Content
Lacustrine, Atlantic salmon, salmon - this is the name of one type of commercial fish with a high gastronomic and nutritional value. The price offer for fresh products is high, but cold smoked or hot salmon costs twice as much. You can save money and get a good quality dish on your own using a homemade smokehouse.
The benefits and calorie content of fish
Salmon is a representative of red fish, it is classified as a delicacy not only because of the unaffordable price, but also because of its rich chemical composition.
The taste does not change from the smoking method
There are no elements in salmon that negatively affect a person, all components are useful for the body.
This fish has a high level of fatty amino acids. The most valuable of these is Omega-3. The normal function of the endocrine, cardiovascular and nervous systems is impossible without this element. The protein composition of salmon is good for digestion. Vitamins of group B and PP improve brain activity. D and E improve the elasticity of the vessel walls, prevent thrombosis. Vitamin C strengthens the immune system.
The composition and action of trace elements:
- magnesium stabilizes the nervous system, acts as an antidepressant;
- fluoride is essential for teeth;
- potassium is involved in the blood circulation;
- iron is indispensable for hematopoiesis;
- phosphorus contributes to the normal functioning of internal organs;
- calcium strengthens bones;
- iodine is good for the endocrine system.
Before smoking, the product is preliminarily salted, so the salt concentration at the outlet turns out to be high. During processing at home, carcinogens are deposited on salmon, especially when cold smoked. Therefore, people with chronic kidney disease, hypertensive patients and pregnant women need to limit the use of the product.
The calorie content of fresh salmon per 100 g is 206 kcal. The product contains:
- proteins - 23 g;
- carbohydrates - 0;
- fats - 15.5 g;
- cholesterol - 1.8 g;
- ash - 8.35 g.
The rest of the product is water.
Salmon is able to replenish the micronutrients and vitamins lost during weight loss. Fish is included in the diet for weight loss.
Nutritional value varies from the method of culinary processing, for example, the calorie content of cold smoked salmon is 202 kcal. Fat content - 12.6 g, protein - 22.4 g, no carbohydrates. The product is useful for people with an active lifestyle. It is necessary to normalize the energy balance.
The lowest calorie value is in the ridges of hot smoked salmon, it is only 155 kcal, fats in the product - 8 g, proteins - 20.1 g, no carbohydrates.The presence of salt makes fish undesirable for weight loss.
The complete set of the smokehouse should include a tray for collecting fat and a grate for raw materials.
Principles and methods of smoking salmon
Smoking salmon is divided into two ways: hot and cold. The taste of fish will not differ significantly. The methods have different technologies and cooking times.
When smoked hot, the product loses some of its nutrients due to the high temperature. But the process is less troublesome, and processing will take little time.
The whole carcass or parts of it should be smoked: ridge, head, abdomen. Salmon is cooked mainly in a smokehouse, but if there is no special equipment, you can get a product that is close to taste in an airfryer. You can quickly cook smoked salmon using liquid smoke.
The scales of the salmon are small, fit tightly to the carcass
Selection and preparation of fish
Salmon is one of the species that is bred in artificial conditions. The price of the product is high, but the fish is not in short supply; it is freely available in specialized stores or hypermarkets. Sell frozen or chilled salmon. You can find steak or teesha in vacuum packaging. It is better to stop the choice on a chilled product, since it will be easier to determine the freshness of the fish.
Signs of fresh chilled salmon:
- The scales of the salmon are light gray or white, in the abdomen with a pearlescent tint, black dots of different sizes are located along the ridge. Yellow areas, damaged scales, the presence of a slimy plaque indicate the poor quality of the fish.
- The eyes are transparent, with a well-defined pupil, slightly protruding. Sunken eye sockets and a cloudy surface are a sign of stale food.
- The gills are light pink, without dark areas. If they are brown - the fish is stale, white or gray with bloody streaks - a sign that the carcass has already been frozen several times.
- The structure of the carcass is elastic; when pressed, there should be no dents.
Only a low-quality product can have a rancid odor of fish oil.
When choosing a cut carcass, pay attention to the color of the muscle fibers. Fresh salmon have light pink meat. A bright color indicates that dye has been added to the stale product.
It is better not to take frozen salmon for smoking. After cold processing, the meat will be loose, and when hot smoked, it will break down into fibers.
Cleaning and cutting
They ate small salmon carcasses, smoked it as a whole, larger specimens must be cut. Salmon peeling does not differ from the generally accepted technology:
- To prevent the fish from slipping in your hands, wear ordinary fabric work gloves. Scales are removed from the surface of the carcass.
- The abdomen is cut open, the entrails are removed. Milk or caviar is not used for smoking, they are laid aside.
- The gills are removed.
The carcass is washed well. It is ready for further cutting:
- You will need a large knife to work. At the beginning of the process, the head is removed. To make the cut even, it is separated in one motion.
- The dorsal fins are removed.
- A continuous cut is made along the ridge. Divide the carcass into two parts.
- The bone skeleton remaining on one side is removed. The ridge is cut off with a thin strip together with the caudal fin, the remains of small bones are selected.
- The fins are cut from the peritoneum.
- On the lower part there are strips with the main accumulation of fat (tesha), they can be left or cut off for separate smoking.Important! If the salmon is large, it is divided into steaks.
Recipes for salting salmon for smoking
Dry salting fish before smoking is one of the simplest and quickest preparation methods. For this purpose, you can use spices, but in the classic version, one salt is enough. It is evenly applied to the inside and outside of the carcass.
Put the fish in a container and leave for 1.5-2 hours for hot smoking and for six hours for cold
They take out the salmon, wash off the salt. To evaporate excess moisture, lay out on a cloth napkin.
How to pickle smoked salmon
There are a large number of recipes for salmon marinade. They are universal or special for hot or cold smoking.
A classic recipe for any way:
- water - 2 l;
- salt - 35 g;
- sugar - 5 g (you can not use it);
- bay leaf - 1-2 pcs.;
- dried dill, parsley - optional:
- peas pepper - 6 pcs.
All ingredients are mixed, boiled for ten minutes. After the marinade has cooled, put the fish and leave for eight hours. Take it out and dry it until the liquid evaporates completely.
Marinade for cold smoked salmon:
- water - 1 l;
- salt - 250 g;
- garlic - 3 cloves;
- wine (red) - 100 ml;
- sugar - 75 g;
- lime - 2 pcs.;
- mint, basil - to taste.
Preparing the marinade:
- Heat the water, add salt and sugar, boil for 7-10 minutes
- Chop the garlic, add to the boiling liquid.
- Squeeze lime, pour in juice.
- Pour in herbs and peppers.
- Pour the boiling marinade over the fish in a container and leave for five days.
Air dry the salmon for four hours.
How to smoke salmon
Alder or fruit trees are used as a source of smoke. They do not leave bitterness after processing. For hot smoking, they take chips, not sawdust, since the latter quickly burn out and do not have time to raise and maintain the desired temperature. Technological processing methods differ.
After heat treatment, the fish is soft, with easily separable fibers.
Hot smoked salmon recipes
The process of hot smoking salmon (pictured) provides for the processing of raw materials at a given temperature. A smokehouse is used as equipment in an open place.
At home, you can cook the product in the airfryer
Smoking salmon in a hot smoked smokehouse
To smoke hot smoked salmon with high quality, it is necessary to maintain a certain temperature in the smokehouse. The equipment must be made of thick metal, the wall thickness is at least 3-4 mm, otherwise it will be possible to control the process. A low indicator will not give the desired result, the fish will turn out to be half-baked. Too high a temperature will dry out the workpiece, it may even burn.
The classic recipe for hot smoked salmon in a smokehouse (as a whole):
- Wood chips are placed on the bottom, the equipment is closed and put on fire.
- When smoke comes out from under the lid, install a drip tray and grate.
- The fish is spread loosely so that hot air can pass freely between the carcasses.
- The smoke should be uniform and white.
- Raise the temperature to + 250 0C. If the smokehouse is not equipped with a thermometer, then the optimum heating with water is determined. To do this, they drip onto the surface: if the water evaporates with a hiss, then the temperature is normal, if it rebounds, then it is too high and must be corrected.
- The smoking process lasts 1.5 hours.
Salmon is removed from the wire rack, the dish can be served immediately
Hot smoked salmon ridges
The backbones are smoked in the same way as whole carcasses. The process differs in time and temperature. It takes 30 minutes for the product to be ready. The first 15 minutes the process takes place in a closed smokehouse, the rest of the time without a lid, since it is necessary for the moisture to evaporate. The temperature in the equipment is maintained no higher than + 120 0C.
After the completion of the process, the smokehouse is removed from the heat and the ridges are ventilated for 2-3 hours on the grate
Bellies, fillets, heads of hot smoked salmon
All parts of the fish can be cooked at the same time, since they have the same temperature and time until cooked. A crosspiece is required as additional equipment.
Smoking:
- All workpieces are pulled with twine.
- Suspended in a vertical position on the structure.
- The crosspiece is installed in the smokehouse when smoke comes out of it.
- Raise the temperature to + 80 0C.
- Stand for 40 minutes, remove from heat and leave the smokehouse closed for 1.5 hours.
Before serving, twine is taken out of the salmon
How to cook hot smoked salmon in an airfryer
Preparatory dry salting is not suitable for hot smoking salmon in an airfryer. Use any marinade recipe.
Preparation:
- The low grate of the airfryer is covered with oil so that the carcass does not stick to it.
- Spread out the raw materials.
- A high lattice is installed on top.
- A container for wood chips is placed on it, the material is poured. The container can be replaced with foil folded in several layers.
- The device is closed, the temperature is set to + 200 0C. The required time is 40 minutes.Advice! So that there is no smell of smoke in the room, the airfryer is placed under the hood or taken out onto the balcony.
If the sides of the salmon start to burn, the temperature is not changed, but the smoking time is reduced
Smoking salmon steak at home
The pre-salted fish is cut into convenient sized steaks. Smoking can be done at home using a mini smoker.
Preparation:
- The chips are moistened, wrapped in foil in the form of an envelope. Make holes in the surface.
- Place the bag at the bottom of the smokehouse.
- A tray and a grate with salmon pieces are placed on top, and closed.
- They put on gas, stand for 40 minutes.
To evaporate moisture, 10 minutes before cooking, the smokehouse is opened, steam is released and left until the process is complete.
Allow the fish to cool before eating.
Cold smoked salmon recipes
The cold smoking process is longer. The temperature inside the equipment does not exceed + 30 0C. Salting is made in a marinade, less often in a dry way. Salmon prepared with the latter method will be saltier and tougher. Only well-dried raw materials are used. After removing from the marinade, the salmon is aired for at least two days.
The fish at the exit turns out to be elastic, with a bright golden color.
How to smoke salmon in a cold smoked smokehouse
A recipe with a photo of cold smoked salmon will help to prepare a good quality product:
- Use equipment equipped with a smoke generator.
- The blanks are wrapped with gauze and hung on hooks in a wooden or cardboard box. To keep the salmon in smoke, the box is covered.
- The smoke generator is brought in, the temperature is created + 30-40 0C. Smoking will last 5-6 hours.
After the end of cold smoking, the fish is ventilated in a suspended state for at least a day.
Cold smoked salmon with liquid smoke
Liquid smoke treatment is a convenient method that does not require equipment and preliminary salting. Salmon prepared in this way does not differ in taste and color from a natural product.
The recipe is designed for 1 kg of raw materials:
- sugar - 1 tbsp. l .;
- salt - 4 tbsp. l .;
- water - 1 l;
- liquid smoke - 80 ml.
Cooking process:
- Processed salmon can be used whole and cut.
- Boil water with salt and sugar.
- Liquid smoke is added to the cooled solution.
- Salmon is placed in a container and poured with cold marinade, oppression is set.
Put in the refrigerator for three days. Take out, hang and ventilate for 12 hours.
After removing the salmon from the marinade, it is not washed.
Recipe for cold smoking belly or salmon fillet
After cutting the carcass, the belly strips are separated from the fillet.
Tesha salmon is better for cold smoking. During heat treatment, the fat melts, the workpiece becomes hard and dry.
The fillet is divided into longitudinal parts so that they are the same size as the meat. This is necessary for pre-salting.
Use the dry method. The workpiece is rubbed with salt with or without spices, kept in the refrigerator for two hours. Then the salt is washed off and the raw materials are aired. A room fan can be used.
It is smoked suspended using a smoke generator. The process takes 3-4 hours. It is necessary to maintain the temperature + 40 0C.
After the completion of the process, the product is ventilated for 6-8 hours
Storage rules
Store the product at a temperature not exceeding + 4 0C. For this purpose, a refrigerator is used in warm weather. To avoid the smell of smoking, the fish is wrapped in foil or baking paper. The shelf life of salmon depends on the preparation method. After heat treatment, the dish can be consumed for no more than three days. The cold method extends the shelf life up to two weeks. If there is a lot of salmon, they put it in vacuum bags, remove the air and freeze it.
Conclusion
Cold smoked salmon does not lose useful elements, and is also stored for a long time. It will take time and special equipment to cook fish. Hot processing is more economical, but the product has a shorter shelf life. Smoked fish prepared by either method does not differ in taste and appearance. The video "Smoke salmon at home" will come to the aid of novice cooks.
