In modern conditions, buying smoked meats in a store is not only expensive, but sometimes it is also unhealthy to consume such products.
Current manufacturers of meat products often do not adhere to technology and meat products are of poor quality due to the fact that liquid smoke and taste improvers are used instead of normal smoking.
To eat delicious meat delicacies and not harm your health, prepare smoked meats at home yourself. It's not difficult at all.
For example, smoked pork ham at home turns out tasty, juicy with a characteristic smoky smell.
The recipe for making homemade smoked ham is varied, you can choose it to suit your taste.
Homemade smoked pork ham
Ingredients:
- pork - 5 kg,
- salt - 100-150 g,
- sugar - 25 g,
- bay leaf - 3-4 pcs.,
How to make homemade smoked pork ham:
Wash the pork ham thoroughly and dry. Rub the meat with a mixture of sugar and salt, then place it in a salting bowl and place a press on top.
Place the container with meat for 24-36 hours in a warm room. Then remove the meat, rinse and hang in a ventilated and cool room for a day.
After this, smoke the pork hot for 3-4 hours. During smoking, the meat will release juice, add 10 liters of water, bay leaves, lower the pork ham and cook for 1.5-2 hours.
Cooked smoked ham at home
Ingredients:
- pork - 5 kg,
- saltpeter - 6 g,
- sugar - 25 g,
- bay leaf - 7 pcs.,
- salt - 300 g
How to cook boiled smoked ham at home:
Mix salt, saltpeter and granulated sugar in a cup. Rub the back of the pig, prepared in advance, with this mixture.
Keep the salted ham under load for 2 days.
Remove the meat, wipe it with a cloth, tie it with a thin rope and hang it on a hook to dry for 24 hours.
Smoked pork ham with juniper
Ingredients:
- pork ham - 5 kg,
- salt - 130 g,
- juniper berries - 75 g,
- sugar - 70 g,
- pepper - 4 g,
- cloves - 1 bud,
- cinnamon to taste
How to cook smoked pork ham with juniper:
Rinse the meat and cut into portions. Mix 70 g of salt, 30 g of sugar and pepper and pound in a mortar.
Rub the ham with this spicy mixture, place the pieces in a pickling container, sprinkle with juniper berries.
Install the press and leave the dish with the ham at room temperature for a day, then transfer it to a cool place for 6 days.
Dissolve the remaining sugar and salt in 2.5 liters of boiling water, add cloves and cinnamon, boil for 2-3 minutes, strain, cool, and then pour the brine over the meat.
After this, keep the meat in brine for 2.5 - 3 weeks in a cool place. Dry the meat and then cold smoke it for 1.5-2 weeks in a cold smoked smokehouse.
Wet-salted smoked pork ham
Ingredients:
- pork ham – 5 kg
- red wine – 200 ml;
- garlic – 2-3 cloves;
- juniper berries – 80 g;
- salt – 450 g;
- sugar – 50 g;
- cloves (buds) – 2 pcs;
- bay leaf – 2 pcs.
How to cook smoked ham by wet salting:
Rinse the pork pieces, dry well, then rub with chopped garlic and sprinkle with salt. Add juniper berries, place pork in a salting container.
Prepare the brine for the ham: add sugar, bay leaf, cloves, and the remaining salt to boiling water (5 liters).
Boil all the ingredients for 15-20 minutes over medium heat, then filter the brine and cool. Then pour the resulting brine over the pork and let it brew for a week in a cool place.
After the pork has been salted, remove the pieces of meat and dry for 6 hours.
Then boil the meat until half cooked in boiling water. Cool and dry the pork, then wrap it in paper pre-moistened with red wine.
After this, pull the meat tightly and compactly with twine. While constantly soaking the paper in red wine, cold smoke the ham in a cold smoker for a week and a half.
A simple recipe for raw smoked meat in a cold smoked smokehouse Summer resident
Smoking ham
Pickling mixture recipe
Sea salt, pepper, coriander, juniper, garlic, a little sugar,a little sugar syrup.
Salting before smoking
If you intend to smoke pre-salted hams, then they should be soaked for 2 - 3 hours before moving them into the smoking chamber. If the salting is strong, then they will have to soak for all six hours. Having threaded twine between the tendons, the hams are hung to dry in a cool, constantly ventilated place. When the raw material has dried, it is sent to a chamber for subsequent smoking.
Hot smoked ham
Hot smoked ham is cooked in twelve hours at a relatively low temperature, from 45 to 60 °C. Smoking begins with a relatively weak stream of smoke, and only later is it gradually increased.
Firewood stacked in a dense pile and covered with a thin layer of sawdust is used as a source of smoke. Moreover, it is important to choose sawdust that produces the maximum amount of smoke. But you shouldn’t start a strong flame; if this happens, you can put out the fire with the help of wet sawdust, which is added to the general layer. The readiness of the ham can be determined by the color of the crust. It becomes a warm light brown shade and does not leave wet marks when touched. After cooling, the ham can be boiled or baked.
Cold smoked ham
If the ham is to be stored for a long time, then it is better to cook it using cold smoking. The process will take from two to four days, and it takes place in a stream of cold smoke, with a temperature of 20 - 25 ° C. After smoking is complete, the ham should be aged in a cool, ventilated area. The meat will be suspended for 3 to 5 weeks, and then the raw smoked delicacy is ready for consumption.
Smoking pork fillet
All bones and cartilage are removed from a piece of pork. Next, the meat is placed in the boiled and now cooled brine. To prepare it, you need to take: five liters of water, 900 grams of salt and 25 grams of sugar.
After two weeks, the meat is thoroughly washed, dried and, tied with twine, smoked using the cold smoking method until an appetizing brown crust appears on the pieces. Fillet wrapped in parchment or clean gauze can be safely stored in the cold, in a place with sufficient ventilation for up to 2 to 3 months. It is better to hang the pieces.
Pork Shoulder Recipe
Question: what to cook from pork shoulder?
Take 10 kg of pork shoulder, you will also need 300 g of salt, 30 g of sugar, 2 g of black, red and ground pepper.
Preparation: wash the pork and dry it with a linen napkin. Mix salt, sugar and spices, and then rub the pork with this mixture. Place the meat in a salting container, top it with chopped garlic, and place a press on top. We place the container for 3 hours in a warm place, and then transfer it for a week to a cool, well-ventilated and dark place, from time to time the meat needs to be shifted, changing the layers in places.
Then remove the pieces of meat and place them in cold water for 4 hours to soak the meat. Remove the meat, rinse in running water, make small slits and stretch twine through them (you can use a thin hemp rope), hang the pieces of meat in a cool room for 2-3 hours. Wrap each piece in paper, slightly moistening it (this will not only protect the meat from contamination with soot, but also prevent fire and smoldering of the paper).
Smoke the prepared pieces of pork for 5-10 hours.
Let it rest. The product is ready!
Smoked pork ham (cold and hot smoked pork)
To prepare, you will need the back of pork - 10 kg, salt - 200-300 g, sugar - 50 g and 6-8 bay leaves.
Preparation: rub the washed and dried meat with a mixture of sugar and salt, then place it in a salting container with a press on top. Place the container in a warm room for 24-36 hours. Then we take out the meat, wash it and hang it in a ventilated and cool room for a day. Then we smoke the pork hot for 3-4 hours. During smoking, the meat will release juice, add 10 liters of water, bay leaves, lower the pork ham and cook for 1.5-2 hours.
Smoked pork ham with juniper berries
To prepare, you will need the back of pork - 10 kg, salt - 250 g, juniper berries - 150 g, sugar - 140 g, pepper 8 g, cloves - 2 buds, cinnamon to taste.
We wash the meat and cut into portions. Mix 130 g of salt, 70 g of sugar and pepper and pound in a mortar, rub the ham with the mixture, place the pieces in a pickling container, sprinkle with juniper berries. We install the press and leave the container at room temperature for a day, after which we transfer it to a cool place for 6 days.
Dissolve the remaining sugar and salt in 5 liters of boiling water, add cloves and cinnamon, boil for 2-3 minutes, strain, cool, and then pour the brine over the meat. After this, we keep the meat in brine for 2.5 - 3 weeks in a cool place. We dry the meat and then cold smoke it for 1.5-2 weeks in the “Dachnik” cold smoked smokehouse.
Wet-salted pork ham with spices
Compound:
Pork (back) – 10-11 kg;
Red wine – 400 ml;
Garlic – 3-4 cloves;
Juniper berries – 150 g;
Salt – 950 g;
Sugar – 100-110 g;
Cloves (buds) – 2-3 pcs;
Bay leaf – 3-4 pcs.
Preparation of pork ham:
The pieces of pork must be washed, dried well, and then rubbed with crushed garlic and sprinkled with salt. After adding the juniper berries, place the pork in a salting container.
Preparation of brine: add sugar, bay leaf, cloves, and the remaining salt to boiling water (10 liters). After boiling all the ingredients for 15-20 minutes over medium heat, you need to filter the brine and cool. Then pour the resulting brine over our pork and let it brew for a week in a cool place.
After the pork has been salted, remove the pieces of meat and dry (this will take 6 hours). Now you need to boil the meat until half cooked in boiling water. After cooling and drying the pork, wrap it in paper previously moistened with red wine. Then tie the meat tightly and compactly with twine. Constantly soaking the paper in red wine, cold smoke the ham in the “Dachnik” cold smoked smokehouse for a week and a half.
Smoked pork belly
Compound:
Pork (brisket with a small layer of meat) – 10 kg;
Bay leaf – 3-4 pcs;
Sugar – 50 g;
Garlic – 3-4 cloves;
Ground red pepper – 10 g;
Salt – 300 g.
Preparation:
The ideal brisket for smoking is one with a small layer of meat and a fat thickness of only 2-3 cm. The brisket must be cut into rectangular pieces, rinsed and dried well. Pre-prepare a mixture of sugar, salt, chopped garlic and bay leaf for salting. Lubricate the pieces of meat thoroughly with this mixture, place them in a container suitable for salting, and leave for half a day at room temperature.
Preparation of brine for pork: add sugar, salt and pepper to boiling water (7 liters). Boil the brine for 15 minutes. Then let it cool and fill the meat with it. After this, leave the brisket for a week and a half in a cooler place.
After this period of time, drain the brine and soak the pieces of meat in ice water for half a day. Rinse in cool water and dry well. It must be smoked cold in the unique cold smoked smokehouse “Dachnik” for no more than two days. The smoke temperature will not exceed 25-30 degrees Celsius. And the final stage is to hang the brisket in a well-ventilated room to dry completely for a week.
Cold smoked pork ribs with pepper and savory
Compound:
Pork (ribs) – 10 kg;
Pork stomach – 2 pcs;
Red pepper (ground) – 10 g;
Black pepper (ground) – 10 g;
Savory – 4 g;
Cloves – 4 g;
Marjoram – 4 g;
Salt – 1 kg.
Preparation:
Prepare the pork stomachs by rinsing them thoroughly under running water. Turn them inside out and carefully remove the mucous membrane. Then rub the stomachs well
pre-calcined salt (150 grams will be enough).
Also wash and chop the pork ribs. It will be most convenient to cook if you cut them into 3–4 parts. Mix spices (savory, marjoram and cloves, as well as pepper) with 500 g of salt. Rub the resulting seasoning onto the ribs.
Place the meat in the pork stomachs. Sew up each stomach, and then sprinkle with 350 g of salt. Hang the stomachs in a cold room. After 5 days, remove excess salt from them and cold smoke for at least 7 days. It's best to use .
Ham pork feet
Compound:
Pork (legs) – 10 kg;
A few cloves of garlic (to taste);
Bay leaf – 5-6 pcs (also to taste);
Ground red pepper – 10 kg;
Cinnamon - to taste;
Salt – 500 g;
Sugar - 100 g.
Preparation:
Thoroughly clean the pork legs, rinse them well, place them in a bowl suitable for salting, with pre-chopped garlic and well-chopped bay leaves.
Preparation of brine:
Add sugar, salt, cinnamon and ground red pepper to boiling water (10 liters). Then cool well. Pour cold brine over the legs, put them under pressure and leave them in a cool room for a week.
After this, remove the legs from the brine, rinse well and dry, placing them in the smoking chamber. They must be doused with hot smoke for half an hour. After cooling, tie the meat tightly with a thick thread, then boil for no more than 1.5 hours over low heat. It is best to dry pork legs in a well-ventilated room for 3 days, after wrapping them in dry paper for thorough drying.
Smoked pork tenderloin, with pepper and garlic
Compound:
Pork – 10 kg;
Salt – 450 g.
Bay leaf – 3 – 4 pcs;
Ground red pepper – 5 g;
Allspice – 5 g;
Ground black pepper –5 g;
Sugar – 40 g;
Garlic – 3 – 4 cloves.
Preparation:
Carefully cut the pork ham into pieces 3-4 cm thick, remove any existing fat. Salt and sugar, ground red pepper and ground black pepper, then mix the resulting mixture thoroughly. Coat the pork tenderloin on both sides with the resulting mixture, place in a salting bowl, throwing in crushed allspice and bay leaf. Set the oppression and keep it for a couple of weeks in a fairly cool room. After removing the oppression, soak the pieces of meat for a couple of hours, maybe a little more. After this, dry for about 6 hours in a well-ventilated area. Next, the pork is placed in the “Dachnik” cold smokehouse, where it is cold smoked for 3 days. Then place the pork tenderloin between cutting boards for 4-5 hours and hang it in a cool room for about a week for final airing.
Pork smoked with rye flour and pepper
Compound:
Fresh pork (shoulder part) – 5 kg;
Rye flour – 125 g;
Black pepper – 5 peas;
Allspice – 7 peas;
Bay leaf – 2 pcs.;
Salt – 750 g.
Preparation:
Dry the washed pork a little, then leave it to ventilate for a couple of days. Then place the meat in a salting bowl, sprinkling the pieces with allspice and black pepper. Add bay leaf.
Preparation of brine:
Boil five liters of water, add allspice peas and salt to it. Boil water with seasonings for another 10 minutes. Then remove the dishes from the heat and cool the brine.
Pour cold brine over the meat and place under a press. After 24 hours, the dishes with pork should be moved to a cold room and left there for 3 to 4 days.
After the specified time has passed, remove the meat from the brine and hang it in a warm room. It will take about 5 hours to dry completely. Sometimes - a little more. After the pork has dried, carefully roll each piece in rye flour. Meat should be smoked hot. The fire should be kept even and the smoke should completely cover each piece. Ready pork has a pleasant smell and a reddish crust.
Boiled smoked pork with spices
Compound:
Pork loin – 4 kg;
Ground red pepper – 8 g;
Garlic – approximately 7 cloves;
Salt – 200 g;
Sugar – 40 g.
Preparation:
Cut the pork, washed in cold water, into pieces. The pieces should be large, no need to chop them. After slicing, the pork should be washed again and then dried thoroughly.
Peel the garlic cloves and rinse under running water. Grind all 7 cloves. Add red pepper, salt and sugar. Rub each piece of loin thoroughly with the seasoning prepared in this way. After which the meat must be placed in one salting container and placed in a cold room. A load must be placed on top.
After 14 days, the meat is washed. The loin should be smoked hot, at a temperature of at least 119 °C. To ensure that the meat is smoked evenly, you can add sawdust to the firewood. Also, do not forget to place a dish under each piece of pork into which excess fat will drain.
Smoking will take approximately 12 hours. A reddish crust is a sign that the meat is ready. Boil the finished loin for 90 minutes. The fire during cooking should not be too intense.
Pork roll, smoked and boiled, with pepper and garlic
Compound:
Pork (it’s better to take hams) – 3 kg;
Ground red pepper – 6 g;
Ground black pepper – 6 g;
Garlic – 15 cloves;
Salt – 450 g.
Preparation:
Rinse the pork well. Then cut the meat into strips, keeping the skin, about 3 cm thick, after first separating it from the bones. Rinse again with cool water and dry.
Mix pepper and salt. Peel and chop the garlic and add it to the mixture. Rub seasoning over each strip of pork. Carefully place in a container and place under a press.
After 2 days of this salting at room temperature, the meat will absorb the aroma of spices and salt. Then you need to remove the press, dry the pork a little and roll each strip into a tight roll. The skin should be on top. Tie the rolls with thread.
Pork rolls should be smoked cold, in an excellent cold-smoked smokehouse “Dachnik”, for at least 3 days, after which the meat should be boiled over low heat. Cooking will take about 3 hours.
Smoking pork belly roll (cold smoking)
The delicacy pork roll is made from the breast meat, from which the rib bones are removed and then placed in a pre-made brine for 13 - 15 days.
To make the brine, take 5 liters of water and 1250 grams of salt. The liquid is brought to an even boil and cooled.
When the pork is salted, it is taken out, allowed to dry on a cloth and, laid out on the table, generously rubbed with grated garlic and a mixture of crushed spices, for example, black and red pepper. The prepared layer is tightly twisted and often tied with twine, leaving 2 - 3 cm between the turns.
The tied pork roll is smoked until a rich golden crust appears on the pieces, and the delicacy is stored in the cold, hanging, for up to two months.
Smoked pork ham
Smoked pork
Pork recipes - 2012
A simple recipe for cold smoking products
To smoke, you need to take a pre-salted ham, preferably from young pork, and put it in fresh water for 2-6 hours (depending on the degree of salinity).
For subsequent drying, a hole is made in the leg through which twine or thick thread is threaded, after which the workpiece is hung in a cold and well-ventilated room. Upon completion of the process of removing excess moisture, the ham is hung in the smokehouse.
There are hot and cold smoking techniques.
This type of processing requires significantly less time than cold smoking and is used if the ham is planned to be cooked after the smokehouse. The product hung for smoking is treated for 12 hours with smoke at a temperature of 45-60 degrees.
To maintain the desired temperature during smoking, the firewood is covered with a layer of wet sawdust. It is important to monitor the fire level, constantly reducing it by adding a new portion of sawdust. The readiness of the ham can be assessed by eye: it should be well dried and have a smoky yellow-brown color. After hot smoking, the product can be boiled or baked in the oven.
See video: How hot-smoked frozen ham is made on an industrial scale.
This type of meat processing is necessary in order to obtain a delicious raw smoked product from the prepared ham. To do this, you need to create cold smoke at room temperature and slowly smoke the workpiece for 48–96 hours. After which, the resulting smoked product must be dried for a month in a dry, cold room.
Homemade hot smoked hams can be stored in the refrigerator and preferably consumed within a few days from the moment of preparation, while a cold smoked product can be stored in cold rooms for up to 6 months.
Smoking is the treatment of the surface of meat products with substances contained in smoke generated as a result of incomplete combustion of wood. The most suitable smoke for smoking is the smoke obtained with limited access of air from burning wood. Such smoke consists of gas, steam, liquid and solid phases.
The smoke contains phenols, aldehydes, ketones, organic acids, alcohols, resins, ash, soot and other substances, many of which have bactericidal properties.
For smoking, the best smoke is from burning sawdust and shavings of deciduous trees - beech, oak, birch, alder, maple, ash. Coniferous species should not be used, as they give meat products an unpleasant resinous odor, dark color and bitter taste.
Smoked pork
Well-smoked products contain up to 2% phenolic substances with pronounced bactericidal properties. The brown color of smoked meats occurs as a result of the polymerization of phenols and aldehydes to form melanins due to the interaction of proteins, amino acids with carbohydrates, ketones and aldehydes. The intensity of color depends on the concentration of smoke, temperature and humidity of the environment and product, duration of smoking and shelf life. When smoked, the surface of the product becomes denser due to tanning under the influence of formaldehyde, which has a beneficial effect on storage stability. Some smoke substances have antioxidant properties and protect fats from spoilage.
Depending on the temperature, there are cold (18-22 °C) and hot (35-45 °C) smoking methods. The first is used to obtain raw smoked products, its duration is 3-7 days. At the same time, the product is characterized by high taste and storage stability due to significant dehydration and, as a consequence, an increase in the content of table salt. During cold smoking, deep autolytic processes occur in muscle tissue and the product acquires a delicate consistency. The duration of hot smoking is 12-18 hours. It is used in the manufacture of boiled and smoked products. These products are less shelf stable.
At meat processing plants, products are smoked in stationary chambers or automatic smokers. In the smoking chamber, the relative air humidity is maintained at 40-50%. Before loading into the chambers, meat products that have undergone the salting process are soaked at a temperature of 20-30 °C, then dried (heated) in a chamber at a temperature of 50 °C. The temperature in the chamber at the beginning of smoking is maintained 10-12 °C higher than the temperature at which smoking will be carried out.
The end of smoking is determined by organoleptic indicators: a characteristic brownish-yellow color, a specific pungent taste and smell, and its surface becomes dry and shiny. At the end of smoking, the product is quickly cooled and dried for 3-15 days, depending on its type, at 12 ° C and a relative air humidity of 75%.
The yield of the finished product is 70% of the original mass of meat. Store packaged smoked products for up to 1 month at a temperature close to 0 °C.
You can smoke salted and boiled hams. After soaking for 2-3 hours, salted hams are tied with twine and dried in a cool room in a draft. After this, they are transferred to the smokehouse, where they are hung, avoiding contact. Hams are smoked at a temperature of 45-60 °C for 12-24 hours. Raw smoked hams intended for long-term storage are smoked at a temperature of 20-25 °C for 2-4 days, then kept for 3-5 weeks in a cool, dry place. room in a suspended state. Loin and brisket are smoked under similar conditions, but the smoking time is shorter.
Smoked pork ribs
When wet smoking, instead of smoke, a smoking preparation is used, obtained by processing smoke condensate. This method makes it possible to produce products of uniform quality, eliminate carcinogenic and other harmful substances that are present in smoke from the product, and intensify the technological process.
Smoking ham
To prepare the ham, the hind leg is separated from the half carcass by a transverse cut between the last and penultimate lumbar vertebrae. To give the ham an attractive presentation, the leg is cut off at the hock joint, a cut is made between the bone and tendon for hanging, excess fat is cut off, and it is given a rounded shape. Salting of hams prepared in this way is carried out in several ways.
Dry salting method. A layer of dry salt is poured onto the bottom of a thick wooden box or barrel with holes in the bottom to drain the resulting brine. The hams are well rubbed with the curing mixture (for 1 kg of salt, 160 g of sugar and 40 g of saltpeter), placed in a box with the skin down, all the voids between the hams and the walls of the box are filled with the curing mixture and placed in a cool place. After three days, the hams are swapped: the lower ones are placed on top, and the upper ones - down, sprinkling them with the curing mixture. After 2-3 weeks, the hams are ready for consumption; they are cleaned of salt and ventilated in a cool, dry room.
Ambassador in brine carried out in clean scalded oak barrels without foreign odors. The brine can be prepared according to the following recipe: for 10 kg of pork, take 0.7 kg of salt, 0.2 kg of sugar, 50 g of saltpeter. It is better to boil the brine and use it chilled.
The hams are placed in a barrel, skin side down, topped with spices and filled with brine until completely covered. The barrel is closed with a lid and a load is placed on it. Salting lasts from 3-4 weeks to two months. Salted hams are ventilated in a cool room.
Combined salting method. First, dry salting is done in a salting mixture (1 kg of salt, 50 g of sugar, 16 g of saltpeter) with the addition of spices for 2 weeks. Then the hams are poured with brine (500 g of salt, 100 g of sugar, 50 g of saltpeter per 10 liters of water) and 2-3 weeks after pouring, the hams are removed and ventilated.
Quick salting method. The ham prepared for salting is syringed with brine cooled to 3-5 °C (250 g of salt, 0.75 g of saltpeter per 1 liter of water) using a hollow needle, syringe or pump at the rate of 8-12% of the weight of the ham. After this, the hams are rubbed with salt at the rate of 2% of their weight, placed in a barrel and covered with a lid with a weight. The next day, 16-17% brine is poured into the barrel and left for 15-20 days. After this, the hams are hung out for ventilation for 6-10 days in a cool room.
Smoking hams. At home, for smoking hams, other meat products, as well as fish, a smokehouse of the simplest design is equipped. A ditch is dug in the ground 30-40 cm deep, 25-30 cm wide and 90-120 cm long. Cover it on top with fire-resistant material and fill it with earth, leaving both edges open. At one end, a tall barrel without a bottom or a square wooden box 1.5 m high is placed above the hole. At the bottom, the edges of the barrel (box) are sprinkled with earth so that smoke does not leak out, and a fireplace is made at the other end of the groove.
Transverse slats are stuffed into a barrel or box for hanging hams.
For smoking, wood from fruit trees (apple trees, pears, cherries, apricots) and dense species (oak, beech) is used. Coniferous and birch firewood is not very suitable for these purposes. The firewood is covered with sawdust and shavings on top to create smoke. To give the hams a pleasant aroma and taste, aromatic herbs and shrubs (wormwood, juniper, mint, caraway, thyme, coriander, etc.) are placed on top of the firewood.
Before smoking, the hams are lined with gauze in 1-2 layers, after soaking them for 2-5 hours in cold water, depending on the degree of salinity.
Hot smoking used in cases where long-term storage of hams is not expected. The smoke temperature when smoking hams is maintained at 80-100 °C for 4-6 hours or at 45-60 °C, but the smoking duration increases to 12-24 hours.
Cold smoking used to prepare hams for long-term storage. Smoked for 2-3 days at a temperature of 20-30 °C or 3-4 days at a temperature of 18-22 °C. In this case, the hams lose up to 8% of their weight due to a decrease in liquid and are well saturated with smoke.
At the end of smoking, hang the hams in a cool place, remove the gauze from them and after 3-5 days wrap them in thick, clean paper to prevent them from drying out.
The ham is smoked to give the meat a delicate flavor and increase shelf life. To do this at home, you need to make a smokehouse and stock up on firewood and sawdust.
The simplest smokehouse is a barrel with slats for hanging meat. Smoking is best done outside. A shallow ditch is dug in the ground, the middle of which is covered with a sheet of iron. A barrel without a bottom is installed at one open edge of the pit, the lower part of which is dug in with earth, and the upper part is tightly wrapped. At the other end of the pit, a place is prepared for smoldering firewood and sawdust. Smoke from the fireplace will flow through the ditch into the barrel and envelop the ham suspended in its upper part. Firewood and sawdust from fruit trees, alder, oak are suitable for smoking; coniferous trees, except juniper, and birch are not suitable - they emit resin and tar, impart bitterness to smoked meats, and emit a lot of soot. Juniper, on the contrary, gives the ham a beautiful color and a special aroma.
If it is not possible to install the smokehouse on the ground, you can do something simpler. Two or three barrels (with a volume of at least 40 liters) are placed one on top of the other, and a filter (for example, wet burlap) is placed between them. Sawdust is placed at the bottom of the lower barrel, and meat is hung on the crossbars of the upper one. A tightly closed container is placed on a stove or fire, which will ensure the sawdust smoldering inside the smokehouse. Of course, small pieces of meat are smoked this way, but the product is of good quality.
Meat for smoking is pre-salted dry or wet. In the first case, the pieces are rubbed with a mixture (for 1 kg of meat, 50 g of salt and 10 g of sugar, pepper to taste), laid in layers (skin side down) and kept for 3 weeks, turning the meat every 4 days. Then it is removed from the brine and left for another four days, after which it is soaked for 12 hours, rinsed and dried.
With the wet method of preliminary preparation, the meat is kept in brine for a week: 100 g of salt and 10 g of sugar are taken per 1 liter of water. Then the prepared product is dried for 7-8 hours.
There are cold and hot smoking. With the cold method, the product is smoked for 2-3 to 7 days (depending on the size of the meat), and the smoke should not be hot (recommended temperature is from 18 to 25 ° C). During smoking, the moisture evaporates, and the flesh is saturated with smoke, so this ham will be dry, but aromatic. Due to the low moisture content, the resulting product can be stored for a long time.
With hot smoking, meat is processed at high temperatures (up to 100°C) for only 4-6 hours. In this case, the ham will turn out juicy and tender, with a bright taste and smell of smoking. The disadvantage of this method is the relatively short shelf life of the product.
Loading...