Smoking meat in a smokehouse at home: homemade smokehouses, structure and methods of smoking.

How to make a smokehouse with your own hands

The simplest smokehouse involves placing several metal pins in the chimney on which sausage or meat can be hung. When the stove is fired, smoke comes out through the chimney, which smokes the food.

The second way to build a smokehouse is to attach an additional pipe made of boards, lined with metal sheets on the inside, to the main pipe. The size of the attached smokehouse-pipe should be as follows: cross-section - 1 by 1 meter, height - 2 meters. In this case, both pipes, the main one and the attached one, must have one common inner wall. In the main pipe, it is necessary to provide two dampers - upper and lower.In the future, they will need to regulate the flow of smoke into the smokehouse from the main pipe. This method allows you to regulate the amount of smoke entering the chimney in a more standardized manner, which will have a positive effect on the quality of smoking of a particular product.

Another way to set up a smokehouse is to use two metal barrels (the top one without a bottom). The barrels are stacked on top of each other. In the lower part of such a smokehouse, it is necessary to cut a window with an autogen for storing firewood. In the top barrel, at a level of 10 cm from the top, you need to weld several metal crossbars, on which you can then hang meat and fish products. From above, such a smokehouse is covered with a metal sheet with holes through which smoke will escape. If there is no such sheet, then you can use old burlap - it also allows smoke to pass through well.

Taking the structure of a homemade smokehouse from barrels as a basis, it can be built from bricks or even boards. The inside of such a smokehouse must be covered with metal, and a tray, also metal, must be built at the bottom. It is needed so that coals are formed on it during the fire, which are then covered with sawdust.

See also video: Cold smoking of fish and meat. Smokehouse 18+!!!

What kind of firewood and sawdust are needed for smoking?

In order for the smoking to be of high quality, special attention should be paid to sawdust, from which smoke will be generated. Remains of wood from any deciduous and fruit trees are suitable for such purposes, but coniferous branches cannot be used at all. The pine needles give the meat a bitter taste and the smell of burnt resin. See also: what sawdust is best to smoke fish?.

How to smoke in a smokehouse

To start the smokehouse, thin twigs and larger trimmings are first laid on its bottom, covered with metal. The bottom layer is ignited with matches and when the upper large fractions burn out well, dry sawdust is poured onto them. In order for the smoking to be slow and even, you should not pour a lot of sawdust at once. Only when the first part is almost burnt out can you add the next portion. To prevent smoke from leaving the smokehouse very quickly, its outflow can be regulated by closing the damper or covering the holes in the lid.

Requirements for meat for home smoking

Any products must be well salted before smoking - this can be done dry or wet. Before smoking, it is advisable to remove dry salt from meat or lard using a knife.

Smoking methods and how long to smoke

Processing products with smoke at home can be done either cold or hot. During the first one, and it can last up to several days, the smoldering of the sawdust should be very slow. This will ensure a low smoke temperature, up to only 20 degrees. Hot smoking involves very fast preparation of the product, even in an hour or a little more. The smoke temperature with this method must be kept quite high.