Electric smokehouse: types and features

Fans of delicious food will not resist the temptation to try a fragrant piece of smoked meat or fish in a smokehouse. Often, such smoking devices are made for home use on their own.

The electric smokehouse is suitable for cooking meat products, fish, sausages and lard. Such structures are used both for home use and for the preparation of smoked products in production. When choosing an electric smokehouse, you should consider what purposes it will be intended for. If you do not plan to take a large amount of food for smoking, then a small electric smokehouse, into which you can load up to three kilograms of food, is quite suitable. Advanced models are suitable for cooking up to 15 kg of meat, fish, lard or sausages. Such designs are often used in small shops or restaurants. For industrial use, choose models that are even designed for 500 kg of products.

When choosing a smokehouse, you should consider its power., as the cooking time of the product will depend on this. For home use, an electronic smokehouse with a potential of 500-600 W is more suitable. When choosing a large structure, it should be borne in mind that more products can be cooked in it, but such models are not mobile, it is difficult to carry them with you to a picnic. If the smokehouse has a heating element, then it does not require the creation of certain operating conditions. When installing such a design, the main thing is that there is access to a 220 V outlet. These designs are very convenient for home use.

An electric smokehouse has the following advantages:

• long service life;
• compactness - the structures are not very heavy (about 5 kg). Such a small in size and weight unit can easily be transported with you in a car for going out into the countryside to cook aromatic dishes in it;
• complete safety;
• using such constructions it is possible to obtain a less high-calorie product; cooking is carried out without adding fat;
• there is no need to be near the smokehouse during cooking. After setting up the device, you can go about your business.

When choosing a smokehouse, it is worth finding out which models are suitable for hot smoking and what is the peculiarity of cold smoking. It is necessary to decide which model is suitable for cooking sausage or lard in an apartment or a private house. When smoking hot, the temperature can be up to + 120-150 degrees, the cooking time for products can be up to several hours. For cold smoking, the cooking process will take much longer. It will take several days to prepare the dish. Products are smoked at low temperatures up to +25 degrees. Mini-constructions are more suitable for home, in them you can cook up to 3 kg of aromatic dishes with a smoke.

The benefits of hot smoking meat or fish are worth considering. With this method, the dishes are more juicy, since moisture is retained in the products during the smoking process. But having prepared a dish in this way, it should not be stored for a long time. Without the use of preservatives or stabilizers, hot smoked dishes cannot be stored for a long time; it is worth eating these products within a few days.Products are smoked at temperatures from +35 to +150 degrees, more often they choose the optimum temperature for cooking +90 degrees. Up to 5 kg at a time at a power of 500-600 watts are placed in a home smoking machine. If there are few food items, the cooking time is shorter and may take several minutes, while at the maximum load it is worth waiting longer - up to about half an hour.

With this method of cooking food, the shelf life can be much longer. Cold smoked food can be stored for up to several months. In the process of cooking, meat is fumigated at low temperatures up to +25 degrees for several hours, for fish it is necessary to increase the processing temperature to +40 degrees. Salt the food well before fumigating it. Cold smoked patterns are generally more complex. They should be connected to the hood. Cold smoking units are most often immobile, but they can be equipped with additional functions such as a liquid smoke generator.

The combined design can be called successful. This model allows you to cook food both hot and cold. You can find models that have a removable power unit. You can take it with you to picnics and cook food over the fire. The two-level model is divided inside by grates on which food is laid out, which allows you to simultaneously cook, for example, meat and vegetables or use other recipes.

When choosing a smokehouse, it is worth looking at what models exist, familiarizing yourself with consumer reviews and choosing a more convenient and suitable option specifically for each customer. Judging by what buyers say, universal stainless steel models are more suitable for home use, with their help you can cook a variety of dishes at different temperatures. When choosing a model, you should pay direct attention to its volume, how tightly the lid fits to the case, and ventilation.

Hanhi Smokehouse received good reviews. The Finnish Hanhi smokehouse is available in 10, 20 and 30 liters. The 20 liter model is equipped with an electric heating element. The material for this offered model is stainless steel with a thickness of 2 mm, all products have a special tray where fat will be collected. There is a thermometer on the cover of the structure, which allows you to adjust the temperature during the operation of the unit. Using a special chimney, you can not be afraid of the smell of smoked meats in the room during the operation of the unit. Although judging by the reviews, the smell of haze in the room is still slightly present. Products are smoked in the Finnish Hanhi smokehouse for an hour.

For cold and hot smoking, you can choose the Idyllia electric smokehouse. The product looks like a cabinet with a control panel. The unit stands upright, which allows it to take up little space, no less than a medium-sized refrigerator. The unit works from the network, for this you just need to connect it. The smoker has dimensions of 500x600x1300 mm, the weight of the device is 9 kg. Products weighing 25 kg can be loaded into the unit at the same time; up to ten loads can be made in one day. It will take up to 3 hours to cook hot smoked dishes. Using the cold smoking method, it will take 2-3 hours to cook meat products and up to 90 minutes for fish products.

It is not difficult to use an electric smokehouse at home. This simple design allows you to cook smoked meals at home. You can cook products both in a ready-made smokehouse and in a hand-made device.

In order for the device to serve much longer, the following rules should be followed:

• regularly clean the smokehouse from residues of fat, burning and dirt. In this way, you can get rid of extraneous odors and eliminate their spontaneous combustion;
• it is worth installing the device far from possible sources of ignition, in a place protected from the wind;
• for sawdust, fruit and deciduous trees such as cherry or alder are more suitable. Do not use coniferous sawdust, as the smell of resin can spoil the taste of the dish.

Making a smokehouse yourself is not as difficult as it might seem. In an electric smokehouse, you can cook delicious meals pretty quickly. For fatty foods, the cold smoking method is more suitable, while during the cooking process the food is fumigated with smoke, and excess smoke flows down. Fish, chicken wings and vegetables are best cooked by hot smoking. At high temperatures, food will form a crust and remain juicier on the inside.

Although electric smokers are not very expensive, the general interest in them has led to the fact that the price of them began to rise. Therefore, it is worth trying to build a smokehouse with your own hands. Often they take a refrigerator or an electric stove for the base. If there are non-working devices at home, you can make the device yourself. In order to make a smokehouse from a stove or refrigerator, it is worth drawing a drawing.

A detailed design diagram will help a novice master make a homemade device.

To make a device with your own hands, you need the following:

• remove the cooling system device, remove the casing;
• a hole must be drilled on top of the housing in order to install the flue pipe. You can connect a chimney to the pipe, then bring it closer to the hood. If done correctly, you can smoke food in a smoke-free room;
• an electric stove is placed at the bottom of the case, a pallet is placed on it, where sawdust will slowly smolder;
• a sheet is installed above the pallet with sawdust, where fat will drain from the products;
• to put or hang food for cooking, place the rack or hang the hooks.

Before placing food in the smoking unit, it is worth preparing them. If fish is taken for smoking, it should be gutted and soaked in brine, for which they take a glass of salt for 4 kg of fish. Horse mackerel or mackerel is rubbed with salt and wrapped with cling film, pressed on top with a lid and kept so for two days. Then the fish is dried for two hours, cooled and laid out on the grill for smoking. The fish is smoked for one to three hours, depending on its size.

To cook tasty juicy meat, the product should be pre-salted. If the pieces of meat are large, they must first be boiled and then placed in the device. The same method is used when smoking homemade sausages. The meat is stewed in the device for 2-6 hours. To shorten the cooking time of the meat, you can rub it fresh with salt. Simmer any product until it is completely cooked, as the products become inedible when re-processed with smoke.

A food ambassador can be as follows:

• dry;
• wet;
• mixed.

With a dry method, the shelf life of the product can be extended up to two weeks. In order to get juicy and tender meat, it is worth using a wet or mixed cooking method.

You can use a smokehouse not only in nature or in the yard, often products are smoked in apartments, on the balcony. Before starting work, the smokehouse should be pre-inspected.To do this, it is worth checking the concentration of smoke, whether there is an open fire in the pan where sawdust is poured, how convenient are the grates for products, the efficiency of the heating element. In the process of work, novice craftsmen may have some difficulties.

When connecting the device, it is important to remember that during the operation of an electric smokehouse, the following rules should be adhered to:

• products during cooking should not come into contact with the wall or electrode mesh;
• electrified elements must be isolated from the case;
• products should not be touched with hands, check their readiness during the cooking process;
• all necessary components should be insulated;
• humidity should not exceed 80%;
• the air temperature in the room should not be more than +25 degrees.

For information on the types and features of an electric smokehouse, see the next video.