How to cook smoked mackerel at home. Tips on how to marinate mackerel before smoking

Homemade smoked mackerel

The magical combination of salt and smoke is in the most ancient way giving a unique aroma and taste to fish and meat. Some people think that it is very difficult and requires special equipment, but this is not so. Anyone can smoke, for example, mackerel at home, and it will be incredibly tasty.

First, you need to know the difference between hot and cold smoking. Cold smoking is a gentle drying process of about 25 degrees that imparts a smoky flavor, but does not cook the food, but rather is a way of preserving it, preserving it. Hot smoking, on the contrary, is more of a method of cooking fish or meat, and it occurs at 80-120 degrees, and this is what we will be doing today, and we will be smoking mackerel.

Pre-salting mackerel for smoking

Of course, it is better if you catch the mackerel and cook it literally a few hours after catching it. It is necessary to salt the fish, this will squeeze out excess water from the carcass and give a deeper smoky flavor.

Take coarse rock salt, place the fish on a non-metal sheet, salt well on all sides and leave for 10 minutes. In general, leave whatever you smoke next in salt for 5 to 50 minutes, depending on the size of the piece of meat or fish carcass.

Building a smokehouse

Take an old pan, make four holes on the sides at a height of 10 cm from the bottom and attach a grate inside. Place a thick layer of sawdust underneath. Oak, alder, cherry, and apple trees are well suited for this, but in no case are coniferous trees. Place the pan on the fire. When the sawdust begins to smolder, reduce the heat to low and place the fish on the grill. Close the lid. And smoke until you get the result you like. In good weather, you can do this outside, on a fire or barbecue; in bad weather, in the kitchen, with the windows open.

Recipe for smoked mackerel=2

At home, you can cook mackerel in this way. Cut the fish from the heads and mush into fillets. Make the brine (take according to the amount you plan to cook). But if there is a lot of brine and it remains, don’t worry, you can keep it in the refrigerator for 2 weeks, and by then you may want to smoke something else.

Brine for mackerel

We will need:

500 g salt

250 g sugar

75 g lemon juice

Tablespoon garlic powder

The same spoon of allspice

Tablespoon onion powder

2 tsp white pepper.

Mix everything and leave until sugar and salt dissolve.

Next, place the mackerel fillets in the brine (do not use metal containers!), shake until everything is well covered with the mixture, and leave for half an hour in a cool place. Then remove the fillet from the brine and pat the fish thoroughly kitchen towel and let it air dry, and in the meantime prepare the smokehouse.

Next, when the fish is dry, grease the grill so that the fish does not stick to it, and place the fillet skin side down. Close the lid and start the process. When smoke begins to seep through the cracks, it means everything is fine, your fish is smoking. For the fillet, 20 minutes of smoking will be enough and open the lid - your home-cooked hot smoked mackerel is ready! It needs to be cooled faster, and what is not eaten immediately should be stored in the refrigerator. If you have smoked a lot and want to save it, wrap it tightly and put it in the freezer; even after a month it will not lose its structure and will be excellent.

The most common way to preserve fish by drying and salting is smoking. As a result, we have a ready-to-eat product that has a specific taste and smell. Let's look in this article at how to smoke mackerel at home.

Hot smoking

For this we need:

mackerel,
salt,
pepper,
seasoning for fish.

Preparation

Select approximately identical fish. The amount of fish must be related to the number of people who will eat it. Let's proceed from the fact that for one person to eat, you need one medium-sized fish.
Smoked fish stored in the refrigerator. When considering how to smoke mackerel, one cannot help but note that large and fatty fish are much tastier than small ones.
Take several large fish for smoking. Clean the fish and remove all entrails. You don't have to cut off the head. Then rinse cold water, and pre-dry using paper napkins or towels, and rub with spices and salt. If you were unable to find a fish that would be the right size for your smoker, and it turned out to be a little larger, then do not be upset. You can reduce it in size. To do this, simply cut off the fish's head.
Place the fish in a tray and cover cling film. After this, put the mackerel in the refrigerator for three or four hours, but preferably for a day. In this case, the entire raba will be saturated with spices and acquire an unforgettable taste and aroma.
Place alder chips on the bottom of the smokehouse in a thin layer. Place the fish with a one-centimeter gap. The fish should be laid in a jack shape, and to prevent it from sticking to the grill, you need to put a layer of currant or raspberry leaves on the grill, and place the fish on top of it. But you need to make sure that the mackerel is sufficiently dried.
Close the smokehouse tightly with a lid and ensure that smoking occurs over low heat for fifteen to twenty minutes. The mackerel will cook quickly enough, and you can pleasantly surprise your guests or household members with the fact that this is not a store-bought fish, but smoked at home.

Smoked mackerel (without liquid smoke)=3

The mackerel turns out to be tender and juicy, simply incredibly tasty!!! Once you try it, you won’t want to buy it again. I offer the option of preparing it at home, without having a special smokehouse. We made the smoking installation ourselves.

I want to tell you how we cook mackerel at home, without liquid smoke. We just salt it at night. mackerel is good, and we smoke using a homemade sawdust smokehouse, a galvanized bucket, and a lid with two holes through which hooks are threaded, where our fish is hung. So, about everything in more detail, maybe my experience will be useful to someone! The mackerel turns out to be unusually juicy, tender and very -very tasty!!! We have been smoking it this way for more than a year.
First I posted the recipe on the blog, and as promised, I’m putting it in recipes!

So, we need frozen mackerel, which will need to be defrosted a little.
For pickling I am writing the calculation for 1 fish: 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of sugar, half a teaspoon of turmeric (a little less is possible, it adds some bitterness), 3 grains of cloves, 5 balls of coriander, 1 bay leaf.If you wish, you can use the so-called “fish seasoning” or “herring seasoning”. If I have it in stock, I add it, if not, you can do without it.

We also need sawdust from the apple tree. My husband uses an electric planer to cut them from a log from the apple tree.

If they are a little dry, you can then moisten them, already in a bucket. The sawdust is poured onto the bottom of the prepared bucket in which you are going to smoke. If you have a high saucepan, you can use a saucepan. Well, but if you have your own smokehouse, that’s generally great. We We usually smoke at the dacha, so we use what we have on hand.
What we smoke in: we had an ordinary galvanized bucket. We fitted a lid to it. We made 2 holes through which we threaded a wire, with inside hooks made of wire. We make a fire in the grill, it should not be too strong. On the grill grate, on the grate a bucket with sawdust at the bottom. 2 mackerel are hung on hooks. So the fish is smoked for 20-30 minutes.

So, preparing the fish:
Frozen mackerel carcasses need to be thawed, but not completely. A completely thawed carcass will be more difficult to cut. We gut the carcass, cut off the head and wash it. Rub the outside and inside with a mixture of salt, sugar and turmeric. Inside the carcass we put cloves, coriander peas and a broken bay leaf.

Cover with a bag. The fish is marinated overnight.
Before smoking, rinse the carcasses.

We hang it on hooks and smoke for 20-30 minutes! When the fish is ready, it seems to open up.
Here is our finished, delicious fish:

BON APPETIT!!!

P.S. Last year we took an old pan, my husband took 2 narrow grates, bent them into the pan. He placed the fish on them. He covered it with a lid and smoked it. There is one drawback to this method - you have to contrive to turn the carcass over.
It is best to smoke using sawdust from an apple tree, it tastes best. This is what our experiments showed. If you don’t like turmeric, you don’t have to add it - we smoked without it at first, but I somehow intuitively added it - and I liked the result, it adds some slight bitterness to the fish .

No festive feast is complete without fish. Smoked mackerel is especially often served as an appetizer. It goes well with vegetables and other foods and is included in many salads. Mackerel sea fish, very tasty and healthy. You can easily buy this fish on store shelves, but often its quality leaves much to be desired. And to avoid purchasing a low-quality product, we suggest making your own cold-smoked mackerel at home.

There is nothing difficult in preparing this delicacy. Even a beginner can do it. If you are not the owner home smokehouse, then as an option you can use other recipes using liquid smoke, or cook delicious mackerel in onion peels in three minutes. In any case, your home-smoked mackerel will turn out unique, aromatic, tender and very tasty, and your family and friends will thank you very much.

How to cook smoked mackerel at home

Cooking classic cold-smoked mackerel consists of several stages: choosing fish, defrosting, cutting, salting, smoking and resting. Special attention It is worth paying attention to the choice of fish. Usually fish is sold frozen and it is quite difficult to determine its quality. Good fresh mackerel is firm, without mucus. Doesn't have unpleasant odor, the gills should be pink and clean, the eyes should be transparent. If there is a lot of ice in a frozen briquette, it means that it was defrosted and then re-frozen. This fish should not be used for smoking. To preserve the taste of mackerel as much as possible, it must be defrosted slowly. This can be done in the refrigerator or in ice water.

Classic cold smoked mackerel recipe

Ingredients:

Mackerel – 1 kg;
Salt – 100 g;
Sugar – 10 g;
Allspice – 3 pcs.;
Black pepper – 10 pcs.;
Bay leaf – 3 pcs.;
Black tea – 15 g;
Cloves – 3 pcs.
Water – 1 l.

Preparation:

Thaw mackerel by placing it in cold water.
Open the bellies, remove the entrails inside the fish, and remove the black film. Cut off the heads, although you can smoke with the heads, in this case cut out the gills. Rinse the carcasses again and dry with a paper towel.
Ways to properly salt mackerel for cold smoking
There are two main recipes for salting mackerel: wet salting and dry. Proper salting of fish will ultimately give it a unique, delicate and aromatic taste. At wet method In salting, a salty marinade is prepared with spices and herbs, and fish is placed in it for several days. When dry salting fish, salt and other ingredients are rubbed into the carcasses and inside, laid in layers, sprinkling each row with salt. Our recipe involves wet salting, since it is easier to prepare at home with a small amount of fish.
Pour water into a saucepan, heat to boiling water. Pour tea into a glass and brew it with water from the pan. Add salt, spices, bay leaf to the rest of the water. There is no need to add sugar; when boiling, it caramelizes and can spoil the final taste of the product. Boil the marinade for 10 minutes, cool, add sugar, stir until completely dissolved.
Place the fish in a suitable container and fill with brine. Place pressure on top so that the fish is completely covered with marinade. Place the container in a cool place with a temperature of 4-6 C. In the refrigerator for top shelf it will be the right place for her. Mackerel is salted for cold smoking for 2-3 days.
After 3 days, remove the fish from the marinade and rinse running water. If it tastes too salty, then soak it for 2-3 hours. cold water. Hang in a cool, ventilated place. Insert matches or toothpicks into the bellies. If ventilation takes place outside, then it is necessary to cover the fish with gauze, protecting it from insects. Drying lasts 10-12 hours, usually hanging out overnight. During this time, the fish will dry out and be ready for the next stage.
Place the mackerel in. Place the carcasses loosely, one at a time, so that they do not touch each other in the smokehouse. Pour wood chips into the smoke generator. The taste of the finished smoked fish also depends on the quality and choice of wood.
Each type of wood chips adds its own taste and aroma to smoked meats. Most often for smoking fish products use alder or beech chips. Wood chips can be added to the base wood chips fruit trees, apple trees, cherries, plums, etc. With experience, the selection of wood chips becomes easier for each smoking recipe; a specific mix is selected. Juniper berries, leaves and twigs of fruit trees can be used as natural flavoring additives for the individual taste of mackerel.
Set the smoking temperature to 20-25C. Apply smoke and smoke for 8-12 hours, sometimes the cold smoking process extends for a day. The time it takes to smoke fish individually, how much cold smoked mackerel is smoked depends on several parameters, including the volume of the smokehouse, the weight of the fish, and the flow of supplied smoke. Readiness can be determined by color; it should be slightly golden.
After smoking, it is necessary to ventilate the fish for at least 24 hours. During this time, the pungent smell of smoking will disappear, the taste will be balanced and distributed throughout the product. After such a daily exposure, you can start tasting the delicious delicacy.

How to store smoked mackerel

How long can smoked fish be stored and under what conditions? Cold smoking itself extends the shelf life, since the smoke is an antiseptic. But there are still necessary storage standards that must be observed so that the product does not spoil. Mackerel and other cold smoked fish can be stored at low temperatures -2 - 5C for 45-60 days. It can remain in the refrigerator for seven to ten days without any consequences; it is advisable to wrap it in foil so that the rest of the products do not smell of smoke from smoking.

Mackerel in onion skins - a recipe in three minutes

Sometimes it is not possible to smoke fish in a smokehouse. And here they help out more simple recipes, allowing you to get an almost classic taste of cold smoked mackerel. Lightly salted mackerel in onion skins cooks very quickly, resulting in a delicious appetizer in a few minutes. Golden color comes from onion peels and tea leaves. This fish can be quickly prepared for a picnic or unplanned holiday. Unlike long-term smoking, mackerel in onion skins will be ready in 3 minutes.

Compound:

Fresh frozen mackerel – 1 piece;
Onion peels 2-3 handfuls;
Black tea – 1 tbsp. l;
Water – 1l;
Granulated sugar – 1 tbsp. l.;
Table salt 3 tbsp;
Coriander – 0.5 tsp;
Allspice – 2 pcs.;
Cloves – 1 pc.;
Bay leaf – 2 pcs.;
Vegetable oil.

How to do:

Defrost the fish, wash and dry with napkins. Pull out the entrails, cut off the heads and fins.
Prepare the marinade. Pour water into a saucepan, add tea and onion peels, spices, salt, sugar. Bring the brine to a boil and cook for 5-6 minutes.
Turn off the marinade and place the fish in it. Mackerel will be ready in 3 minutes in onion skins.
Remove the fish and remove the skins. Let dry and grease with oil. Serve either hot or chilled.

Mackerel recipe with liquid smoke

Another simple way to cook mackerel without smoking is to use liquid smoke. This flavoring will give the fish both the appropriate color and smell.

To prepare you will need:

mackerel – 3 pcs.;
salt – 80 g;
liquid smoke – 50 ml;
black pepper – 1 tsp.

How to cook:

Defrost the fish. Remove all entrails, rinse with cold water and dry.
Rub the mackerel with salt and pepper.
Place in a flat container and fill with liquid smoke. Place a weight on top and place in the refrigerator.
After two days, salting of mackerel stops. Remove the fish, rinse with water, and dry with napkins. Hang in a cool place for several hours to air out.

Benefits and harms of smoked mackerel

The healthiest mackerel is home-cooked mackerel with your own hands. This sea fish contains a lot of vitamins and a bunch of useful substances. Fish meat is very tender and rich in vitamins (A, B 12, D, E) fatty acids, microelements (iodine, potassium, magnesium). Fish cooked with cold smoke is much healthier than hot smoked fish. At cold processed More nutrients and vitamins are retained and are not destroyed by hot temperatures during the cooking process.

Smoked mackerel:

Improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.
Improves metabolism;
Improves memory;
Strengthens the nervous system;
Increases the level of hemoglobin in the blood;
Levels cholesterol levels;
Strengthens the immune system.

Of course, there are contraindications to this product. Smoked mackerel is a very high-calorie product; 100 grams of fish account for 150 kcal. Therefore, obese people should avoid it. It is also contraindicated for people with acute kidney and liver diseases, as well as for hypertensive patients. Nutritionists advise consuming this delicacy no more than 1-2 times a week. And eat no more than 50-70 grams per day. Otherwise, there is a danger of harming your body.

Mackerel is an excellent fish option for cooking at home. There are few small bones in it, and the flesh itself is dense and fatty. We will tell you how to make cold smoked mackerel in this article. Here are several simple recipes available to any housewife. Let's try to cook!

Salt plus smoke

The magic of these two ingredients has long been known to cooks different countries. Smoking gives meat and fish a unique taste and aroma. Plus, this is a great way to preserve the product. Some housewives think that preparing cold smoked mackerel at home is difficult, because the process itself will require special equipment. But this is not entirely true. Homemade cold smoked mackerel will turn out very tasty and aromatic if you use the recipes below.

Smoking methods

There is a significant difference between the types and the hot ones. Cold is, rather, a drying process at 25-30 degrees. It gives the dish a wonderful smoky aroma and delicate taste, and is a way of preserving and preserving fish. Hot - the product is cooked at a fairly high temperature (up to 120 degrees).

Preliminary preparation of fish

The mackerel should first be salted, as this process will remove excess liquid from the fish carcass. The result is a richer aroma. We take (large). Fish placed on cutting board or a baking sheet, rub thoroughly on all sides and leave to lie for half an hour. If the carcasses are large, let them soak for about an hour (the larger the fish, the more salt).

Home smokehouse

Cold smoked mackerel at home is very well prepared in a homemade smokehouse. It’s easy to build from an old large saucepan (or one you don’t mind). We drill several holes on its sides at a height of fifteen centimeters. We insert into these holes where the fish will be located. The pan should also have a tight-fitting lid.

The process itself

Place a layer of sawdust on the bottom of the pan. In this case, any non-coniferous species are suitable: cherry, apple, alder, oak - the most popular of them. Place the pan on low heat. Try to keep the prepared sawdust barely smoldering (to prevent it from burning, some cooks periodically water the raw materials with water from an ordinary spray bottle). Place pre-salted carcasses on the grill. Close the lid. Quite a lot of smoke should be generated, but it should not be too hot (maximum 40 degrees). Then cold smoked mackerel at home turns out tender and soft. And the cooking method will be cold.

If you have private house or cottage, this delicacy can be prepared right in the yard, on the hearth, grill, campfire, barbecue. If you are cooking in an apartment, open the windows wide (and warn your neighbors, as the cooking process creates a lot of smoke)!

Marinade

Instead of pure salt, some housewives use marinade (brine). It's quite simple to prepare. You need to dilute half a kilogram of salt, a glass of sugar, lemon juice, a mixture of peppers, garlic in four liters warm water and bring to a boil, but do not boil! If there is too much marinade, you can store the excess in the refrigerator for ten to fifteen days. By this time you might want to smoke something else. Place the mackerel carcasses or fillets in the prepared warm brine for an hour (or better yet, overnight, then the fish will be completely ready for smoking and will cook quickly).

Remove the fish from the brine. Dry with a kitchen towel. Place on a greased grate. We smoke on sawdust over the lowest heat. Remember that the smoking temperature should not be high!

Cooking time

Most likely, you will need at least half an hour to prepare the treat. Although for fillet sometimes twenty minutes is enough. It all depends on how the future cold-smoked mackerel is pre-marinated at home: the longer, the faster the smoking process itself goes. The finished fish can be stored in the refrigerator for quite a long time (if you wrap it tightly and put it in the freezer, it will still be delicious in a month).

Cold smoked fake mackerel: recipe

To prepare the dish we will need: three mackerel fish, half a glass of salt, two large spoons of sugar, vegetable oil, liquid smoke (for those who do not know, this is a water solution of wood smoke).

Step-by-step recipes for preparing hot and cold smoked mackerel at home

2018-05-05 Ekaterina Lyfar

Grade
recipe

4916

Time
(min)

Portions
(persons)

In 100 grams of the finished dish

17 gr.

12 gr.

Carbohydrates

1 gr.

185 kcal.

Option 1: Classic recipe for smoked mackerel at home

Smoked mackerel most often appears on our tables during the holidays. It goes well with any side dish and can serve as a snack for beer and other drinks. But in stores you often find fish of inadequate quality. It’s better to smoke it yourself, especially since it’s not that difficult.

Ingredients:

Mackerel - 1 kg;
Salt - 40 g;
Sugar - 10 g.

Step-by-step recipe for mackerel in a smokehouse

Before starting cooking, you need to defrost the fish. To do this, fill the carcasses with cold water and leave for several hours.

Remove the gills, head and entrails of the fish. Rinse the ridge very thoroughly to get rid of any remaining blood.

Rub the mackerel with salt and sugar. If desired, you can add some ground spices, such as white pepper. Leave the fish in the cold for 4 hours.

Rinse the carcasses or dry them with a clean towel. Let them dry for another hour fresh air.

Line the bottom of the smoker with fruit shavings. You don't need to put too many wood chips, otherwise the smoke will be too acrid.

Light a fire under the smokehouse. When it starts to smoke, you need to insert the grate with mackerel inside.

After 10 minutes, open the smokehouse lid. Release the smoke, then cover the pan again.

In half an hour the mackerel will be ready. It must cool completely in the smokehouse. Only then can you open the lid and start tasting.

It is very important to choose the right sawdust. Use only wood hardwood, fruit trees are ideal. Conifers can impart bitterness to the fish due to the high resin content. You can combine several different types sawdust to get an indescribable taste and smell.

Option 2: Quick recipe for smoked mackerel

To save time, you can clean fish that is not completely defrosted. This will make it easier for you to cut the mackerel as it will retain its firm texture.

Ingredients:

Mackerel - 1 kg;
Liquid smoke - 15 g;
Coarse salt - 15 g.

How to quickly cook smoked mackerel

Rinse defrosted fish. Cut off the head, rip open the belly. Remove the entrails from each carcass.

Rinse the mackerel again, making sure there are no black films left on it. Dry the carcass with a paper towel and rub with salt inside and out.

Place the fish in a baking bag. Leave for 40 minutes. After half an hour, you can turn on the oven at 200° so that it has time to warm up.

Pour liquid smoke into the bag. Distribute it over the entire surface of the fish. Tie the bag and place the dough in the oven for 25 minutes. Wait until it cools down before serving.

If you have time, it is better to defrost the fish gradually. First, move it from the freezer to the refrigerator. After a few hours, you can remove the mackerel and leave it indoors. Once the excess liquid has drained, begin cleaning and cooking the fish.

Option 3: Smoking mackerel at home in the oven

IN quick recipe We have already tried cooking mackerel in the oven. There is a more complex and time-consuming method. The fish turns out incredibly tasty and aromatic even without a smokehouse!

Ingredients:

Mackerel - 1 kg;
Salt - 200 g;
Sugar - 100 g;
Lemon juice - 30 ml;
Water - 2 l;
Garlic - 3 cloves.

Step by step recipe

Squeeze the garlic into a small bowl, add salt and lemon juice. Grind all the ingredients. You can add any spices if you wish.

Warm up the water. When it boils, add sugar and garlic paste. Stir until the dry ingredients dissolve.

Boil the marinade for 5-7 minutes, at the same time wash the fish and remove all excess.

Pour marinade over mackerel. Let it cool completely indoors, then transfer it to the refrigerator for 12 hours. After this, the liquid must be drained. Wait for the fish to dry completely (2-3 hours).

Preheat the oven to 180°. While it is warming up, prepare a large cauldron. Place alder sawdust on the bottom and place a sheet of foil on top. Make several holes in it.

Place a wire rack over the foil. You need to put mackerel there. Close the cauldron with a lid and place it in the oven for 45 minutes.

Carefully inspect the fish you plan to buy. Of course, it is better to purchase a fresh carcass, but this is not always possible. Make sure that the mackerel is of a uniform shade, elastic, and not deformed. If there is damage somewhere or yellow spots, it is better to refuse the purchase.

Option 4: Hot smoked mackerel

If you like the hot smoking method, be sure to try this recipe. Remember that this mackerel can be stored for no longer than 6 days. It should be kept in a dry and cool place.

Ingredients:

Mackerel - 1 kg;
Salt - 100 g;
Ground pepper, spices to taste.

How to cook

Rinse each carcass thoroughly. It is not necessary to cut off the head and fins, but the insides will have to be removed.

Grind the spices with salt in a mortar. Thanks to this, their taste and aroma will become more pronounced.

Rub the fish inside and out with the spice mixture. Wrap the carcass in foil and leave it in the refrigerator for a day. During this time, you will need to turn the mackerel several times.

Place the sawdust in the smoker. Light a fire.

Spread the fish carcasses evenly over the surface of the smokehouse. They shouldn't touch each other. Smoke the mackerel for half an hour over medium heat.

If you do not have a special smokehouse, you can use a regular grill and grate. A metal bucket with a lid is also suitable for these purposes.

Option 5: Cold smoked mackerel

Most often, mackerel is cold smoked. This is due to the fact that the carcass contains a lot of healthy fats. During hot smoking they simply melt.

Ingredients:

Mackerel - 1 kg;
Water - 1 l;
Sugar - 10 g;
Salt - 100 g;
Bay leaf, nutmeg, black and allspice.

Step by step recipe

Thaw the fish. Rinse each carcass thoroughly, cut out the gills and entrails. Rinse the mackerel again with cool water and pat dry.

Warm up the water. When it boils, you need to add salt, sugar and spices. Stir until the grains are completely dissolved, and remove the mixture from the heat.

Wait for the brine to cool completely. Pour liquid at room temperature over mackerel. Cover the vessel with a lid and place pressure on top. Let the fish salt in the refrigerator for 2 days.

Rinse the mackerel thoroughly to remove any remaining salt. Open its belly and secure it with toothpicks or matches. Let the fish dry completely.

Hang the carcasses in a ventilated place. Leave them there for 2-4 hours.

When the fish is slightly dry, it can be moved to the smoking chamber. The mackerel will hang there for 24 hours. Make sure that the temperature does not exceed 25°.

If the mackerel tastes too salty, you can additionally soak it in cold water. The fluid needs to be changed every hour. The procedure must be carried out before smoking begins.

Option 6: Mackerel in liquid smoke with onion skins

This recipe is suitable for smoking mackerel and other types of fish. Thanks to liquid smoke and onion peels, it acquires a pleasant color and aroma.

Ingredients:

Mackerel - 2 pcs.;
Water - 1 l;
Salt - 50 g;
Sugar - 20 g;
Onion peel - 70 g;
Bay leaf, pepper mixture.

How to cook

Rinse the onion skins thoroughly. Fill it with water.

Add sugar and salt to the water. Place the vessel on the fire. While it is heating up, clean and wash the fish.

When the onion broth boils, add liquid smoke to it. Add a mixture of peppers and a few bay leaves there.

Leave the broth on the stove for another 20 minutes. Let it simmer, covered, over low heat. After this period, you need to strain the liquid.

Place the mackerel in the brine. When it has cooled to room temperature, you can move the dish to the refrigerator.

The fish will be smoked for 2 days. Don't forget to turn it over periodically, about 2-3 times a day.

To give mackerel more bright shade, you can additionally rub it vegetable oil. Also, for these purposes, 1-2 bags of high-quality black tea are sometimes added to the marinade.

Option 7. Fragrant smoked mackerel at home

Almost everyone likes the breathtaking aroma of smoked mackerel, which evokes a serious appetite. Buying it today is not difficult; such fish are sold both in markets and in stores. But the amount of salts and calories in such products is prohibitive, and not everyone can afford smoked mackerel. But, as it turned out, it can be easily and simply smoked at home using the most affordable products. Classic recipe involves smoking mackerel in a marinade based on mineral water, a little sugar and liquid smoke.

Ingredients:

3 liters of mineral water without gas;
6 small mackerel;
sugar - 85 g;
salt - 65 g;
25 ml liquid smoke;
onion peel - 160 g.

Step-by-step recipe for smoking mackerel at home

The mackerel is freed from its entrails, washed thoroughly, laid out on a paper towel and left for half an hour to dry.

Pour mineral water into a deep container, add sugar, salt, and add onion peels. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil.

The liquid is removed from the stove, cooled, liquid smoke is poured into it, and stirred.

Mackerel is immersed in the marinade, covered with a lid, a weight is placed on top and kept for two days.

Every 12 hours, stir the fish in the marinade.

Instead of mineral water, it is permissible to use ordinary water, but it must first be filtered.

Option 8. Smoking mackerel in a bag with liquid smoke

The following recipe is for those housewives who have an oven at home with an “aerogrill” mode. To prepare smoked mackerel you will need regular plastic bag ik, where the fish will be marinated. It turns out very tender, aromatic, and tastes in no way inferior to store-bought.

Ingredients:

55 ml liquid smoke;
6 mackerel carcasses;
220 g salt.

How to cook smoked mackerel at home

The head is cut off from mackerel carcasses, the belly is cut, the entrails are removed, and washed well.

The inside of the carcass is rubbed with salt (1 tablespoon of salt for 1 fish).

The outside is coated with liquid smoke.

The fish are placed in a plastic bag and kept in it for 45 minutes.

After the specified time, the fish are removed and thoroughly wiped with paper napkins.

Place on the oven rack, adjust the air fryer mode and cook for about half an hour at a low temperature.

To add flavor, you can rub the inside of the mackerel not only with salt, but with any fish seasoning.

Option 9. Smoked mackerel at home with strong tea

For fans healthy eating The following recipe for making smoked mackerel at home is suitable. The version is somewhat similar to the classic one, only here there is no liquid smoke, and in addition to onion skins, strong tea is added to the marinade, which gives the fish a beautiful dark brown hue. And the presence of bay leaf, ground coriander, and peppercorns makes mackerel very aromatic and appetizing.

Ingredients:

fresh mackerel - 3 pcs.;
about two liters of purified water;
3 handfuls of onion peels;
salt - 70 g;
45 ml strong iced tea;
4 bay leaves;
12 black peppercorns;
30 g ground coriander;
35 g sugar.

Step by step recipe

Pour onion peels into a container with purified water, place on a small flame of fire and after boiling, boil for 16 minutes.

The resulting broth is cooled and poured into a clean container through a sieve.

Add strong tea to the decoction, cover with a lid and leave for 25 minutes in the refrigerator.

The broth is filtered again.

Pour sugar, coriander, salt into the broth, add bay leaves and allspice, stir well.

Gutted and washed mackerel carcasses are immersed in the prepared liquid, covered with a lid, a weight is placed and left to infuse for 3 days in the refrigerator.

Every day the fish in the marinade is mixed.

If you don't have ground coriander, you can use coriander seeds or substitute cumin.

Option 10. Hot smoked mackerel at home

At home, you can also smoke mackerel using a hot method, and you do not need a special smokehouse. All you need is a deep container, a small wire rack, dry tea leaves, a small amount of rice cereal and a few more simple ingredients. In this recipe, the main thing is to follow the process exactly and take products strictly according to the specified standards.

Ingredients:

3 small mackerel;
water - 1,200 ml;
sugar - 80 g;
salt - 85 g;
18 black peppercorns;
20 g coriander seeds;
55 g dry tea leaves;
165 g rice cereal.

How to cook

Bring the water to a boil, combine with sugar, salt, peppercorns, coriander and 20 grams of tea leaves.

Remove the liquid from the stove and cool.

Gutted mackerel carcasses are immersed in a cold marinade and left for 1 day.

Fed mackerels are hung by their tails with special metal hooks to drain excess moisture.

Rice cereal is poured with a small amount of water and left to swell for 30-40 minutes.

The cereal is mixed with the remaining tea leaves and wrapped in a sheet of foil so that there is a small hole left for the smoke to escape.

Place the foil with the contents in a deep container and set it on fire.

When smoke comes out of the foil, a small metal grid is placed inside the container, on which the mackerel is laid out.

Close the lid and smoke the fish for half an hour.

After 30 minutes of smoking, the fish is turned over to the other side and smoked for the same amount of time.

The smoking process can be slightly increased, but not more than 10 minutes.

Option 11. Cold smoked mackerel

Cold smoked mackerel at home turns out to be very tasty and aromatic. Here you will need a special smoke regulator. As in previous versions, the fish is first marinated in a marinade and then placed in the chamber of the device. It takes a little longer to prepare than others, but the end result is simply amazing.

Ingredients:

4 fresh mackerel;
220 g salt;
100 g sugar;
2 liters of water;
5 bay leaves;
15 peas of allspice;
60 g ground nutmeg.

Step by step recipe

Mackerel carcasses are freed from entrails, washed well, and kept in cold water for 3 hours.

Wash again, cut out the gills, dry on paper napkins for 20 minutes.

Prepare the marinade: add salt and sugar to a saucepan with two liters of water and boil over medium heat. Add bay leaves, nutmeg, allspice, and boil for 8 minutes. The marinade is filtered and cooled.

The fish is placed in the marinade and kept under load for 2 days.

After 48 hours, the fish is removed from the marinade, washed well under running water, and cuts are made along the belly.

Hang the carcasses on hooks and leave them like that for several hours. outdoors.

Alder chips are placed in a special compartment of the smoke regulator.

Mackerel is placed inside the chamber, closed, the temperature is set to no higher than 40 degrees, and smoked for about 12 hours.

The fish are taken out of the chamber, hung again on hooks and left in the air for another couple of hours.

Before cold smoking, you can marinate mackerel in a dry marinade: pour salt into a container (100 g per 1 kg of fish). Add a little salt to the belly and gills of the fish. Place the mackerel in a container, add more salt on top and leave under the load for two days. And also, if desired, you can add some fish seasoning along with salt.

Option 12. Smoking mackerel in liquid smoke

Liquid smoke is a special flavoring that gives fish a delicious aroma of light, pleasant smoke and a beautiful dark brown hue. With it you can easily and quickly cook delicious mackerel without leaving your apartment. The recipe is very simple and does not require any culinary skills.

Ingredients:

6 fresh mackerel;
90 ml liquid smoke;
35 g sugar;
1,250 liters of water.

How to cook

Water is poured into a container, sugar and salt are dissolved in it, placed on low heat, and brought to a boil.

Remove from heat, pour in liquid smoke, stir.

The brine is cooled, mackerel, previously processed and washed, is immersed in it, and kept for three days under load in the refrigerator.

Smoked mackerel is removed from the brine, washed, cut and served.

For flavor, you can optionally add some Provençal herbs to the cooled brine.

Option 13. Smoking mackerel at home with lemon

If you have a mini smokehouse on summer cottage, you can safely adopt this recipe. It is extremely simple, you just need to stock up on sawdust from fruit trees, dry tea leaves, sugar and lemon. The mackerel according to this recipe is tasty, tender and aromatic, with a pleasant sourness.

Ingredients:

3 mackerel;
1 lemon;
35 g salt;
55 g sugar;
60 g dry tea leaves;
0.5 kg sawdust.

Step by step recipe

The head of the mackerel is cut off, the entrails are removed, and washed.

The lemon is rinsed and cut into thin slices.

Place 2-3 slices of lemon into the belly of the fish, rub the carcass with salt, and place it in the refrigerator for half a day.

Sawdust is combined on a tray with dry tea leaves and sugar.

The mackerel is dried on a paper towel and placed on a special smokehouse grate.

Turn on the device and smoke the fish without smoke for 12 minutes.

Insert a tray with sawdust and smoke with smoke for about half an hour.

The device is turned off, and the fish is left in the smokehouse for 25 minutes.

If you don't have lemon, you can lightly sprinkle the fish with apple cider vinegar.

Option 14. Mackerel in the smokehouse

Another option for the happy owners of a mini-electric smokehouse. Without leaving your apartment, you can prepare excellent, juicy, aromatic mackerel, almost no different in taste from that smoked in the open air. The recipe is a little similar to the previous one, only instead of lemon, coriander, cloves, allspice and bay leaves are added here.

Ingredients:

4 mackerel;
20 g ground coriander;
12 allspice peas;
4 bay leaves;
4 cloves;
45 g salt;
30 g sugar.

How to cook

Clean the mackerel from its entrails and rinse thoroughly.

Pour coriander into the container, add cloves, allspice, salt, mix well.

Rub the dry mixture onto the fish inside and out.

Place 1 bay leaf in the belly of each mackerel, wrap the fish in cling film and keep in the refrigerator for several hours.

Remove the fish from the refrigerator, free it from the film, wash it again, and dry it with a paper towel.

Alder sawdust and a little sugar are poured into a special tray.

A tray is inserted into the lowest section to collect fat droplets.

Mackerel are placed on the grates.

After pouring water into the water seal, turn on the device and adjust the average level.

After the first smoke comes out, pull the hose onto the chimney and turn on the hood.

After a few minutes of smoking, reduce the level to minimum, and smoke the fish for another 12 minutes.

The finished mackerel is kept in a switched off smokehouse for a couple of hours.

To avoid having to wash off the fat from the pan for a long time after smoking, cover it with a sheet of foil.

Mackerel is ideal for smoking. Mackerel can be smoked hot or cold. The first method is to cook fish at a temperature of 80–120 °C. Hot smoked fish cannot be stored for a long time, no more than 2-3 days in the refrigerator.

Cold smoking of mackerel is a longer process at a temperature of about 30 °C. This is not heat treatment, and saturation of the product with smoke. If prepared at home, it will be stored for 10–14 days.

At home, it is best to smoke mackerel in a smokehouse using a hot method. It's easier, faster and safer because the fish is cooked.

Hot smoking

To smoke mackerel in a smokehouse, you will need the following ingredients:

fatty fish (several pieces of the same size);
ground black pepper;
seasoning for fish;
salt.

How to cook:

Prepare the fish: remove the insides of the fish, you can leave the heads. Rinse under running water and dry with towels.
Rub the carcasses with moth, pepper and seasoning.
Place the fish in a container and cover with film. Place in the refrigerator for at least three hours, ideally overnight.
Pour into the smokehouse thin layer wood chips You can take alder, bird cherry or apple.
Place currant leaves on the grill so that the fish does not stick, then the carcasses (head to tail) so that there is space between them.
Close the smoker and smoke over low heat for about 20 minutes.

Mackerel cooks very quickly and turns out juicy and tasty, imbued with the aroma of smoke and seasonings.

Pickling methods

You can marinate mackerel for smoking in other ways.

Seasoned

Recipes for smoked mackerel differ in the composition of the marinades.

To make a seasoned marinade, you need the following ingredients:

a tablespoon of salt;
a teaspoon of granulated sugar;
three pieces of cloves;
½ teaspoon turmeric;
one bay leaf;
five coriander grains;
seasoning for fish (optional).

Preparation:

It is better to cut the fish before it is completely defrosted - it is more convenient. Gut it, cut off the head, wash it.
Mix salt, turmeric and sand. Grate the carcasses both inside and outside, put coriander, cloves, and chopped bay leaf in the belly.
Cover the fish with cling film and put it in the refrigerator overnight.
In the morning, rinse the fish under running water, dry and place in the smokehouse for 30 minutes.

If you don’t like the bitterness of turmeric, you don’t have to put it in the marinade.

In brine

To prepare it you will need the following components:

4 liters of water;
250 g granulated sugar;
0.5 kg salt;
75 ml lemon juice;
allspice;
garlic powder;
two teaspoons of ground white pepper;
spoon of onion powder.

Mix all ingredients until salt and sugar are completely dissolved.

Cut the mackerel into fillets and place it in a container (not metal) and pour in the marinade so that the fish is completely covered with brine. Place in a cool place for half an hour

While the fish is marinating, prepare the smoker. Grease the grate with oil to prevent the mackerel from sticking. Remove the fillet from the brine, rinse, air dry and place the fillet skin side down on a rack. Close the smokehouse with a lid, and after smoke appears, smoke for about 20 minutes.

Benefits and harms

Smoked products, including mackerel, cannot be considered healthy. It’s tasty, but harmful, so you can’t eat it a lot and often. If fresh fish is a source of beneficial substances, then pre-salted and treated with smoke, it acquires many harmful properties.

The main harm of smoked mackerel is high content salt and carcinogens. It should not be eaten by people with hypertension, gastrointestinal and kidney diseases.

In onion skins

This mackerel is not actually smoked. It resembles it thanks to onion skins and tea leaves, which give it its characteristic color.

What you need:

two large mackerel;
two large handfuls of onion peels;
three large spoons of salt;
one and a half spoons of sugar;
½ cup of strongly brewed tea;
1 liter of water;
black peppercorns;
allspice peas;
a teaspoon of coriander seeds;
two bay leaves.

Preparing the marinade:

Pour water into a saucepan and place on the stove.
When it boils, add the onion skins and cook for about 10 minutes. Leave to infuse for 15 minutes, then strain.
Add sugar, salt, coriander, pepper, bay leaf to the broth and stir. After this, pour in the tea leaves, cover with a lid and let cool.
Cut the mackerel: gut it, cut off the heads and rinse thoroughly.
Place the carcasses in a bowl of suitable size and fill with brine, place a flat plate on top and place a weight. Place in the refrigerator for two to three days. The mackerel needs to be turned over periodically so that it is evenly salted and colored.
Remove the fish from the marinade, place on a paper towel and leave to dry for 1-2 hours. To make the process go faster, turn it over sometimes. The fish can be hung by their tails to drain the liquid.
Grease the surface of the carcasses with vegetable oil, after which you can cut and serve.

By appearance This mackerel is very similar to smoked mackerel and has an original taste.

Cold smoking

This is a more responsible process that requires strict adherence to cooking technology.

If for the hot method you need a smokehouse, in which the source of smoke is located directly under the food chamber (you can smoke on a grill or on a fire), then for the cold method you need another unit, where the hearth is located at a distance so that the smoke has time to pass through the chimney cool down.

A smokehouse for cold smoking consists of a compartment for products, where there are grates or hooks for hanging products, a smoke source remote at a distance, and a chimney connecting the smoking chamber to the fire source.

Both the preparation process and the recipe for smoking mackerel are different. It is important to remember how much time to smoke. If you do everything right, the fish will not disappoint.

What you need for dry salting:

mackerel - several pieces;
salt – 100 g per 1 kg of fish;
sugar – 10 g per 1 kg of fish;
bay leaf;
garlic;
peppercorns.

Gut the mackerel and rinse. Grind and mix all ingredients for pickling. Rub each carcass inside and out with the dry mixture, place in a bowl, sprinkle the fish with salt on top and put in the refrigerator for two days. It is important to remember to periodically turn the fish over.

Wet pickling involves preparing a brine, which requires the following ingredients:

120 g of salt per 1 liter of water;
bay leaf and other spices to taste.

Bring water to a boil, add salt, bay leaf and other spices. When the salt has dissolved, remove the container with brine from the stove and cool. Place the prepared mackerel in a bowl and pour in brine so that the fish is completely covered with it. Three medium carcasses require approximately 1 liter of marinade. Keep in the refrigerator for two days.

When two days have passed, you need to check how the fish has been salted. To do this, cut off a small piece and try. If there is too much salt, the fish needs to be soaked for about two hours. Then rinse the mackerel thoroughly running water and hang it out to dry by its tails, spreading its belly and inserting matches.

When excess moisture has drained, the fish can be placed in the smoking chamber prepared for use - hung on hooks or laid out on grates