The process of processing cold smoke fish or meat is not difficult. Subject to the right choice of cold smoked smokehouse and technology. The product (fish, meat) is obtained as a result of dried-smoked food: excess moisture is removed, the shelf life is increased , and palatability is improved.
Smoke smoke acts as an antiseptic that destroys parasitic microflora. In addition, the product is better salted. Shelf life reaches three months.
How to make a cold smoked smokehouse ? There are many options. Presented to your attention only one, the most affordable. But to carry out cold smoking in this way is possible only on their own compound. So...
Cooking an ordinary barrel without a bottom. Even old and rusty will do. Dig a hole up to 40 cm deep and 50 cm in diameter. Now we measure 3 m from this pit and dig another pit, with the same depth and with a diameter slightly less than the diameter of the prepared barrel. Between the holes we dig a shallow, on a bayonet shovel, trench (chimney). We cover the trench with sheets of iron and sprinkle with earth. We cover the second hole with a barrel, sprinkle with earth around to prevent smoke leakage and unnecessary air access. On this device, allowing cold smoking, is ready.
Now - the process itself. We install the crossbars in the barrel - the product will be suspended on them. You can smoke meat, and poultry, and fish, and lard. Place the pieces so that they do not touch each other and with the walls of the barrel (otherwise these places will either smoky badly or not smoky at all).
Before starting cold smoking, the product is aged in brine. There are many brine recipes on the Internet, so we will not dwell on them.
Having finished hanging the pieces, cover the barrel with burlap. In the first pit (in the one without a barrel), make a fire. Branches of fruit trees are chosen for the fire. The coniferous tree cannot be used: it is too tarry. Branches and logs should not flare up, but smolder: we need not heat treatment, but smoke, - this is what cold smoking is all about. The pit is covered with a sheet of iron so that there is little oxygen access (otherwise the fire will go out altogether). By the way, raw branches are inflamed worse, so it is quite reasonable to use them. In general, the rotten alder or aspen is considered the best fuel. Juniper drier, vine, heather, and redwood are planted on them . Juniper is especially important at the final stage - its smoke has a powerful antimicrobial effect (which cannot but affect the shelf life of the finished product). Fans of spices and various flavors add rye straw, grass hay, basil, caraway seeds, sage and even wormwood at the end of smoking.
The ideal smoke for smoking is light (obtained as a result of incomplete combustion of firewood with sufficient oxygen supply). The main mistake of beginners is to fan the fire. We repeat: firewood should smolder, but not burn. The desired result is achieved by laying chopped logs in the furnace (pit), followed by falling asleep (preferably wet) sawdust. If the product is clearly visible, then the concentration of smoke is optimal.
As for smoking time, it entirely depends on your own taste. If we take the average time, then for poultry, fat and fish it will be 15 hours (taking into account the weight of a piece from 2 to 4 kg). By the way, the meat is not cut across, but along the fibers.
Fans of a beautiful appearance (rouge, "marbling) can be recommended to add a little sodium nitrate to the brine. Of course, we will keep silent about the health hazards. For the sake of justice, we note: a store sausage, which is on legal sale, does not contain nitrate (or without participation) her in production) to find oh, how hard it is.
Try it, experiment. Who knows, maybe this will be the beginning of their own production of cold smoked products. Good luck