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It is necessary to marinate the duck for smoking 4 hours before starting to cook the meat - this way it will turn out tastier and juicier. As spices for salting and marinade, you can use fennel, star anise, rosemary, lemon juice, honey, thyme.
Preparing and cutting up poultry
Before salting a duck for smoking, it is necessary to properly prepare it. First, the carcass is roasted over a fire so that the small hairs that remain on it do not spoil the taste and appearance of the dish. After the treated bird is washed under water, cleaned of entrails, and dried well. Next, proceed to salting and marinating the meat.
Smoking duck can be prepared in pieces or whole.
Small pieces are faster and easier to cook than a whole carcass
How to brine duck for smoking
Salt domestic duck for smoking in three ways:
- Dry.
- Wet.
- Combined.
The salting method affects the method and cooking time of the dish.For wet salting of poultry you will need seasonings and bay leaves. The carcass is rubbed with salt and spices in advance, and then placed in a large pan. The duck is poured with boiled water so that it is completely covered. Place a bay leaf in a container and place it on the stove. The meat must be brought to a boil and held for about 5 minutes. Before cooking, it is thoroughly dried for about 8 hours in a suspended state.
Classic recipe for dry salting
Before cooking hot smoked duck, it is carefully salted to avoid rotting of the product.
Dry salting of a carcass begins with rubbing the meat with salt and seasonings. The following spices can be used:
- cinnamon;
- carnation;
- black pepper;
- coriander;
- basil.
Afterwards, the duck is placed in an enamel bowl and left to simmer at a cold temperature for 6 days.
Every day the carcass must be turned over and placed on a napkin to remove moisture.
With fennel and star anise
Chinese smoked duck is prepared using a mixture of special spices. The dish turns out more aromatic than with regular smoking. To prepare this smoked product you will need the following ingredients:
- fennel seeds;
- carnation;
- sugar;
- salt;
- cassia.
All spices must be ground in advance. Afterwards they are mixed with salt and sugar, and pieces of poultry are rubbed with this mixture.
With rosemary and thyme
The festive table will be decorated with a fragrant smoked duck dish. To prepare it you need the following products:
- granulated sugar;
- salt;
- water;
- rosemary;
- black pepper;
- thyme;
- Bay leaf.
The duck is salted, rubbed with spices, then filled with water. For flavor, add a bay leaf on top.
The bird must be boiled for 10 minutes, then cooled, after which the carcass can be marinated
How to marinate duck before smoking
Marinade for duck before smoking eliminates unpleasant odors and adds juiciness to the meat. Ginger and juniper berries are used for cold smoking and add sophistication to the dish. You can choose the ingredients for the marinade yourself, but it is better to use proven brine recipes.
Classic marinade for smoking duck
The classic brine recipe for hot-smoked medium-sized duck includes the following ingredients:
- water 700 ml;
- vinegar 2 tbsp. l.;
- salt 0.5 tbsp. l.;
- garlic 3 cloves;
- bay leaf 3 pcs.;
- sugar 1 tbsp. l.;
- ginger 0.5 tsp;
- cinnamon 0.5 tsp.
All products must be crushed and added to boiling water for 4 minutes. Then the carcass is poured with the resulting brine and left for 2 days.
If you marinate the duck correctly, you will get a juicy, soft dish with a pleasant aroma
With barberry
To prepare the barberry marinade recipe, you need the following ingredients:
- salt;
- black pepper 10 pcs.;
- allspice 10-12 pcs.;
- barberry 12 pcs.;
- bay leaf 5 pcs.
It is prepared like a regular duck brine before smoking.
Cinnamon will add a pleasant aroma to the dish.
With honey and lemon juice
The honey marinade recipe for poultry includes:
- lemon juice 1 tsp;
- honey 80 g;
- garlic 4 cloves;
- vegetable oil;
- salt;
- spices – thyme, cinnamon.
First, honey, juice, and vegetable oil are mixed in a separate container. Then crushed garlic and seasonings are added to the resulting solution, and pieces of meat are seasoned with it.The hot smoked duck will marinate for 8 hours in the refrigerator.
To marinate duck for hot smoking with lemon juice, it is better to take a 3 kg carcass; the dish will be ready in 3 hours.
With cinnamon and apple cider vinegar
You can marinate duck for smoking in a smokehouse using apple cider vinegar, tomato paste and cinnamon. To do this you will need:
- tomato paste 2 tsp;
- apple cider vinegar 1 tbsp. l.;
- sugar 2 tsp;
- garlic 4 cloves;
- paprika 0.5 tsp;
- salt 2 tsp.
All ingredients must be thoroughly mixed, season the duck with the resulting spice mixture.
Before hot smoking, the meat must be infused for 10 hours.
Brine for smoking at home
You can actually smoke duck at home using a liquid marinade, which can be prepared quite quickly. The process requires the following products:
- salt 200 g;
- black pepper;
- garlic 3 cloves;
- fresh parsley.
You can use any seasonings. Pour water into a saucepan and heat to a boil. Then add spices, garlic, parsley. The water should boil for no more than 10 minutes, after which it is cooled. When the liquid has cooled, you can pour it over the duck. The bird is infused for 7 hours. It is not necessary to wash it after marinating; you can only wipe it off from excess moisture.
The brine should not contain a lot of spices, otherwise the taste and aroma will be mixed, it is important that the spices are combined with each other
Combined salting of duck for smoking
You can salt a duck using a combined method. It is used in summer or spring. Salting begins by rubbing the carcass with salt on all sides. Afterwards it is left in a cold room (at a temperature of 5 degrees) for 2 days. Then the bird is poured with pre-prepared brine and left for another two days in the refrigerator.
Next, the dish is washed and dried.Orange juice is often used in the combination salting recipe. The meat is cooked together with fat and skin.
Orange slices are added inside after salting, rub the carcass with orange juice, and leave for 2 hours.
Sometimes in such a recipe you can find sugar in a ratio of 1:2 to salt. Add the ingredients to the spices and mix the resulting mixture well in a separate bowl. The spices are divided into 3 equal parts: one is placed on the bottom of the smokehouse, the second is rubbed into the meat, and the third is used to treat the skin of the carcass. Fill the bird with water and place it under oppression for 2 days.
The finished bird has tender meat and a pleasant piquant aroma.
How much to salt duck for smoking
The salting time depends on the salting method. With the dry method, the bird is soaked in salt within 15 hours. During this period, the preservative has time to fully penetrate the fibers of the carcass. The pressure helps the meat soak faster and deeper.
Using the wet method, the carcass is salted for 2-4 days at a temperature of 2 to 4 degrees. Combined brining of duck is designed for 3 days.
Processing poultry after salting
After salting the poultry meat, it is marinated and then smoked. To make the duck easier to cook, you can cut it into small pieces.
A marinade recipe with rosemary and allspice is suitable for hot smoking.
Brine for a whole carcass includes several ingredients:
- duck 2 kg;
- water 1 l;
- salt 4 tbsp. l.;
- sugar 3 tsp;
- carnation;
- Bay leaf.
First you need to boil water, add salt, sugar and all the spices. The solution should boil for no more than 5 minutes. Then you need to let it cool. This will take about an hour.
Place the whole duck carcass in a deep bowl and fill it with cooled brine. The container must be closed with a lid and a heavy load placed on it.Afterwards the meat is put into a cool room for a day. Remove the duck from the marinade and wipe dry with paper towels.
Before treating with smoke, the dry carcass is placed in the refrigerator for 5 hours.
Conclusion
You can marinate duck for smoking using thyme, lemon juice, cinnamon, honey, and sugar. The brine adds juiciness to the meat. If the meat is not salted and marinated before cooking, it will turn out raw inside and bland.
