Electric smokehouse: types and features

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

The electric smokehouse is suitable for cooking meat products, fish, sausages and lard. Such constructions are used both for home use and for preparing smoking products in production. When choosing an electric smokehouse, you should consider what purpose it will be used for. If smoking is not planned to take a large number of products, it is quite suitable small electric smokehouse, which can load up to three kilograms of products. 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 designed even for 500 kg of products.

When choosing a smokehouse, its power should be taken into account., because the cooking time of the product will depend on it. For home use more suitable electronic smokehouse with a potential of 500-600 watts. When choosing a large design, it is worth considering that it is possible to cook more products in it, but such models do not differ in mobility, they are difficult to carry on a picnic. If the smoking shed has TEN, then it does not require the creation of certain operating conditions. When installing such a design, it is important that there is access to a 220V outlet. These designs are very convenient for home use.

Electric smokehouse has the following advantages:

• long service life;
• compactness - designs have not very big weight (about 5 kg). This unit, small in size and weight, can be easily transported with you in a car for going out into nature, in order to prepare fragrant dishes in it;
• complete security;
• using such constructions you can get a less-calorie product, cooking is carried out without adding fat;
• during the preparation of products there is no need to be near the smokehouse. After setting up the device, you can go about your business.

When choosing a smokehouse is to find out which models are suitable for hot smoking and what is the feature of cold smoking. It is necessary to decide which model is suitable for cooking sausage or for fat in the conditions of an apartment or a private house. When smoked in a hot way, the temperature can be up to + 120-150 degrees, the cooking time of products - up to several hours. For cold smoking, the cooking process will be much longer. To prepare the dishes will take not one, but several days. Products smoke at low temperatures up to +25 degrees. Mini designs are more suitable for the home, they can cook up to 3 kg of fragrant smoke dishes.

It is worth considering the benefits of smoking meat or fish in a hot way. With this method, the dishes are more juicy, as in the process of smoking moisture is stored in the products. But having prepared the dish this way, it should not be stored for a long time. Without the use of preservatives or stabilizers hot smoked dishes are not stored for a long time, it is worth eating these foods for several days.Smoke food at a temperature of +35 to +150 degrees, more often choose the optimum cooking temperature of +90 degrees. In a unit for home smoked placed at one time up to 5 kg at a power of 500-600 watts. If the products are loaded a little, the cooking time is reduced and can be several minutes, and at maximum load it is worth waiting longer - about half an hour.

With this method of cooking their shelf life can be much longer. Cold-smoked meals can be stored for up to several months. In the process of cooking the 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. Before fumigation of the products they should be well salted. Cold smoked models are usually more complex. They should be connected to the hood. Units for cold smoking are mostly immobile, but they can be equipped with additional functions such as a generator of liquid smoke.

Successful can be called a combined design. This model allows you to cook foods in a hot and cold way.You can find models that have a removable power unit. You can carry it on picnics and cook food on the fire. The two-tier model is divided inside by the grids on which the products are 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, read consumer reviews and choose a more convenient and suitable option specifically for each customer. Judging by what customers 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 attention to its volume, how tightly the lid fits to the body, and to ventilation.

The Hanhi smokehouse received good reviews. Hanhi Finnish Smokehouse is available in 10, 20 and 30 liters. The model on 20 liters is equipped with electric TEN. The material for this model is stainless steel with a thickness of 2 mm, all products have a special pan, where fat will be collected.On the cover of the structure there is a thermometer that allows you to adjust the temperature during the operation of the unit. Using a special chimney valve, you can not be afraid of the smell of smoked meat in the room during operation of the unit. Although judging by the reviews, the smell of smoke in the room is still slightly present. Smoke products in the Finnish smokehouse Hanhi for an hour.

For cold and hot smoked, you can choose the electric smokehouse "Idyll". The product looks like a cabinet on which the control panel is installed. The unit is upright, which allows it to take up little space, no less than the average-sized refrigerator will occupy. The unit is working on the network, for this it is only necessary to connect it. The smokehouse has dimensions of 500x600x1300 mm, the weight of the device is 9 kg. At the same time, products weighing 25 kg can be loaded into the unit, up to ten loads can be made in one day. To prepare hot smoked dishes, it will take up to 3 hours. Using the method of cold smoking, it will take 2–3 hours to cook meat products and up to 90 minutes for fish products.

Using an electric smokehouse for home use is not difficult.Such a simple design allows you to cook smoked dishes at home. It is possible to prepare products both in the finished smokehouse, and in the device made by hand.

To make the device last much longer, you should follow these rules:

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

Making a smokehouse alone is not as difficult as it may seem. On the electric smoke shed you can cook delicious dishes rather quickly. The method of cold smoking is more suitable for fatty foods, while in the process of cooking the products are smoked with smoke, and the excess smoke flows down. Fish, chicken wings and vegetables are best cooked using hot smoked. At high temperatures, a crust will form on the products, and inside they will remain more succulent.

Although electro-saws are not very expensive, the general interest in them has served to the fact that their price has begun to grow. Therefore it is worth trying to build a smokehouse with your own hands. Often for the base take a refrigerator or stove. If there are non-working devices at home, you can make the device yourself. In order to make a smokehouse of a stove or a refrigerator, it is worth drawing a drawing.

Detailed design scheme will help the novice master to make a homemade device.

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

• remove the cooling system device, remove the casing;
• Drill a hole in the top of the housing to install a flue pipe. You can connect the chimney to the pipe, then bring it closer to the hood. If you do everything right, you can smoke food in the room without the smell of smoke;
• an electric stove is placed at the bottom of the case, a pallet is placed on it, where sawdust will slowly smolder;
• above the pallet with sawdust set sheet, which will drain the fat from the products;
• in order to put or hang the products for cooking, you must install the grid or hang the hooks.

Before you put the products in the smoking unit, it is worth preparing them. If you take fish for smoking, you should gut it and soak it in brine, for which you take a glass of salt for 4 kg of fish. Scad or mackerel rubbed with salt and wrapped with cling film, pressed with a lid on top and kept for two days. Then the fish is dried for two hours, cooled and laid out on the grid for smoking. Smoked fish from one to three hours depending on its size.

To cook tasty juicy meat, you should pre-pickle the product. If the pieces of meat are large, they should be boiled beforehand and then placed in the device. In the same way they use when smoking homemade sausage.Meat in the device roasts for 2–6 hours. To shorten the time of cooking meat, it can be rubbed with salt fresh. To torment any product should be until it is fully prepared, as when re-processed smoke products become inedible.

The ambassador of products can be the following:

• dry;
• wet
• mixed.

With the dry method, the shelf life of the product can be extended to two weeks. In order to get juicy and tender meat, you should use a wet or mixed method of cooking.

You can use the smokehouse not only in nature or in the courtyard, often products are smoked in apartments, on the balcony. Before starting 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 gratings for the products, the efficiency of the heating element. In the process of work, novice masters may experience some difficulties.

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

• Products during cooking should not come into contact with the wall or electrode grid;
• electrified elements must be insulated from the housing;
• do not touch the food with your 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 electric smokehouse, see the following video.