Smoking Fish and Preserving Smoked Fish by Canning
Filleting fish is a skill that allows you to separate the meat from the bones and skin, giving you clean fish fillets suitable for a variety of dishes. Although it may seem complicated, if you know how to do it, there is no need to be afraid of the process. Forget about shop-bought fillets.
Prep: 45 min
Cook: 4 h
Servings: 1
Energy: 430 kcal per serving
Method
01.
Preparing the fish: Cut the cleaned fish into portions and weigh them. For 5 kg of fish, use 150 g of salt and about 4 smaller garlic bulbs. Crush the peeled garlic with the salt into a paste and rub this paste thoroughly over the fish on all sides.
02.
Marinating: Place the fish in a stoneware, glass or plastic container for 12 to 24 hours and put it in the fridge. After a few hours, turn the fish over. Move the portions from the top to the bottom and from the bottom to the top. At the same time, rub into the meat any salt that may have remained on the surface of some portions.
03.
Preparing for smoking: After 12 to 24 hours, tie the fish with twine. This is more laborious than hanging them on hooks, but it is safer. Nothing is more disappointing than a tempting delicacy that ends up on the bottom of the smokehouse after some time.
04.
Washing and smoking: Before smoking, wash the fish in lukewarm water to remove any remaining salt and garlic. This is not necessary, but the fish may be saltier from the salt or sharper from the garlic that clings to the surface. Place the washed fish in a preheated smokehouse. The portions must not touch each other, otherwise they would stick together by the skin during smoking.
05.
Smoking: At the beginning, smoke with warmer smoke at about 70-80 °C for about 1 to 2 hours. Check the hanging fish every 20 minutes. The skin must dry out and be dry on the surface. After one to two hours, reduce the temperature to 60 °C.
06.
Smoking process: The whole smoking process can be summarised as follows. At the beginning, smoke with warmer smoke – the fish must be dry on the surface. In the next stage, smoke with milder smoke; the wood must not burn with a flame but only glow. In the final stage, only dry the fish.
07.
Finishing the smoking: The fish are smoked for an average of 4 to 8 hours, depending on size. A properly smoked fish should be golden and shiny on the surface, and in places the skin should be swollen from the subcutaneous fat.
08.
Cooling and storage: So that the smoked fish do not steam, let them cool outside the smokehouse. Suitable wood for smoking is dry and hard, preferably beech, fruit trees, acacia, etc. Remove the skin and bones from the smoked fish left over from tasting.
09.
Preserving: Pour a little oil into baby food jars (or jars of similar size) and add the boned fish meat. Put the oil into the jars first to limit the formation of air bubbles.
10.
Sterilising: Press the meat down lightly, add a piece of bay leaf, 1-2 peppercorns and 1 allspice berry. Top up with oil, close and sterilise for about 1 hour. Repeat the sterilisation the next day. Fish preserved in this way can be used for spreads or salads.
