of a sufficient amount of smoke, therefore, the choice of sawdust should be treated responsibly. The ability to smolder combustible material will be required, the appearance of fire will spoil the whole process. In the smoke-cured smokehouse, the use of moistened wood is practiced, it is not prone to fire, and the moisture evaporated from it will give the products a greater juiciness. Thin branches can also be used as fuel; they are prone to prolonged decay.
It should be remembered that the taste of smoked product is influenced not only by salt or pepper, but also by the quality of the smoke. Delicious smoke can be obtained from sawdust or branches of fruit trees, especially cherries, apple trees, pears, and waste from other hardwood species can be used. Juniper and alder chips give a very aromatic smoke. You can also use waste wood from oak, beech, hazel, ash, maple or a mixture of wood of different species.
It is not recommended to use conifers - the resin emitted by them will add bitterness to the products, the smoke resulting from the burning of not dried wood also worsens the taste.
Before you start splitting wood, you should remove the bark from it, especially if birch firewood is used. You can use either sawdust or wood chips for smoking, while the pieces should have a length of about 3 cm. To make wood chips, you should use dried wood, but it is recommended to moisten it a little before laying it in the smokehouse. Fuel is laid out at the bottom of the smoking chamber in a uniform layer.
Hot smoked smokehouse at home - different options for home and camping smokehouses
hiking option
It was mentioned above that the design of hot smoked smokehouses can be quite diverse. For example, in camp conditions, a bucket can be used very successfully as a smoking compartment.
About 20 cm of sawdust or shavings will need to be poured to the bottom, a metal grate is installed at a height of about 15 cm from the top edge of the container, products are laid on it. The bucket is tightly closed with a lid, a small fire is kindled under it. Opening the lid during the smoking process is not recommended.
The start of smoking is determined by the appearance of smoke seeping from the bucket. The temperature of the smoking compartment should be about +90 C, it should be maintained at this level for about 1/4 of the total time required to bring the product to full readiness. The rest of the time in the smoking chamber, it is desirable to maintain the temperature at +120 C.
To determine whether the temperature corresponds to the desired indicators, a very simple method is used: water is dripped onto the lid. It should not hiss and boil, the temperature at which the water simply evaporates is considered normal, at this temperature the products are smoked and not boiled.
You can adjust the temperature by putting firewood in a fire or by raking out coals from it. Typically, a 30-50 minute treatment of the products is sufficient for smoking. At the first smoking experiment, to determine the degree of readiness, you will have to remove the smokehouse from the fire, open the lid and try semi-finished products. When re-preparing similar products, it will be possible to focus on previously obtained results.
After completion of the smoking process, the bucket is cleaned away from the fire, cooled. The removed products are dried.
how to smoke in a hot smoked smokehouse - equip a smokehouse in the apartment
The best option for a smokehouse for an apartment is a small box made of stainless sheet metal, of course with a lid. In the lid you will need to make a hole, weld a tube into it, and with the help of a hose dressed on a tube, make smoke exhaust into the window. To exclude the possibility of smoke entering the apartment, the sides of the drawer are made L-shaped. A cover will be inserted into them. After installing the lid, the sides are filled with water.
The bottom of the smokehouse is lined with a layer of sawdust. A drip tray is installed on the welded bottom layer of the net (at a height of 8-12 cm), and semi-finished products are placed on a higher one (at a height of 25-30 cm). The smoking process begins after installing the smokehouse on a gas stove or electric stove. Hot smoking at home in the smokehouse is easily regulated, it will be enough to increase the supply of gas or reduce it, the temperature of smoking can also be controlled with drops of water.
a smokehouse in the country from an old refrigerator
Work on creating a smokehouse from the refrigerator begins with the removal of all its internal parts - only the metal case and the door should remain. The hole formed on the back wall should be sealed with a metal plate, it can be cut from the dismantled parts of the internal parts. To close and fix the door, you will need to attach the most ordinary hook to it.
Then, corners are welded on the walls of the body:
- at a distance of about 20 cm from the top of the wall - for installing a grill with products,
- at a distance of 30-40 cm from the top of the wall - for a roasting pan into which drops of fat will flow.
Sawdust intended for smoke formation is poured directly onto the surface of the stove, after putting firewood into the stove, the refrigerator doors are tightly covered.
