How to smoke mackerel at home - the fish was simple, but became golden

Fish cleaning

Since the smoking recipe is intended for people who want to save money, it is better to buy fresh whole mackerel. The expiration date can be checked very easily; if the carcass is wrinkled and there are dents left on it from your fingers, then it is better to leave it in the store and choose another option for purchase.

The selected individual must be properly cut:

• We cut off the head, preserving the body as much as possible.
• We rip open the belly and take out the insides. You should clean it well so that only meat remains on the inside. The bones should not be removed.
• You can clean the intestines with a sharp knife, using simple movements from the center to the cut cavity.
• You can also remove protruding fins and tail, but this is not necessary; you can smoke the whole mackerel.
• If there are scales on the fish, it is advisable to carefully remove them without damaging the skin.
• We thoroughly rinse the carcass under the tap and dry it. You can dry it with paper towels or napkins.

The mackerel is ready to be salted.

Salting out

The advantage of home smoking is the fact that salting occurs in a natural way; a person himself has the right to choose how much salt to add, and which one suits his preferences and health status.

Calorie content per 100 g of product: proteins – 18.2 g; proteins – 14 g; carbohydrates – 0.0 g.

To pickle mackerel, we need:

• Salt – 2 tbsp;
• Ground black pepper 1 tsp;
• Spices for fish (as needed).

For high-quality salting, the fish must be salted and rubbed with spices not only on the outside, but also on the inside. After which the fish must be covered with cling film and refrigerated for 7-8 hours.

Drying

This process must be performed before smoking the mackerel; excess moisture will not allow the carcass to be properly processed in the smokehouse. Dry the fish after salting. We take it out of the refrigerator and wash it off the remaining salt. Then we simply hang it in the kitchen for about 2-4 hours, depending on the ambient temperature.

All that remains is to prepare the smokehouse for heat treatment and smoke the mackerel.

Preparing the Smokehouse

For excellent smoking, you need to properly marinate the fish and select sawdust. Most often, alder chips are used, which can be purchased at a poultry market or in a special store. It gives the dish the smell of a fire, and it seems that the appetizer was cooked on a grill. We will need 2-3 handfuls of such wood chips.

First, you need to soak it in water and then dry it, otherwise the smoking process will not give the expected result. As a result, you need to get 3 handfuls of wet sawdust. We lay them out on the bottom of the smokehouse and start hanging the fish.

Choosing wood chips

When choosing wood chips for smoking, you can focus on the effect it gives. The base wood chips are alder or beech. They are best suited for mackerel.

You can add cane sugar to the mixture to get a more beautiful shade.

Alder will make the aroma of fish delicate, preserving its natural taste. Beech, on the contrary, will enhance the marine notes in mackerel meat. It can be combined with alder.

You can also add other natural flavors to the wood chips. For example, the skin of an orange or lemon, berries and sprigs of rosemary and juniper.

You can flavor the wood chips with wormwood and thin willow branches. Fresh or dried leaves of fruit trees, as well as juniper berries, are well suited for this.

Cold smoked

Cold smoked mackerel is an excellent appetizer for any feast, but few people know that you can cook it at home. This fish is smoked for several days. Each piece of cutting will delight the gourmet and everyone present at the table.

Nutritional value per 100 grams of product: proteins – 4.4 g; fats – 3.3 g; carbohydrates – 2.6 g.

Recipe preparation time: 40 minutes.

Ingredients

• Mackerel – 2 pcs;
• Black tea – 50 g;
• Salt – 50 g;
• Sugar – 50 gr;
• Turmeric – 1 tsp;
• Liquid smoke.

Cooking process

1. Mackerel must be thawed and cleaned. To do this, we cut off the head, rip open the belly and take out the insides of the fish.
2. Rinse thoroughly under water and hang to dry. You can read about how much and how to dry it in the previous block.
3. Add 3 tbsp to a deep container. tea leaves. (It is important that the brew should not have flavors or various additives).
4. Pour boiling water over and leave for a quarter of an hour.
5. Then remove the tea leaves and add salt and sugar, 3 tbsp each. Mix the ingredients thoroughly.
6. Once the marinade has cooled, add 1 tsp. turmeric and liquid smoke.
7. Now let's prepare the containers for smoking. Plastic bottles with a capacity of 1 to 2 liters will do, depending on the size of the mackerel.
8. Place the mackerel tail up and pour the marinade over it.
9. In this state, we cover the bottles with cling film and leave them in the refrigerator for 3 days.
10. It is important to wrap the bottle well with film, otherwise the liquid smoke will evaporate and the carcass will not be saturated.

After 3 days, you can remove the smoked meat from the marinade and serve. It is advisable to immediately cut into portions so that everyone can enjoy a very tasty dish.

Useful qualities of mackerel meat

Mackerel can be prepared in any form, and in any form the resulting product is deliciously prepared, which also carries enormous benefits for the body, and a detailed analysis of the chemical composition is proof of this. Mackerel meat is rich in proteins, fats, vitamins and microelements.

Proteins have never hurt anyone, and for those who are engaged in active activities, they are simply necessary. Some dieters try to exclude proteins from their diet. Here they make a grave mistake. It has already been scientifically proven that vegetarianism is not beneficial to the body, and all because plant foods do not contain the amino acids that are generated from meat. Protein is out of the question; to replenish your daily requirement, you will have to eat an incredible amount of “grass.” Fish can fill the body with half the norm.

Fats are broken down very quickly, and they are not deposited in their pure form, which means that it is simply impossible to gain weight from fish. Even the calorie numbers prove this statement. 100 grams of mackerel provides an energy output of 190 thousand calories. Of course, for fish the figure can be lower, but in relative terms, this is not much.

The complex of vitamins contained in mackerel covers all groups. It’s even difficult to imagine another such universal product, from which the body would replenish its pantry. Medicine claims that it is vitamins that can normalize all vital processes. Thus, vitamin A has a direct effect on visual acuity, vitamin B stabilizes the functioning of the central nervous system, improves memory, vitamin C is responsible for immunity, vitamin D is needed by children during the formation of the skeleton.

Microelements also play an important role. In addition to the fact that fish contains quite rare metals, they are also difficult to find in their pure form in other products. Smoked fish is one of the cooking methods. Despite the fact that it is not recommended to consume smoked meats in large quantities, their benefits outweigh their harm. When smoking, many useful substances are preserved, which cannot be said about boiling or frying.

It’s not difficult to buy smoked fish in a store, but hot-smoked products, as you know, will not be stored for a long time, so you are buying a “pig in a poke.” And, what is important to emphasize, hot smoked mackerel cooked at home looks much more presentable, and there is no competition in taste.

Hot smoked

A home smokehouse is always good, especially when ideas for cooking appear daily. Smoked mackerel is quickly prepared on a grill, which you will definitely find at the dacha, but you can also make it at home. Smoking mackerel in a smokehouse is a simple process; now we will reveal the secret of preparing a delicious dish.

Nutritional value per 100 grams of product: proteins – 4.2 g; fats – 3.4 g; carbohydrates – 2.6 g.

Time to prepare hot smoked mackerel: 35 minutes.

Ingredients

• Mackerel 3 pcs;
• Salt – 2 tbsp;
• Sugar – 1 tbsp;
• Cumin – ½ tsp;
• Paprika – 1 tsp;
• Coriander – ¼ tsp;
• Lemon – 1 pc.

Preparation and smoking process

1. For high-quality smoking, you need to choose fresh or fresh-frozen medium-sized carcasses.
2. At home, we gut the fish and carefully cut off the head, preserving the maximum amount of meat on the body.
3. We wash the carcass and check for any remaining scales and entrails.
4. Take a separate container and mix the spices from the list of ingredients.
5. Rub the carcass with the prepared seasoning. You need to rub both outside and inside.
6. We bury the fish with cling film and press it down with a small weight so that the secreted juice can drain into the container and the fish can be salted.
7. Place the container with fish in the refrigerator for 2 days.
8. After 2 days, remove the carcass from the refrigerator and dry it. It is most convenient to perform this operation with paper towels, thoroughly wiping the fish on all sides and inside the carcass.
9. Depending on the chosen smokehouse, the carcass must be tied with a special thread. This will allow you to conveniently tie up the carcass, and it will not fall apart during the smoking process.
10. We hang the fish or place it on the smokehouse grate.
11. Let's prepare alder sawdust for smoking. They should have average humidity, therefore, if dry shavings were purchased, they are soaked in water and then dried.
12. For the smokehouse you will need 2-3 large handfuls of sawdust, which are laid in an even layer on the bottom.
13. We install the smokehouse on the stove according to the instructions. We pour water into a special compartment, it will prevent smoke from escaping. We place the smoke exhaust pipe to the hood, or to the window outside.
14. The taste of the snack will be more pleasant if, after the first 15 minutes of smoking, you open the lid and release the smoke. So, the meat will not have a bitter taste; this should be done carefully, with the hood on or the windows open.
15. Close the lid. In this state, the mackerel should be smoked for another 45 minutes.

The smoked mackerel is ready, all you have to do is wait until it cools to room temperature and you can serve it on the festive table. There is no need to add salt to the appetizer; the ingredients are designed to maximize the taste of the fish; too much salt will only spoil it.

Variations in serving and decorating dishes

Homemade hot smoked fish is a real delicacy. You will definitely surprise your guests if you serve this dish at your holiday table. Typically, after smoking, the fish is cut into pieces and served without adding any third-party ingredients, but if you want to impress, you can serve the fish with pre-prepared puree - this combination will be ideal. The only point is to make the puree less salty than usual, as the fish will have a rather rich taste. In addition to puree, you can serve it on a beautiful platter with vegetables and herbs. This presentation will look very bright on the table. It is best to opt for tomatoes, cucumbers (can be salted), red or yellow bell peppers.