Cold smoked trout: recipes, benefits and harms, calories

Cold smoked trout is a red fish with a noble taste. It has a dense elastic pulp, which can be easily cut into neat thin slices. The smoked aroma is less pronounced in it, it harmoniously complements the natural smell of fish.

Cold-smoked salmon look appetizing and have a harmonious taste and aroma.

Composition and value of the product

Cold-cooked smoked trout contains vitamins A, D, E. It contains potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, chromium, chlorine.

The nutritional value per 100 g is:

• proteins – 26 g;
• fats – 1,3 g;
• carbohydrates – 0,5

How many calories in cold smoked trout

The calorie content of cold smoked trout per 100 g is 132 kcal. This is less than with hot smoking. This is due to the fact that foods cooked with cold smoke are more dehydrated.

The benefits and harms of cold smoked trout

Smoked fish is difficult to attribute to healthy food, so it should not be abused. The benefits of cold smoked trout are due to its composition, namely the content of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which have a beneficial effect on the work of many organs and systems: cardiovascular, endocrine, musculoskeletal, nervous, digestive. In addition, it can be considered a low-calorie food.

Cold smoking is considered a more gentle cooking method compared to hot smoking, in which useful elements are preserved in trout – fatty acids are not destroyed, fish oil is preserved. Vitamins decompose partially, remaining only in the thickness of the fish, where smoke and air do not penetrate. Raw smoked products may contain parasites and harmful microorganisms.

Selection and preparation of fish

For smoking, you need fresh trout. It can be selected according to the following features:

1. The carcass has no deformations, its surface is smooth, when pressed with a finger, the dent quickly disappears.
2. The meat is pinkish-reddish.
3. The gills are bright red.
4. The eyes are bulging and clear.

Smaller fish are smoked whole. Cut large specimens into steaks weighing 200 g or cut into fillets – separate the flesh from bones, cartilage, skin, fat and films. In the case of cooking balyk, the head and abdomen are cut off.

High-quality fresh trout is half the success in cooking

There is a technology for salting whole fish, but in the case of cold smoking, there is a risk of spoilage, so it is better to remove the insides.

To do this, you need to do the following:

1. Make an incision on the abdomen, carefully remove the insides.
2. Remove the black film inside.
3. Cut off head, fins, tail.
4. Thoroughly rinse the carcass inside and out.
5. Dry with paper towel.
6. Cut into pieces (steaks) or lay the carcasses along the spine.

Spacers are inserted into the abdomens of whole carcasses so that they are evenly smoked inside and out.

How to salt cold smoked trout

Before processing with cold smoke, the trout must be salted to destroy all microorganisms, as well as to make the fish softer and tastier. There are 3 ways of salting: dry, wet, pickling.

Dry Ambassador

The easiest way is to rub the carcasses with coarse salt and put them in the common refrigerator compartment for 3-7 days. You need to sprinkle abundantly, the fish will not take the excess, and they will be washed off with water when washing. In addition to salt, you can take other ingredients. Usually it is ground pepper and sugar.

Approximate amount of spices per 1 kg of trout:

• salt – 3 Art. l .;
• ground pepper – 1 tsp;
• sugar – 1 tsp

The fish carcass, rubbed with spices, is wrapped in cling film, placed in a container, covered with a lid and sent to the cold. At the end of salting, the trout are taken out of the refrigerator, washed with water and dried.

Many gourmets believe that it is enough to grate trout with salt before smoking.

Wet ambassador

Prepare a brine with the following ingredients:

• water – 1 l;
• salt – 100 g;
• sugar – 80-100 g;
• ground pepper – to taste;
• Bay leaf;
• dried dill.

Procedure:

1. Pour water into a saucepan, put salt and sugar, put on fire, boil.
2. Add other ingredients. Cool the brine.
3. Pour the fish with brine, put in the refrigerator for 8-10 hours.
4. After this time, drain the brine, pour clean water over the trout and leave for half an hour. Then dry.

Salting in the marinade

In addition to the main spices, various ingredients are added to the marinade. First, the brine is boiled, then it is cooled and supplements are added to your liking. Marinade can be citrus, soy, wine, honey.

To prepare the marinade, you will need the following ingredients:

• water – 1 l;
• coarse salt – 4 tbsp. l.;
• lemon juice – 2 st. l .;
• bay leaf – 2 pcs .;
• cloves – 3 pcs.;
• black peppercorns – 5 pcs .;
• allspice – 3 pcs.

Procedure:

1. Put salt, black and allspice pepper, cloves and bay leaf in a saucepan with water. Put on fire, boil, remove from stove, cool.
2. Strain the brine, pour in the lemon juice.
3. Put the fish in a container, pour the marinade, load on top, leave for 24 hours in the refrigerator.
4. After a day, remove from the refrigerator, rinse and pat dry with paper towels.

Trout smoking in a cold smoked smoker

To cook cold smoked trout, you need to have certain skills and patience. This requires a special smokehouse, which you can make yourself. It is more convenient to purchase a smoke generator, which is connected by a chimney to a food chamber. Next, a cold-smoked trout recipe for a smokehouse will help.

The day before cooking, salted fish should be washed and dried well: first, pat dry with a towel, then hang on hooks for drying, protecting from flies with gauze. In this form, leave the trout overnight. It is not recommended to hang it in a strong draft, otherwise the outer layer will dry out, moisture will not be able to leave the inner layers, and when smoked, the smoke will not penetrate into the pulp.

Put the trout on the grill or hang it on hooks in the smokehouse and close the door or lid, depending on the design. Then set fire to the wood. It is best to use alder or beech wood chips. The smoke temperature should be 25-27 degrees, maximum 30. Fish smoking time is from 10 to 24 hours, depending on the size of the trout pieces.

When the process is complete, the trout must be kept hanging for several hours to dry and mature.

During this time, all layers of the fish will be evenly saturated with smoke substances, which at first prevail in the outer layer, it will become more fragrant and softer.

After smoking, the fish must be hung out for drying.

After drying, it should be wrapped in a film and put in the refrigerator for 3 days so that the taste is finally formed. Only after that you can try cold-smoked trout fish.

Cold smoking trout with liquid smoke

Liquid smoke is used when there is no smokehouse. With it, you can easily and quickly make products that imitate smoked meats. It is suitable for use in an apartment. Trout cooked with it cannot be considered cold-smoked fish, because after being treated with this flavoring, it will be cooked in the oven, microwave or convection oven.

You will need to take the following ingredients:

• 1 small trout;
• 1 tsp liquid smoke;
• 1 Art. liter. lemon juice;
• 1 Art. liter. olive oil;
• 1 Art. l soy sauce.

Procedure:

1. Prepare marinade from lemon juice, soy sauce, olive oil and liquid smoke.
2. Process the fish with the prepared mixture and put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
4. Wrap the trout in foil and place in the oven for 30 minutes.
5. The finished product has an aroma and taste of smoke.

How and how long cold smoked trout is stored

Cold-cooked trout can last longer than hot-cooked trout. This is due to a lot of salt, dehydration and prolonged exposure to smoke, including disinfectants.

The shelf life depends on the humidity and temperature of the air. The colder it is, the longer it will be usable.

The shelf life of hot smoked trout in the refrigerator does not exceed 3 days.

The table shows the shelf life depending on the air temperature at a humidity of 75-85%.

Is it possible to freeze cold smoked trout

Freezing cold-smoked trout is possible if you need to increase the shelf life. The main thing is then to defrost it correctly. From the freezer, it must be transferred to the common compartment of the refrigerator so that it defrosts slowly. So she will lose less weight, and her taste will be better.

Conclusion

Cooking cold-smoked trout is not easy. The process is complex and long, requiring patience and some experience. It is important to strictly adhere to the technology of salting and smoking, so as not to harm your body.

Cold smoked trout reviews