How to marinate wild meat for smoking. Brine for smoking meat: recipe

Do you want to organize a picnic in nature, but are you already bored with sandwiches and kebabs? Remember that there is hot smoked meat! It's easy to prepare, surprisingly fast, and the results are excellent! A compact smokehouse can be purchased commercially for home use, or you can build it yourself. A metal bucket or box into which the grates are inserted is suitable for this purpose. However, we will talk about how to make a smokehouse separately. And now - simple hot smoked recipes.

Hot smoked salted-boiled pork

The longest part of this recipe is the preliminary preparation. The pork is marinated and boiled in advance. But then, outdoors, near the fire, you will only need to smoke it for 30-40 minutes, until a golden crust appears. Ingredients: For 1 kg of pork you will need:

3 tbsp. salt;
2 tsp Sahara;
a pair of clove buds and allspice peas;
a handful of black peppercorns;
3 bay leaves;
100 ml vegetable oil;
lemon.

The advantage of hot smoking meat at home is the ability to flavor the marinade with herbs and spices to suit your taste. You can add thyme, curry, onion or garlic. You can use ready-made mustard (about 100 g) or a handful of mustard seeds. Preparation:

Pour the prepared spices into boiling water, bring to a boil and keep on fire for 2-3 minutes.
We clean the pulp from films and excess fat. We cut a large piece in half to speed up cooking, put small pieces together so as not to lose their juiciness, and tie them tightly with twine into a roll.
Cool the finished marinade, immerse the pork in it, press down with pressure so that the liquid completely covers it. Leave in the refrigerator for 8-10 hours.
During marinating, turn over 1-2 times so that the brine penetrates evenly into the pulp.

We take out the marinated meat, strain the brine, dilute it with water 1:1 and bring to a boil. Place the piece in a saucepan and boil for 20-25 minutes over low heat. After removing from the broth, let the excess brine drain on a plate and dry with a paper towel. Now our pork is ready to smoke! Light the fire, place the meat in the smokehouse - and very soon it will delight you with an attractive aroma.

Universal marinade for hot smoking

Meat of any kind, lard, poultry can be safely smoked after being salted in this composition. For 2 liters of water we take:

2-3 bay leaves;
5 cloves of garlic;
a bunch of fresh dill;
100 ml white wine;
a large head of onion;
spices.

Vary the spices depending on the meat and your own preferences. Pork loves curry, saffron, mustard. Beef goes well with garlic and basil. Chicken is ideally complemented with ginger and cardamom. Among the many herbs, through experimentation you are sure to find your ideal recipe for hot smoked meat marinade.

The simplest marinade

This is rather the basis for a marinade - a standard brine, which each cook seasones with his own bouquet of spices. It is the unlimited scope of imagination that will allow smoked meats, unique in taste, to appear on your table. Ingredients for 2 liters of water:

100 gr. salt;
100 gr. Sahara.

Hot smoked meat

Without pre-cooking, the meat is smoked much longer, up to 2-3 hours. If you are at the dacha, have equipped a smokehouse in the courtyard of your own house, you can afford to try this recipe. As in the previous method, prepare the marinade and soak the prepared meat in it for 10-12 hours. Remove from the marinade, dry and place in the smokehouse under hot smoke.

Dry method of preparing meat for hot smoking

This recipe is ideal for tender pork with layers of fat, loin or even pure lard. Mix salt, black pepper, crushed or dried garlic, dried herbs. You can use spice sets sold online for the appropriate type of meat. Rub the pieces selected for smoking with this mixture, wrap in cling film and leave in the refrigerator for a day. After 24 hours, remove the film and send the prepared pieces to the smokehouse. It couldn't be simpler! You can cook hot smoked meat without marinade. For more information about this method, watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrjrRNtpL48 Once you try to cook hot smoked meat yourself, you most likely will no longer want store-bought delicacies. After all, for ourselves and our loved ones, we always choose the best raw materials and cook with soul, and these are the most important components of quality food!

Marinating is used to saturate meat products with moisture so that pieces of meat, fish or poultry do not dry out during the smoking process. Special marinade compositions complement the taste of smoked meats with their aromas and promote appropriate softening of tough meat fibers, making the main dish more tender. By adding spices with strong ethereal aromas to the composition, a stronger “freshness” effect is achieved.

Very often, pickling in a salt solution replaces ordinary dry pickling. This technology makes it possible to better saturate the pulp and achieve uniform distribution of salt and aromatic components of the marinade.

Marinades for hot smoking - general principles of preparation

Marinades used for marinating meat, carcasses or fillets of poultry and fish for hot smoking can be either liquid or semi-liquid. They can be boiled or cooked without it.

There are many options and methods for preparing marinades for smoked meats, but the basic principle of preparation is to properly mix all the ingredients.

Marinades for hot smoking are prepared with water, wine, sour cream, and soy sauce. They are varied with spices and herbs according to recipes or even selected at your own discretion.

To enhance the softening effect, food acids are introduced - table vinegar, including apple or lemon juice; mustard is often used for the same purposes.

Adding granulated sugar or honey to the marinade not only gives meat and fish a pleasant sweetish taste, but also contributes to the formation of a golden brown crust on its surface during hot smoking.

Food saltpeter is often added; this is done if smoked meats are planned to be prepared in large quantities for long-term storage.

Also, for longer storage, before marinating, products must be soaked in a strong saline solution or sprinkled with salt and left for a day. Then rinse well. If the pieces have taken a lot of salt, soak them slightly and only then put them in the marinade.

After marinating, the poultry, fish or meat must be dried well, hanging in a draft, and only then smoked.

Marinade for hot smoking chicken with vinegar

Ingredients for 4 carcasses:

A tablespoon of coarse garden salt;

Three tablespoons of 3% table vinegar;

Half a teaspoon each of ginger, coriander, allspice and black pepper (ground);

A teaspoon of sugar;

Two large bay leaves;

Two large cloves of garlic;

Eight juniper berries.

Cooking method:

1. If you took a domestic chicken, carefully pluck it and burn it over an open fire. Remove the insides, trim off excess fat and rinse well, especially from the inside. The paws and neck should also be cut off. It is enough to rinse purchased poultry well with warm water and remove fat.

2. Then wipe the carcasses dry with a towel and cut into two halves. To do this, first cut the bird's breast with a knife, open it and cut along the ridge.

3. Rinse each chicken half again, pat dry and place between two cutting boards.

4. Then hit the top board a few times with a rolling pin. This is done so that the joints break and the bird marinates better.

5. Bring three liters of drinking water to a boil. Remove from heat and dissolve salt and sugar in boiling water.

6. Pour in vinegar, add spices, and add bay leaves. Press the garlic into the marinade using a press. Drop in the crushed juniper berries with a rolling pin and cool the marinade.

7. Place the prepared bird halves in a large container. Pour the marinade over the chicken until it completely covers it. Place a pressure on top of the meat and put it in the refrigerator for four days to marinate. Turn the chicken daily.

8. Wrap the marinated chicken halves in several layers of gauze and hang in a well-ventilated area for at least 12 hours. Drying time depends on the weather and can last up to a day.

9. After this, the well-dried bird can be smoked.

Marinade for hot smoking meat with honey

Ingredients:

100 ml fresh lemon juice;

150 ml high quality olive oil;

A quarter of a two hundred gram glass of honey;

A quarter glass of “Spice mixture”;

Finely chopped fresh parsley – 1/4 cup;

Three large cloves of garlic;

A teaspoon of fine table salt;

Black pepper, crushed in a mortar, to taste.

Cooking method:

1. Cut off all the veins and fat from pieces of meat. Rinse well and dry thoroughly.

2. In a large container, mix olive oil with strained freshly squeezed lemon juice and honey.

3. Add salt, crushed garlic with a knife or press.

4. Add parsley, “Spice mixture”, pepper to taste and stir well.

5. Place pieces of meat into the prepared marinade and leave to marinate for ten hours.

6. After this, wipe the meat dry, remove any remaining garlic, spices, parsley and smoke using the classic “hot” technology.

Marinade for hot smoking fish with soy sauce

Ingredients:

A two hundred gram glass of fresh lemon juice;

Half a glass of light soy sauce;

Brown granulated sugar - 1/2 cup;

Half a glass of coarse salt;

Dry wine (white) – 1 tbsp.;

Garlic – 3 cloves;

Two tablespoons of ground white pepper;

To taste – dried basil, marjoram or a mixture of curry and coriander.

Cooking method:

1. Pour 2.2 liters of water at room temperature into a large saucepan. Dissolve granulated sugar and salt in it.

2. Add soy sauce, lemon juice and dry wine, strained through a sieve.

3. Crush the garlic with a press or knife and add it to the marinade.

4. Add spices, crush in a mortar and add white pepper and stir everything thoroughly.

5. Cut off all the fins from the fish, remove the gills from the heads, gut the bellies and rinse well under the tap. Small fish, weighing 300 grams. and less, you don’t have to gut it.

6. Place the prepared fish carcasses in the marinade. It should be enough for all the fish to “drown”. Cover with a lid and refrigerate for 9 hours, or preferably overnight.

7. Then take out the container with the fish and keep it at room temperature for another forty minutes.

8. Dry the carcasses well from the marinade. To do this, the carcasses are tied by the tail and hung in a draft, wrapped in gauze. After an hour, the marinated and dried fish can be smoked.

Wine marinade for hot smoked chicken with mustard

Ingredients:

750 gram bottle of red wine;

250 ml of high-quality vegetable oil;

100 gr. dry mustard;

A small bunch of fresh parsley;

To taste – black pepper and coarsely ground salt.

Cooking method:

1. Mix wine with oil and dry mustard.

2. Add chopped parsley, salt and pepper to your taste.

3. Rinse chicken halves without fat with plenty of running water and place in a large container for marinating.

4. Pour the marinade over the chicken so that it completely covers the bird. Cover with a lid and leave in the refrigerator for eight hours.

5. After the time has passed, wipe the bird halves dry to remove any remaining marinade with a towel.

6. Dry for at least an hour in a draft and smoke hot.

Marinade for hot smoking meat with saltpeter and blueberries

Ingredients for 10 kg of pulp:

Salt of the coarsest grind – 700 gr.;

Seven liters of drinking water;

200 gr. granulated sugar;

Fresh or frozen blueberries – 20 gr.;

Food saltpeter – 50 gr.

Cooking method:

1. Before marinating, the meat must be well salted. It can be filled with saline solution for a day or sprinkled with salt and placed under pressure for the same time.

2. Pour all the water into a large enamel pan or bucket. Add salt, saltpeter and granulated sugar.

3. Add fresh or frozen blueberries and bring to a boil. When the marinade begins to boil, simmer it over low heat for no more than a minute until all the bulk ingredients are completely dissolved.

4. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

5. Rinse the salted meat; if it is over-salted, soak and dry.

6. Then place pieces of washed meat in layers in a large container. When laying each layer, pour the chilled marinade well.

7. The meat should lie tightly in the marinade and be completely covered with it. Therefore, after laying out all the pieces, compact them slightly and add marinade if necessary.

8. Cover the container with a lid and refrigerate for 2–6 weeks. The duration of marinating depends on the size of the pieces and even on the selected part of the carcass. So, the loin and ribs are marinated for two weeks, the shoulders for at least four weeks, and the hams for up to six.

9. If the marinade begins to foam, it should be drained and boiled. Then cool and pour over the meat again.

10. Rinse the well-marinated meat with a stream of running water, dry it in a draft and only then smoke it.

Citrus marinade for hot smoking fish

Ingredients for 3 l. strong saline solution:

One large orange;

Two medium lemons;

A tablespoon of ground pepper, cinnamon and granulated sugar;

To taste: sage, rosemary and thyme;

Three onions;

Six large bay leaves;

Four cloves of garlic.

Cooking method:

1. Rinse the citrus fruits well and cut into slices, chop the onion into large rings.

2. Place a small potato in boiling water and add salt until the tuber floats to the surface. After this, remove the potatoes and place citrus slices, onion rings, and all the herbs and spices in the saline solution. Boil the marinade at a low simmer for 10 minutes, and then let cool well.

3. Pour cold marinade over the processed fish carcasses and leave in it for 12 hours in a cold room or refrigerator.

4. Then rinse the fish thoroughly under the tap, wipe dry with a towel and dry in a draft.

5. After this, you can place the fish carcasses in the smokehouse.

Marinade for hot smoking mackerel with sour cream

Ingredients:

Four fillets of fresh frozen mackerel;

Chain. a spoonful of salt, “Extra” grade;

150 gr. 20% sour cream;

A teaspoon of khmeli-suneli;

Fifteen sprigs of fresh dill.

Cooking method:

1. Thaw mackerel fillets in air, wash and wipe dry.

2. Mix sour cream with chopped dill, add salt and suneli hops.

3. Coat each fillet well with the prepared sour cream mixture and wrap in film.

4. After five hours, remove the film, wipe the fish and smoke them.

Marinades for hot smoking - cooking tricks and useful tips

When preparing the marinade, first mix all its liquid components and add bulk ingredients and herbs to the resulting mixture.

To make it easier to remove the remaining marinade from pieces of meat, fish or poultry carcasses after marinating, it is best to tear the greens with your hands and crush the garlic with a knife.

In order for meat and fish products to be marinated evenly, the marinade must cover them completely, and during the marinating process, pieces of meat and fish carcasses should be periodically stirred or turned over.

The minimum marinating time in any marinade is at least three hours at room temperature.

Any process associated with cooking is divided into several stages. It is difficult to establish which of them is considered the most important, but it is clear that each is significant in its own way. These stages are associated with the search for raw materials, products, materials, the process of slicing, packaging or cutting raw materials is also highlighted as a separate activity, and there is no need to talk about salting, because sometimes all the taste qualities are emphasized or fixed at this stage.

Smoking meat at home is an activity for responsible and purposeful people. Here it is not so much a matter of theoretical knowledge, and not at all a matter of experience.

The whole process, from start to finish, can take several days, so once you get involved in smoking, you need to see it through to the end.

For convenience, preparing meat for smoking is divided into the following stages:

selection of meat based on composition and quality;
preparing meat for marinating;
pickling;
choice of wood material;
smoking.

They divide the process into stages for more convenient study, because the step-by-step method of executing the algorithm increases the likelihood of a favorable outcome. Any beginner can study one or another stage separately.

How to choose the right meat for smoking

In those moments when there is no alternative, we must proceed from existing conditions. You may have a piece of meat on hand, given to you by generous friends. There is no choice of ready-made dishes in the store, and you really want to enjoy a homemade masterpiece. But with a wide choice of raw materials, you should definitely think carefully before settling on any product. There is no clear algorithm, since the outcome depends on the buyer’s wishes, but there are certain rules that should be followed.

First you need to decide on the type of meat. If you have no experience in smoking, then you should opt for pork. Its fibers contain many layers of fat, so the material is easy to soak, salt or smoke.

By the way, due to these layers, the meat becomes soft during cooking and soaked in juice, which is why seasoned masters pay attention to pork.

Beef has unique qualities. Although it is tougher than pork, it still found its consumer. Beef makes tasty cold-smoked cuts, and the elastic meat is used as a snack, especially with beer and hockey (football, wrestling, skiing - whatever).

For lovers of dietary meat, we can recommend poultry. Chicken breast is full of protein, so it will be especially useful for athletes or those who decide to follow a diet. , nutria or hare has a peculiar taste. True gourmets are interested in it. There are no exceptions to the varieties listed, and all of them can be smoked with proper preparation.

To get a good result, you need to use the freshest meat. This requirement is easy to fulfill if you yourself act as a breadwinner. When buying meat in a store, you should not always trust the indicated expiration date, so it is useful to learn how to evaluate storage conditions and freshness of products by appearance.

Each type of meat has a characteristic color, so there is no single shade for comparison. Chicken breast is beige, pork is pink, and beef is red. The general color property of meat is that it should be monochromatic. The presence of stains, darkening and bruising indicates that the product is not fresh.
Meat moisture content may vary. But you can feel its coolness to the touch. If the fibers are covered with a thin film or a dark crust, then this can only indicate long-term storage. Excessive moisture in the form of mucus that appears on the surface is a clear sign of the beginning of an irreversible process of product deterioration.
There remains one more criterion - smell. Even if you are not a fan of the fresh meat aroma, you can still feel the beginning of rotting. Already at the very beginning of this process, the meat will begin to emit unpleasant odors.

Pickling

To salt meat for smoking, there is no need to learn complex recipes; besides, the number of ingredients allows such salting to be called simple. A necessary component for this method is salt. But many people prefer to add a mixture of peppers to it.

By mixing the ingredients, a homogeneous composition is prepared, which is poured over the meat from all sides. Dry salting can last several days, because it all depends on the meat. Don’t be afraid to add too much salt, as the meat will not absorb the excess salt, and you can easily get rid of the leftovers by soaking the semi-finished product in water.

If improvisation can be shown in the described manipulations, then the next action is considered mandatory: the meat should be dried. But to get rid of salt, it is not necessary to soak the meat. If you carefully wipe it with paper napkins, it will be completely ready for smoking.

Honey marinade recipe

Marinade means a liquid salt solution based on water, vegetable oil or soy sauce. One of the original ways to prepare meat is marinating with honey. At first glance, it may seem that incompatible components will be used here. In fact, smoked meat tastes perfectly in harmony with sweets, in particular honey.

For 1 kg of meat you will need to take 50 g of honey, 80 g of lemon juice, several cloves of garlic, and olive oil. Seasonings, including salt, are added to taste. Digressing, I would like to note that in many recipes, the brine is prepared based on individual preferences, and therefore is often tailored to the taste of the cook.
All of the listed ingredients are added to the oil and mixed. Garlic can be squeezed or grated. In an oil solution, the meat will marinate quickly enough. This will take about 8 hours, but this is provided that the oil evenly covers the surface of each piece. That is, you will have to turn them over periodically.

Kefir marinade

Many methods for preparing meat contain ingredients such as vinegar, citric acid, lemon juice, and mustard in their recipes. All of these ingredients contain substances that break down fiber in a very short time, so the meat becomes soft and can be quickly salted. Kefir also has similar properties, therefore, a marinade can be prepared on its basis.

To calculate proportions, you can start from a certain amount of basic raw materials. Let's give an example of a recipe for 1 kg of meat. You will need 1-2 teaspoons of sugar, vegetable oil (preferably olive). A few mint leaves will add a piquant taste. Pepper and garlic are added as desired and can be omitted from the recipe altogether. All components are mixed, and the mint leaves are pre-chopped.

In this recipe, you should not use a lot of salt, since there will be no soaking in clean water. For the indicated values, a tablespoon is enough. The meat is immersed in the marinade and left for a day. After such preparation, it can be smoked either cold or hot.

Simple marinade recipe

At home, you can always find a way to make an excellent marinade without much expense. Many recipes contain rare ingredients, sometimes even exotic ones, which will have to be purchased separately, wasting time and money. Not every novice cook knows that these recipes can be changed at their discretion, as long as they leave the required ingredients.

The purpose of any marinade is not only and not so much to add spices, but to salt the meat. At its core, pickling is identical to simple pickling, only the technology is slightly different. The salt first dissolves in water and then impregnates the fibers.

The salt concentration must be high. For one liter of water you need to take 70-80 grams of salt. The total amount of marinade should be such that the liquid completely covers the pieces immersed in it.

The salt solution is brought to a boil and boiled for 5-10 minutes. During this time you need to add the remaining ingredients. Usually it is garlic, bay leaf and black pepper. At this stage, you can show your imagination and add different ingredients to taste: thyme, lemon, dill, basil.
If the meat is immersed in a boiling marinade and cooked for another 40 minutes, it will become soft. In a smokehouse, such a semi-finished product will quickly become saturated with smoke and reach readiness. A peculiar offshoot of the algorithm gives an independent recipe called “boiled-smoked meat.” The classic recipe involves cooling the brine to room temperature and then soaking pieces of meat in it. After 24 hours, the product is ready for smoking.

Cold and hot smoking

The fact that some recipes are suitable only for one of the listed methods makes us touch on the topic of cold and hot smoking.

It is known that hot smoking is carried out by exposing the product to wood smoke at a sufficiently high temperature. Sometimes it reaches 100°C degrees. As a result of this effect, the meat fibers are boiled and become soft. In just an hour, the meat can be ready, so when salting and marinating, attention is paid not to the amount of salt, but to the quality of the selected meat. It must be taken into account that fat can be rendered. On the one hand, it will make the meat rich and juicy if it remains in the fibers. On the other hand, it may leak, causing the product to become dry. All these nuances will have to be provided for in advance at the meat cutting stage.

Cold smoking lasts for quite a long time, since the temperature of wood smoke ranges from 25°C to 30°C degrees. In such conditions, the meat is not cooked, so there is a high probability of developing pockets of bacterial infection. The main thing you need to pay attention to when pickling is a sufficient amount of salt and compliance with the marinating time. The most difficult requirement that will have to be met is ensuring the continuity of the smoking process. The first 8 hours cannot be interrupted. Otherwise, there are no differences in the recipe for both smoking methods.

Marinating is an important stage ➤ preparing smoked meat, which affects the taste of the finished delicacy no less than the smoking itself. During marinating, the product is saturated with moisture, becomes juicy, acquires the necessary flavor accents and is prepared for treatment with smoke and high temperature in the smokehouse.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with several popular marinade and brine recipes that will allow you to independently prepare meat for smoking and prepare wonderful smoked meats.

Commonly used marinade ingredients

A meat marinade is a type of salt solution to which spices have been added. Most often, the following components are used to prepare marinades:

dill
garlic
celery
carrot
basil
ginger
marjoram
star anise
white or red wine
saffron
ground mustard
cinnamon
cloves

They also use dried berries, dark beer, special seasonings and spices for meat, which are chosen to suit your taste. There are no strict requirements regarding the compatibility of ingredients and seasonings, so feel free to use the ingredients that you are used to using for cooking meat.

Let's look at some of the popular marinade recipes.

Recipe 1. Wine marinade for pork

Ingredients:

refined sunflower oil - 3-4 cups
red wine (Cahors) - 3 glasses
ground mustard
basil
ground black pepper

The listed dry seasonings are added to taste. Before cooking, you must thoroughly rinse the meat under running water, then place it in a colander or hang it on hooks to drain off excess moisture.

Pickling

Pour wine and vegetable oil into a deep saucepan or other container of suitable size.
Add dry spices, pepper and salt.
Stir the liquid until the wine and oil form a homogeneous mixture.
Immerse the meat in the marinade so that the pieces are completely hidden in the liquid (use additional weight if necessary).
Keep the pork in the marinade for 10-12 hours.
After the specified time, remove the meat from the pan, place it in a colander, on a tray, or hang it on hooks to remove excess liquid.
When the surface of the pieces is slightly weathered, you can start smoking.

Recipe 2. Fruit marinade for pork

Ingredients:

salt - to taste
tangerine - 1 pc.
chili pepper - 1 pc.
cardamom - to taste
kiwi - 2 pcs.

This marinade can be supplemented with any fruits and seasonings of your choice.

Pickling

Squeeze out the tangerine juice.
Prepare fruit puree from kiwi (you can use a blender, food processor or regular meat grinder for this).
Mix all ingredients, gradually adding ground chili pepper, cumin and other seasonings to your taste.
Stir the liquid until the mixture is homogeneous.
Pour the marinade over the meat and soak in it for at least 3 hours.

After the specified time, remove the product from the liquid. Start smoking when the pieces are a little dry. Excess moisture can be removed with a paper towel or napkin.

The finished meat will have light fruity notes and will be soft and juicy (but not sweet).

Recipe 3. Marinade for poultry

The marinade prepared according to this recipe is used for pre-processing chicken and other poultry. The list of ingredients indicates the amount of products sufficient for one carcass.

Ingredients:

mineral water - 1 glass
citric acid - 1 tablespoon
2-3 onions
paprika - 30-35 g
half a tablespoon of salt

Product preparation and marinating

Before use, the chicken carcass should be thoroughly rinsed under running water.
Then cut it into two halves and gently wipe with a paper towel.
Brush the meat inside and out with salt and leave in a cool place for 40-60 minutes.
After the specified time, remove excess salt with a napkin and immerse the carcass in the marinade for several hours (you can leave it in the marinade overnight). In order for the bird to be completely immersed in the liquid, you can press it down from above with pressure.
After the specified time, remove the carcass from the marinade, rinse and dry with a paper towel. Now you can smoke.

In addition to poultry, the marinade prepared according to this recipe can be used to prepare any type of white meat for smoking.

Recipe 4. Universal marinade with ketchup

A simple marinade that is suitable for preparing all types of meat for smoking. Does not require special skills or specific products or spices for preparation.

Ingredients:

White wine
classic ketchup without additives or tomato paste
refined vegetable oil

All components are added in a ratio of 1 to 1. Their quantity depends on the amount of meat that is going to be smoked.

Meat preparation

Rinse the pieces thoroughly under cold water.
Place the meat in a colander or leave on a tray to dry (excess moisture can be removed with a paper towel or napkins).
Rub the product with a mixture of black pepper, mustard powder and salt. You can also add crushed garlic.
Pour the marinade over the meat and leave in a cool place for 6-8 hours.
After 3-4 hours, i.e. When the marinade has drained, pour the liquid from the bottom of the container over the pieces again.

Recipe 5. Kefir marinade

A simple solution for preparing meat products for hot smoking. Makes the product tender, juicy and aromatic.

Ingredients:

kefir - 0.5 cups
olive oil - 60 g
liquid honey - 2 teaspoons
mint - 1-2 pinches
onions - 1.5-2 onions, chopped in a blender or twisted in a meat grinder
salt - to taste
black pepper - to taste

Pickling

Mix kefir, honey and olive oil until a homogeneous mixture is formed, gradually adding pepper, mint and salt.
Then pour the marinade over the pieces of meat, add chopped onion and mix thoroughly.
Leave the container with food in a cool place for 9-11 hours.
After the specified time, remove the meat and begin cooking using the hot smoking method.

Recipe 6. Marinade for fish

A simple recipe for a quick marinade that is suitable for preparing any fish and white meat for smoking.

Ingredients:

lemon - 1 pc.
liquid honey - 0.5 cups
greenery
onions - 2 onions
salt, cumin, black pepper and other spices - to taste

Pickling

Mix the oil, honey and lemon juice into a homogeneous liquid, gradually adding spices, salt and herbs.
Pour marinade over pieces of fish or meat and mix, adding chopped onion.
After this, put the container with the product in a cool place for 12 hours.
After the specified time, we begin smoking.

Recipe 7. Marinade for preparing for hot smoking of various products

Used for fish and meat, it gives products a spicy aroma and makes them more juicy.

Ingredients:

refined vegetable oil - 0.5 cups
lemon - 1 pc.
seasoning mixture for meat - 50 g
basil - 70 g
liquid honey - 0.5 cups
salt - 1 teaspoon
boiled cold water

Pickling

Thoroughly mix vegetable oil with lemon juice and honey, adding a little cold boiled water.
While stirring, add seasonings and salt.
Pour the marinade over the meat, which has been previously washed under cold water and remove the container with the product in a cool place for 10-12 hours.
After the specified time, the product can be prepared using the hot smoking method.

Please note: there are no strict rules for preparing marinades, and the recipes given are advisory in nature. Don't be afraid to experiment and adjust recipes to suit your own preferences.

Smoking products is a process known since ancient times. Ancient people subjected meat to long-term treatment with a mixture of wood smoke and air to provide it with an antioxidant effect, which made it possible to suppress the growth of harmful bacteria in it for quite a long time. In modern society, smoking is used more to give the product a specific taste and aroma.

Smoked chicken has gained great popularity among people, which is widely eaten both separately and as an addition to a variety of dishes, because its delicate aroma and spicy taste are combined with a huge number of ingredients. The best part is that this delicacy can be purchased not only in stores, but also prepared at home yourself.

As you know, there are two relatively safe types of smoking chicken: hot and cold. What is their difference? During cold smoking, the chicken or its components are suspended in the smoke of a smoldering fire. The process occurs at a temperature of about 30 degrees for a long period of time - usually several days. And hot smoking is characterized by processing products with the heat of smoke from coals at high temperatures (from 90 to 150 degrees). The process usually takes only a few hours. The texture of the meat becomes less dense and softer.

Smoked chicken - preparing equipment

First you need to get a smoking apparatus, which you can buy in a specialized store or make at home. However, if you decide to build such a device yourself, we advise you to contact experienced welders, since the seams of the smokehouse must be hermetically sealed.

In principle, you can use a large bucket, pan, metal barrel or the body of an old refrigerator as a smoking apparatus, the main thing is that the device closes tightly. Previously, in Rus' a large Russian stove was used for these purposes.

Equipment: In order to prepare chicken for smoking, prepare a clean ax or hammer, a deep enamel bowl (or a basin), a large cutting board, a hatchet for cutting the carcass and a sharp knife.

Smoked chicken - food preparation

The chicken carcass must be cleaned of its entrails, washed, cut in half and beaten thoroughly between two cutting boards with the butt of an ax, a house hammer or any other blunt heavy object. This is done so that the large bones and joints of the chicken become softer. Then heat the water and prepare the brine by adding a glass of salt (per liter of water), bay leaf, garlic, cinnamon, black pepper, sugar, vinegar, etc. In general, there are no specific criteria here, and everything depends on the specific recipe, type of smoking, individual preferences and tastes. Next, put the chicken in a deep bowl and completely fill it with the prepared brine for a couple of days.

After the expiration date, we take out the carcasses, make deep cuts in them and stuff them with bacon and garlic. We hang the chicken to dry it, then we can begin the smoking process. In addition to the whole carcass, its components can be processed in the smokehouse: thighs, wings, breast and drumsticks.

Smoked chicken - the best recipes

Recipe 1: Hot smoked chicken

Do you want to cook aromatic and juicy meat without spending a lot of money and a lot of time? Then this recipe is just for you. Below we will describe the simplest existing method of smoking chicken. Before sending the meat into the smoking apparatus for just 40 minutes, we will perform a number of simple steps: generously rub the chicken with spices, pepper, and salt, then dry it and send it to the smokehouse.

Ingredients: whole chicken, salt and black pepper to taste, any spices you like.

After the chicken is seasoned, we put it in a plastic bag for a couple of hours to give it a good soaking. After this time, take out the chicken and hang it in the fresh air to dry. Next, we place the chicken in the smoking device, install a tray into which excess fat will drain, and smoke the chicken under intense heat for forty minutes. Be sure to remove the skin from the cooked bird, since during this smoking process it has absorbed all the bitterness and fumes of the wood.

Recipe 2: Hot smoked chicken (option 2)

Ingredients: a glass of salt, three liters of water, bay leaf, three to four cloves of garlic, black pepper (peas), two tablespoons. spoons of any spices, for example, for barbecue.

1. Prepare the brine: to do this, put salt, pepper, bay leaf, garlic and spices into warm water and bring to a boil, keep on the fire for only 3-5 minutes from the moment of boiling, then remove the brine and cool to 20-25 degrees.

2. Wash the chicken thoroughly from the outside, as well as from the inside, cut off excess fat from it (especially in the tail area) and lower it into brine. Place in the refrigerator for 18-20 hours.

3. Then we take out the bird, rinse it under running water, hang it for 1-2 hours so that excess moisture drains from it, then cut it into two halves and tie them with twine.

4. Pour 3 handfuls of sawdust (preferably alder) into the smoking device, place the tray, hang the carcasses and close the lid tightly.

5. We put the smoking apparatus on maximum heat, and after 10-12 minutes we reduce it to moderate and smoke for an hour and a half.

After time has passed, carefully open the lid and take out our delicacy. The taste of chicken prepared according to this recipe will be simply excellent. Bon appetit!

Recipe 3: Cold smoked chicken

For this recipe, you need to take the meat of a young bird, preferably a large breed. Broilers no older than six months of age are perfect.

Ingredients: 1 kg chicken carcass, 200 gr. bran, a tablespoon of salt, a tablespoon of lemon juice, half a teaspoon of pepper.

We thoroughly gut and wash the chicken, cut it into 2 halves, which we place under pressure in a cool place (2-3 degrees) for two days, having previously rubbed the halves with lemon juice. Immediately before smoking, the chicken must be thickly coated on all sides in a mixture of bran and pepper. Poultry should be smoked at a temperature of no more than 30 degrees for 7-10 days in a cold way. When smoking, it is recommended to use Maple, Oak, and Cherry briquettes. The finished dish can be served with pickled mushrooms or vegetables.

Many people have probably heard about the so-called liquid smoke, which is used for “quick” smoking, but this approach to processing products is very harmful to the body, since liquid smoke is equated with the strongest carcinogens. It contains toxic chemicals (phenol, formaldehyde, etc.), which tend to accumulate in the cells of the human body and cause their mutation - healthy cells, under their influence, can transform into cancer cells over time.

In order for our smoked chicken to have a more refined taste, buy it fresh and chilled (not frozen). Give preference to large breeds of poultry that are fairly young.