Disputes about the dangers and benefits of smoked foods have been going on for a long time. However, lovers of food prepared in this way, this does not become less. And although household appliances such as hot smokehouses can not be attributed to consumer goods, in recent years they have become more and more popular. This is due primarily to the fact that a wide variety of models have appeared on sale that allow you to cook your favorite dishes by hot smoking.
Device and principle of operation
Structurally, a home- smoked smokehouse is a metal container on the bottom of which wood chips are laid, which are not in direct contact with the fire during cooking. There is a food grill inside the smoking appliance and a drip tray underneath it. The container is closed with a sealed lid having a fitting for exhausting smoke and maintaining the necessary pressure inside the chamber.
The smoking process is as follows:
- the bottom of the structure is heated using an external heat source;
- wood chips begin to smolder (but not burn);
- smoke passing through the grates, thermally processes (i.e. smokes) products until they are ready.
The temperature inside the smoking chamber is from 60 to 120 ° C. The full cooking time (depending on the weight and type of loaded products) does not exceed 1.5-2 hours.
On a note! With the help of such fairly simple and useful devices, you can cook a wide variety of products: cheese, lard, meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, mushrooms and much more.
Varieties of Hot Smoking Appliances
All hot household smokehouses are divided into two main groups:
- for external use (as an external source of heat, as a rule, use an ordinary barbecue);
- with the possibility of installation on a standard stove (design features allow you to remove excess smoke through a cooker hood or window pane).
It is the latter that are gaining more and more popularity, since you can smoke in a smoke- cured smokehouse and delight yourself and your loved ones with culinary masterpieces “with smoke” not only outdoors during the short summer season, but also throughout the calendar year.
What determines the taste of hot smoked products
Two main points that affect the final taste of dishes cooked in a hot smokehouse are recipes and wood chips used to produce smoke.
“Universal” smoke, suitable for almost all types of products, is obtained using alder wood chips. In addition, it is the cheapest. A package weighing 1 kg will cost you only 350-390 rubles. Smoked dishes give a special flavor to fruit wood (apple, cherry, pear or apricot). A package of such material for producing smoke (also weighing 1 kg) will cost about 500 rubles.
Some manufacturers offer tested by professional chefs mixes from woods of different species:
- for fish - beech, alder and thyme;
- for chicken - cherries and alder;
- for meat - alder, beech and rosemary.
The main manufacturers of smokehouses for indoor use
For a long time, only owners of summer cottages or suburban areas could “pamper” themselves with dishes prepared at home in hot smoked smokehouses. This was, of course, connected with smoke, which inevitably forms during smoking. Recently, however, devices that can be used without problems in the kitchen of an ordinary city apartment have become increasingly popular. Excess smoke (which is discharged through a special hose) is easily handled by a conventional cooker hood. The most famous manufacturers of home smokehouses of a hot cooking method today are:
- Finnish Hanhi and Suomi;
- Russian Bravo and Haze;
- German Peter Kohler, Kasseler, Fansel and Zolinger.
Models, equipment and prices
All of the above manufacturers offer users three models of home hot smoke houses with a useful internal volume of 10, 20 and 30 liters. The price of the devices is almost the same regardless of the manufacturer and amounts to 4900-5000, 6000-6500 and 7900-8100 rubles, respectively. Externally, they are a cylindrical container made of high quality stainless steel. In order for the devices to be used on any stove (including modern induction hobs), the bottom of the case is made of a special ferromagnetic alloy. A vertical metal rod is fixed inside the smoking compartment, onto which the rest of the accessories are mounted.
The standard package includes:
- the smokehouse with a lid;
- bottom tray for chips;
- a container for collecting draining fat;
- shelves with holes for smoking lumpy products (from 1 to 3, depending on the volume of the model);
- nozzle with hooks for smoking products (for example, fish or home-made sausages) in a vertically suspended state;
- a hose (silicone) for removing excess smoke, usually from 2 to 5 meters long;
- a thermometer that is screwed to the top cover;
- recipe book, which helps the user to choose the right temperature and cooking time;
- instruction for use.
Some manufacturers (as a free bonus) additionally include in the package:
- 1-3 bags of various chips for trial testing of the purchased device;
- a ball of special jute twine;
- molding wire roll;
- a small package of natural casings for making home-made sausages.
A technological feature of the Bravo models is the spherical (domed) shape of the top cover. According to the manufacturer, this contributes to the drainage of condensate formed in the process of smoking in the water seal.
The disadvantage of Kasseler products is the absence of a bottom chip tray in the kit, which complicates the washing of the product after use.
Smoked chicken
A brief review of tried-and-tested recipes should start with one of the ways to cook hot smoked chicken in a smokehouse. Indeed, it is this kind of bird in one form or another that is most often present on our table.
Preparatory stage:
- pour 3 liters of water into a large pan, a tablespoon (with a slide) of salt and a teaspoon of sugar;
- bring the solution to a boil and add 2 tablespoons of 3% table vinegar, 3-4 cloves of garlic, 30-35 peas of black pepper, 20-30 mg of dried herbs (depending on personal preference);
- mix everything thoroughly and let the solution cool;
- place the chicken carcass in the container, close the pan with a lid and put it in the refrigerator for 18-22 hours.
The process of preparing chicken in a smokehouse of hot smoke:
- 1 hour before the start of smoking we take out the carcass from the marinade and remove excess moisture with napkins;
- pour 30-40 grams of alder wood chips (or a special mixture) into the lower pallet and install it in a container;
- then on the rod we mount a tank for collecting fat and one grate;
- we put the chicken carcass on the central stock (if we use the Bravo model, we additionally insert a special spacer nozzle inside the carcass);
- we twist the lid, fill the water seal with water and turn on the stove (do not forget to connect the smoke exhaust hose and fix it to the cooker hood).
Smoking temperature - about 80 degrees; cooking time - from 45-50 minutes to 1-1.2 hours (depending on the size of the chicken).
Important! We begin to count the time from the moment the first signs of smoke from the nozzle appear.
Chicken cooked in this way due to its unique aroma and exquisite specific taste leaves no chance for competition with counterparts baked in the oven or on the grill. This statement will undoubtedly be agreed by everyone who at least once tasted a dish from this popular bird.
On a note! In 30-liter units, you can cook 2 or even 3 chicken at the same time.
Smoked pork
Smoke pork in a smokehouse of hot smoke is even easier than chicken. Many experts believe that the use of preliminary marinating and numerous spices “kills” the taste of already quite tender and soft meat.
What need to do:
- cut the pork into large enough pieces;
- the resulting "workpiece" rubbed with a mixture of salt, crushed bay leaves and ground pepper (red and black);
- we put the processed pieces of pork in a suitable container and leave for 1-2 hours.
The smoking technique is largely similar to the preparation of chicken. The main differences:
- put the meat on 1 or 2 horizontal lattices (depending on the quantity);
- as a starting material for smoke use a mixture of beech and alder wood chips (in a ratio of 1: 1);
- cooking time - 1-1.5 hours, temperature - 90-95 degrees.
On a note! In this way, a variety of foods can be smoked: pieces of chicken (wings or thighs), pork ribs or small fish.
Smoked mackerel
The taste of hot smoked mackerel is familiar to every lover of fish. However, few people know that you can cook fish in a smokehouse of hot smoke without much difficulty, even at home.
We prepare the marinade (based on the preparation of 4 carcasses of mackerel, because such an amount is easily placed in a home smokehouse):
- pour 2 liters of water into the pan and bring it to a boil;
- add 200 grams of salt and sugar, 5-6 leaves of bay leaf, 18-20 peas of black pepper, 20-30 ml of natural lemon juice;
- mix all the ingredients thoroughly and boil them for 8-10 minutes;
- cool the finished marinade;
- put 4 carcasses of mackerel into it (without heads and entrails);
- close the lid and put in the refrigerator for 18-20 hours.
Smoked fish in a smoke-cured smokehouse:
- we get fish from the marinade;
- we remove all excess moisture with the help of paper towels both outside and inside;
- we tie the carcasses with a tourniquet, leaving in the tail part a loop for hanging on the device for vertical smoking;
- Wet 50-60 grams of alder wood chips with 3 tablespoons of water;
- evenly spread it on the surface of the lower pallet and lower it to the bottom of the smokehouse;
- Next, we install a tank for collecting fat;
- we hook the carcasses onto the hooks of the vertical smoking device, and install it on the central vertical rod of the smokehouse;
- close the lid;
- we attach a hose for the removal of excess smoke to the hood;
- we fill a hydrolock with water;
- turn on the stove at medium power.
Smoking temperature - 65-75 degrees, cooking time - 35-40 minutes.
Smokehouse for outdoor use
The choice of hot smokehouses intended for use in the open air is very diverse both in price and in size.
For example, the simplest compact portable design of domestic production (dimensions 500X250X200 mm, with a pallet for collecting fat and two grilles) can be purchased for only 850-900 rubles. And although such a device does not have a water lock and a fitting for removing excess steam, it will perform its main purpose (to smoke products) correctly. As a heat source, you can use the brazier (if you have one) or install the product on several bricks and just light a fire under it. The absence of a thermometer forces the cooking process “by eye”. Therefore, it will be possible to achieve a really good result only after conducting numerous experiments.
Stainless steel products with a water seal and an integrated thermometer are similar in price to cylindrical universal devices from Hanhi, Bravo or Zolinger. Therefore, their choice is justified mainly for those who live in their own country house or spend a significant part of their free time on the plot.
The popular model Sfera Lux 450 (Russia), made of high-quality food-grade stainless steel (dimensions 450X300X300 mm with a water lock and a thermometer built into the top cover) costs about 5500 rubles.
Standalone models
Autonomous devices for hot smoking are equipped with built-in thermal elements: electric (heating elements) or gas (burners). Both options are for outdoor use only. Due to their considerable size and high price, their acquisition is justified either for large families permanently residing in the countryside or in the countryside; either for small restaurants or cafes.
The most famous producers of this category of smokehouses: Smoke Hollow, Masterbuilt, Chair-Broil and Camp Chef. The minimum price is 25,000-30,000 rubles.
Self-made option
To build a smokehouse of hot smoke with your own hands for people with even minimal locksmith abilities will not be difficult. There are a lot of manufacturing options. Simplest:
- As the main capacity, we use a small barrel, a bucket of sufficient size or a tank for boiling laundry (which, by the way, is now practically nobody uses for its intended purpose).
- The tray for collecting fat can be made from a pan that has become unusable by cutting it to the desired height.
- Lattices for products are easy to weave independently from metal wire of suitable diameter.