Content
Many people love smoked fish. However, the taste of a store-bought product often leaves much to be desired. Therefore, it is quite possible to switch to homemade delicacies - hot and cold smoked chum salmon is prepared relatively simply at home; there are recipes that do not even require the presence of special equipment or a professional smokehouse.
Useful properties of the product
Like any red fish, chum salmon is rich in protein and proteins. Moreover, during smoking they are lost slightly. Proteins provide the body with the necessary energy and are absorbed almost completely, so your figure, if you include the product in your diet in small quantities but regularly, will not suffer.
In addition, red fish is a valuable and practically the only source of amino acids and Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.
The quality of store-bought smoked chum salmon naturally raises questions
Red fish contains vitamins of all groups (A, B, C, D, E, PP). Of the microelements, chum salmon almost completely retains those present in it in high concentration:
- phosphorus;
- potassium;
- calcium;
- magnesium;
- zinc;
- iron;
- fluorine.
This rich composition provides comprehensive health benefits. Regular inclusion of fish in the diet has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular, digestive and nervous systems, and is a prevention of related diseases. The psycho-emotional state is normalized (smoked fish contains natural antidepressants), the appearance of the skin, hair, and nails improves.
Calorie content and BZHU
Approximately 3/4 of the total mass of the finished product is water. There are basically no carbohydrates in it; fish contains only proteins (18 g per 100 g) and easily digestible fats (10 g per 100 g). The calorie content of cold smoked chum salmon per 100 grams is 184 kcal. The calorie content of hot smoked chum salmon is slightly higher – 196 kcal per 100 g.
Smoked chum salmon is a delicacy that will not harm your figure
Principles and methods of smoking chum salmon
Chum salmon can be smoked using two methods – hot and cold. The basic principle in both cases is the same - treating pre-salted or pickled fish with smoke. But with hot smoking, the process takes less time due to the higher smoke temperature.
Therefore, the taste of the finished product is different. Hot smoked fish is crumbly, but at the same time juicy and soft. Cold fish has a denser consistency, not much different from raw fish, and has a more natural taste.
How to prepare chum salmon for hot and cold smoking
Many gourmets believe that excess spices and complex marinades only spoil and “clog” the natural taste. Therefore, the most popular way to prepare it is salting. However, nothing prevents you from experimenting and looking for the option that you like the most.
How to salt chum salmon for smoking
Salting chum salmon is necessary both before hot and cold smoking. This allows you to get rid of excess water and destroy pathogenic microflora. Salting is carried out in several ways:
- Semuzhny. The invention of the northern peoples. Takes the longest time (about 20 days). Chum salmon is placed on a piece of burlap or canvas on a “cushion” of salt. They sprinkle it on top and wrap it up. As a result, the fish turns out not only salted, but also canned. If you freeze it after salting, you can eat it even without smoking.
- Dry pickling. More suitable for cold smoked chum salmon. Rub it with a mixture of coarse salt and pepper (a couple of pinches to taste for each tablespoon). Then wrap it in cling film as tightly as possible and put it in the refrigerator for at least 10-12 hours.
- Wet pickling. Chum salmon is soaked in a pre-cooked brine of water and salt (approximately 80 g/l). Add bay leaf and black peppercorns to taste. The brine is filtered, and the fish, cut into fillets or pieces, is poured over it so that the liquid covers them completely. It is turned over several times a day to ensure uniform salting.
- Syringing. The method is widespread mainly in the food industry; it is used relatively rarely at home. To properly prepare lightly salted chum salmon for smoking at home, you need to cook a brine from 80 ml of water, 20 g of salt, lemon juice (1 tsp), ground black pepper and finely chopped onion (to taste).This liquid is boiled for 7-10 minutes, filtered, cooled to body temperature and, using a syringe, “pumped” into the carcass as evenly as possible. When using this method, you don’t even have to cut the fish, leaving the insides behind. It is ready for cooking almost immediately after “pumping”.
Before this, the fish must be cut. If caviar and milt are available, the former is salted separately, the latter – together with the fish. Most often, the entrails are removed, the head, tail and gills are removed, the fins and the longitudinal vein running along the ridge are cut off. Then the fish is turned into two fillets or cut into portions 5-7 cm wide. But there are other options - tesha (tenderloin from the abdomen with a part of the fillet on the sides) or cold smoked chum salmon balyk (the backbone part).
Chum salmon fillets are most often smoked
Pickling
Marinating allows you to add new original notes to the taste of hot and cold smoked fish. There are many recipes, simple and complex. For home use, the following can be recommended. All ingredients are given per 1 kg of cut chum salmon.
Spicy honey marinade:
- drinking water – 2 l;
- liquid honey – 100-120 ml;
- freshly squeezed lemon juice – 100 ml;
- coarse salt – 15-20 g;
- olive (or other refined vegetable oil) – 150 ml;
- ground cinnamon – 8-10 g;
- ground black pepper - to taste (1.5-2 pinches).
All components are simply added to warm water and brought to a boil.Then the liquid is cooled to body temperature and poured over the fish before smoking for at least 12-15 hours.
Citrus marinade:
- drinking water – 1 l;
- lemon and orange (or grapefruit) - half each;
- medium onion – 1 pc.;
- salt – 2 tbsp. l.;
- sugar – 1 tsp;
- bay leaf – 2-3 pcs.;
- ground black and red pepper, cinnamon – 3-5 g each;
- spicy herbs to taste (thyme, thyme, oregano, rosemary, marjoram) - approximately 10 g of mixture.
To prepare a marinade for smoking chum salmon, mix all the ingredients, first peeling the citrus fruits to a pulp and cutting and finely chopping the onion. The mixture is boiled for 10 minutes, left for about a quarter of an hour, then filtered, cooled and poured over the fish. It takes 18-20 hours to marinate.
Wine marinade:
- drinking water – 0.5 l;
- red wine (dry is better, but semi-sweet is also suitable) – 0.25 l;
- salt – 1 tbsp. l.;
- fresh grated or ground ginger – 10 g;
- fresh rosemary – 1-2 sprigs;
- caraway seeds – 3-5 g;
- cloves – 5-8 pcs.
Water is boiled with salt and cloves. After cooling to body temperature, add other ingredients. The marinade is stirred, allowed to brew for 15-20 minutes, then chum salmon is poured in. You can start smoking after 8-10 hours.
How to smoke chum salmon
Both methods of smoking chum fish - cold and hot - can be done at home. You need to choose not only based on the taste of the finished product, but also taking into account other factors - for example, the time spent on cooking, the presence of a special smokehouse.
Hot smoked chum salmon recipes
Smoking chum salmon using the hot smoking method is the most suitable option for those who are just “mastering the science.” The technique allows for certain experiments and improvisations and does not require strict adherence to the algorithm.Another definite plus is that the fish cooks faster.
How to smoke hot smoked chum salmon in a smokehouse
Hot smoked chum salmon in a smokehouse is prepared as follows:
- Pour a couple of handfuls of sawdust or small wood chips into the bottom, after soaking them in water and drying them. Some recommend mixing them with 2-3 tablespoons of sugar - this will give the fish a beautiful shade.
- Hang the prepared fish on hooks or on a wire rack inside the smokehouse. It is advisable that the pieces or parts of the fillet do not come into contact with each other.
- Connect the pipe through which the smoke will flow. Light a fire or barbecue under the smokehouse, achieving a steady flame.
- After 30-40 minutes, open the top lid slightly, getting rid of excess moisture. If this is not done, hot smoked chum salmon will be too “loose”.
- When the fish is ready, remove the smoker from the heat and let it cool. You can’t take it out right away - it may crumble.
Important! The most suitable “smoke source” is fruit trees, alder, beech, and maple.
Any pine sawdust during the smoking process gives the fish an unpleasant “resinous” taste
Hot smoked chum salmon at home (in a smoking cabinet)
A smoking cabinet is a home analogue of a structure that has a heating element powered by electricity.
The main advantage of such a device is the ability to easily maintain the required temperature at 80-110°C
The technology is similar to that described above. Here, too, wood chips are required for smoking chum salmon. The fish is hung on hooks or laid out on a grill, the smoking cabinet is closed, turned on and waited until cooked.
Hot smoked chum salmon heads
The heads left over after cutting fish can also be hot smoked. There is quite a lot of meat left in them. And although not everyone can eat this, among the northern peoples heads are considered a real delicacy, especially cheeks. Even the eyes and cartilage are eaten.
The technology for hot smoking heads is no different from how the fish itself is smoked. The only caveat is that it takes less time.
It is more convenient to place the heads on a grid than to hang them
Recipes for cold smoking chum salmon
It is impossible to smoke cold-smoked chum salmon using “handicraft” devices. It is necessary to have a special smokehouse or smoke generator, otherwise it will simply not be possible to maintain the required constant temperature of about 27-30°C.
How to smoke cold smoked chum salmon in a smokehouse
The main difference in the design of a smokehouse for cold smoking is the greater distance from the source of smoke to what is inside (about 2 m).
As the smoke passes through the pipe, it has time to cool to the required temperature.
The source of smoke is also sawdust or small chips (preferably they are the same size). It is better to hang chum salmon fillet for cold smoking, so it will be processed more evenly by the smoke. The pieces are laid out on racks.
A necessary condition for high quality of the finished product is process continuity. Ideally, it should not be stopped at all. But if it doesn’t work out, at least for the first 6-8 hours.
The readiness of cold smoked chum salmon is determined based on the characteristic aroma, dryness of the skin and its golden brown hue.
Cold smoking of chum salmon with a smoke generator
A smoke generator is a device that is not found in every kitchen. Meanwhile, the device is very useful. Its compactness and simplicity of design allow it to be used for smoking chum salmon both hot and cold, both at home and in the field. The smoke generator independently regulates the process of supplying smoke to the smoking cabinet (industrial production or homemade).
Cold smoked chum salmon is prepared using a smoke generator as follows:
- Place sawdust or small chips with a moisture content of no higher than 14-15% into the device body. Connect with a pipe to the smoking cabinet.
- Place the chum salmon inside for smoking and light the fuel.
Modern smoke generators are equipped with filtration systems. Thanks to this, soot particles are retained.
After smoking with a smoke generator, chum salmon can be eaten immediately; there is no need to ventilate it.
How to make cold smoked chum salmon heads
Cold smoked chum salmon heads are prepared in the same way as the fish itself. For this you can use both a smokehouse and a smoke generator.
It takes about three times less time to bring the heads to readiness than a whole chum salmon
Smoking time
Chum salmon is not the largest red fish. Its average weight is 3-5 kg. After cutting, even less remains. The weight of one fillet, as a rule, does not exceed 2 kg. Therefore, hot smoking takes approximately 1.5-2 hours. If the heads are smoked - 35-40 minutes. You can check the readiness by piercing the chum salmon with a wooden stick - no liquid should come out.
Cold smoking takes 2-3 days if the fillet is smoked. Cold smoked chum salmon and heads will be ready in about a day. To determine whether it’s time to take out the delicacy, you need to cut a piece of meat from under the skin.It should be light, dense, elastic, without oozing juice.
Storage rules and periods
Homemade chum salmon, both hot and cold smoked, spoils quite quickly. Therefore, it is not recommended to cook it in large portions at once. In the refrigerator, hot smoked fish will last up to 4 days, cold smoked fish – up to 10. In this case, it must be packaged in cling film, parchment paper, foil or a vacuum container.
You can store smoked chum salmon in the freezer for up to two months. This applies to both hot and cold smoked fish. It must be placed in a vacuum container or sealed plastic bag with a zipper. Chum salmon is packaged in small portions - freezing it again is not recommended.
Conclusion
Hot and cold smoked chum salmon at home is prepared according to many different recipes. A homemade delicacy, unlike a store-bought product, is completely natural and does not contain preservatives, dyes, flavors, or other chemical additives.
