Bream is a fairly common fish, which is usually salted, dried or smoked. Every fisherman can catch it, but not everyone knows how to smoke bream.

To cook such a fish, you should know which carcass is better to choose, how to cut it and how to properly smoke the bream.

Types of smoking

Carcasses can be cooked in two ways, namely cold and hot.

Hot smoking method is used mainly for cooking fish. In the process, the meat is not dehydrated and will retain some of the beneficial properties and vitamins. In time, the whole procedure lasts 2 - 4 hours and occurs in 3 stages.

These include:

• preparation of carcasses, drying under the influence of low temperature smoke;
• baking carcasses, in which the meat is thermally processed (becomes boiled) and separated from the bones without problems;
• smoking at 90 - 120 degrees.

At the final stage, the fish is given a specific smell and taste.

Cold smoking takes longer to cook the fish (3 days to 2 weeks). In the process of cooking, carcasses are exposed to (fumigation) for a long time with cold smoke with a temperature of about 17 to 24 degrees.

In the process, excess moisture is removed from the meat, the skin dries out and the carcass thickens. With this method, the role of an antiseptic is played by resins that penetrate deep into the carcass in the process.

You can smoke this fish at home in any way

How to prepare fish

Smoking bream at home involves the independent selection and preparation of carcasses. For one bookmark, you need to pick up fish of the same size. This will avoid uneven processing of carcasses.

First of all, they should be washed very well and the gills completely removed. Then the abdomen is opened and the entrails are removed (if the fish are small, then they should not be gutted). After these procedures, a not very deep incision is made on the back of each carcass along the ridge, so the fish is better salted. In the end, rinse them well again in running water.

It is not necessary to remove the skin and scales. It performs a barrier function, and with it the dish will be juicier.

Salting before smoking

To cook bream by smoking, it must first be salted.

You can salt the bream for smoking either by rubbing it with salt or by soaking it in a saline solution.

With dry salting, 1.5 kg of salt should be used per 10 kg of fish. To do this, sprinkle the carcasses with salt in an enamel bowl of a suitable size. Before laying, each carcass must be thoroughly rubbed with salt inside and out. In this form, breams are marinated for 12-13 hours.

For brine salting, 70 - 90 g of salt will be required per 1 liter of clean filtered water. A brine should be made from the ingredients and poured over the stacked carcasses. The process takes approximately 5-13 hours. The duration depends on the size of the fish.

After salting, the breams are soaked in clean water for 15-24 hours. Water should be changed 1-3 times. Then it is hung out and dried a little for further smoking.

It is necessary to salt the bream according to technology, because this is an important part of the preparation, during which the carcasses are disinfected

Hot smoking

Hot smoked bream is prepared from the following products:

• 5 large breams;
• 6 tablespoons coarse salt;
• 10 g herbal mixture of rosemary, thyme and oregano;
• 1 teaspoon of allspice.

Hot smoked bream at home is prepared according to the following step-by-step instructions.

1. Prepare carcasses and wash them well.
2. Prepare or take a ready-made mixture of herbs and mix it with salt.
3. Carefully rub the carcasses with the prepared mixture, rubbing it under the scales. Do not forget to process the carcasses inside.
4. If foam forms after salting, do not remove it. Let her settle on her own.
5. Put all the bream in an enamel bowl and place it in a cool place. Put a yoke on the fish.
6. After 24 - 30 hours, remove and rinse them in running water for 0.5 - 1 hour.
7. Hang carcasses to dry in a well-ventilated area for 60 to 90 minutes.
8. Prepare dry currant twigs and alder chips.
9. Put them on the bottom of the smoker and cover with a tray, and place a grate in the smoker itself. Lay the carcasses on it.
10. Close and put it on a strong fire for 15 - 20 minutes. This will allow them to be well processed thermally.
11. After the time has elapsed, open the smokehouse for just a couple of minutes and release the accumulated steam.
12. Close the lid and let the fish rest on the coals.
13. After about 25 - 35 minutes, you can get bream.

The aroma from freshly smoked fish will be delicious, and currant branches will give it spicy notes of both taste and smell.

Not everyone knows exactly how much to smoke hot smoked bream. If you calculate the time spent for each stage, it turns out that you can get a finished fish in 1 - 1.5 hours. However, do not forget about the size of the fish, if they are small, then they will spend less time in a hot smoked smokehouse.

Hot smoked bream after cooking acquires a characteristic golden hue, and you can eat it literally in 30-50 minutes

Cold smoking

Cold smoked bream is prepared from the following products:

• 5 carcasses of medium size;
• 150 - 200 g of salt.

Smoked bream is easy to prepare with step-by-step instructions.

1. Prepare carcasses for further use.
2. Prepare a brine and place the bream in it for 2 to 3 days.
3. After salting, rinse them in running water and hang them to dry for literally 50-70 minutes.
4. After that, open the abdomens of the fish and fix them with toothpicks.
5. After that, wither them in a ventilated place.
6. Then place the carcasses in a special smokehouse in the upper compartment, and put sawdust in the lower one and light it.

The smoke from the torches and sawdust will rise to the fish. So it will be smoked with cold smoke in 24 - 48 hours.

This recipe for bream is considered a classic. Fish on it is prepared quite easily and quickly, and the aroma and taste are delicious at the same time.

Calorie content and beneficial properties

Smoked bream retain the bulk of useful minerals and vitamins. Their meat contains a large amount of phosphorus, iron, potassium, chromium and chlorine, as well as calcium, nickel and sodium. These elements support the work of all body systems.

The calorie content of hot smoked bream is only 140 - 145 kcal per 100 g of the finished product, proteins - 27 g, fat - 4 g.

Smoking bream at home is quite simple. The main thing is to strictly observe the technology of salting and processing carcasses. This will disinfect them and not harm health when eaten.

Hot smoked bream is a favorite delicacy of every man who loves smoked meats. Representatives of the fair half do not refuse this dish, it is very fragrant, tasty, and also healthy (contains fatty acids). The hot-smoked bream recipe is most often used by fishermen, and all because you can quickly smoke a fish in this way in any conditions. Right now we will tell you how to cook bream in a delicious hot and cold way in nature, right on the river bank and in the apartment.

Preparation of fish and cutting of bream

To begin with, I would like to note that it is best to select fish carcasses for hot smoking that are approximately the same in weight and size. So all products are smoked evenly and tasty, there will be no such thing that small carcasses dry out excessively, and large ones still do not salt properly.

How to prepare bream for the smoking process.

1. Rinse each fish well, remove the gills, make a small incision in the abdomen and remove the insides. Small individuals do not need to be gutted, they can be smoked whole.
2. It is not necessary to clean the bream from the husk before smoking, just like cutting off the head.
3. In the area of ​​the back of each bream, a small, shallow incision should be made along the entire ridge.
4. Now salting bream for hot smoking. How to salt properly. In this case, the fish can be salted either dry (rubbed with salt) or wet (dipped for a certain time in a salty aqueous solution). Since the most common dry method of salting, we will tell you about it.

When salting bream by the dry method, one and a half kilograms of coarse salt should be taken for 10 kilograms of fish. Further, gutted individuals are sprinkled with salt from all sides, including the belly from the inside, and laid out in some kind of container "jack". Oppression is placed on top and in this form the bream should be left for 12-14 hours.

After half a day, salted fish are placed in water for soaking for 2 hours, changing the water in the container every 30 minutes. Then a toothpick or any branch is inserted into each abdomen of large carcasses, and the drying process begins. This is the final stage of preparing the bream for smoking; on it, the fish is hung out in a well-ventilated room or in an open-air place for about an hour or two.

Hot smoked bream, recipe with photo:

This is not a very laborious process, anyone can do it, the main thing is to know a few secrets of cooking and follow all the stages of smoking.

Smoking bream in a hot-smoked smokehouse in nature

You will need to take for smoking fish in nature:

• - Bream.
• - A glass of sawdust.
• - Vegetable oil.

How to cook outdoors in a smokehouse smoked bream.

1. The sawdust must first be soaked in plain water so that later they do not burn out in a matter of seconds, but simply smolder, giving off hot smoke.
2. Prepared fish carcasses, that is, salted, soaked and dried, are laid out at a distance of a centimeter from each other on a grate, which must be oiled in advance.
3. Put the chips on the very bottom of your smokehouse.
4. Place a container into which the fat will drain, this container should be located below the grate, at the very bottom of the smokehouse.
5. Kindle the fire, close the smokehouse. With these actions, you started the process of cooking smoked bream.

On a note! It is best to lay the individuals back down, and not on their side, so you do not need to constantly turn the fish, it will be evenly smoked anyway.

Now some simple tips.

• At the very beginning of the process, the fire in the smokehouse should be strong, then, adding wet sawdust, only thick smoke should remain.
• Medium-sized individuals should be smoked in nature in a smokehouse for at least a quarter of an hour. But at the same time, it is important to constantly check the fish, it should not be overexposed, otherwise it will turn black and taste like burning.
• You can check the readiness of the bream by opening the lid. At the same time, the smokehouse does not need to be removed from the fire until the fish becomes a beautiful bronze color.
• The shelf life of hot smoked bream is at home at a temperature not exceeding 8 degrees, that is, in the refrigerator or in autumn and winter on the balcony for 3-4 days.

Ask the chef!

Failed to cook a meal? Feel free to ask me personally.

Hot smoked bream at home

You can smoke hot smoked bream right in the apartment, you just need to buy a special kit for smoking fish. It includes a pack and other paraphernalia, and has the breams themselves.

How to smoke fish in an apartment.

1. First, you should prepare the fish, as described above, gut, pickle, soak, dry by natural air currents.
2. Pour the chips that come in the kit for home-smoking fish into the bag, distribute them evenly along the bottom.
3. We put the package on a baking sheet so that the short side of the package plays the role of a kind of visor.
4. On top of the chips we cover the foil, it also comes in a set or you can use any foil for baking dishes.
5. On the surface of the foil, which, we note, does not need to be lubricated with anything, lay out the bream, so that the fish alternate head and tail, that is, a jack.
6. We set the oven to 280-300 degrees, send the fish into it, and periodically check it, wait about 60 minutes. Cooking time may be longer or shorter, depending on the size and power of the oven.
7. When the fish becomes golden, soft, fragrant, it can be taken out, cooled and served cold. Be sure that such a hot-smoked smoked product will be no worse than store-bought, and maybe even many times better.

Cold way of smoking bream with liquid smoke

Smoked bream can be both hot and cold smoked, and therefore one recipe for cooking fish using a cold method using liquid smoke.

1. Prepared individuals are laid out in a container, while the first layer is sprinkled with spices, and then the second layer is sprinkled with them. To make the fish more soaked and tasty, it is best to smoke it in one layer.
2. Next, a third of a glass of liquid smoke is poured into a kilogram of bream, that is, three kilograms of fish, this will require a glass of liquid smoke.
3. Within an hour, the fish should be constantly turned so that it is thoroughly saturated with smoke.
4. In two? three or four days (depending on the size of the carcasses), the product is taken out and hung out on a wire in any ventilated room so that the breams dry out.
5. After a day of drying, the product can be eaten, the fish will be ready, or you can still place the bream in the oven for an hour at 40 degrees. Everything here will depend on your taste and preferences.

calories

Smoked bream, do not forget, although it is a useful, but rather high-calorie product, you should not abuse it. There are about 170-175 calories per 100 grams of fish meat.

Price

The price of hot-smoked smoked bream in Russia depends on a number of factors. So, for example, in the warm season, the cost of the product will average up to 300 rubles per kilo, but in winter it can reach up to 400 rubles per kilogram.

The price is affected by the size of the fish and the quality of its preparation. Scavengers, for example, are a little cheaper than the breams themselves, as well as large carcasses, because they are fatter and their meat is denser, more expensive than small breams.

Now you know how to cook at home and on the street hot smoked bream what you need to have on hand to prepare such a dish, how much you pay today for ready-made smoked individuals. Cook bream yourself and save money, you can smoke this fish in any conditions.

Hot smoked bream: recipe, video:

Cold-smoked bream, as well as hot-cooked bream, has a special aroma and taste.

But before you smoke bream at home, you need to know how to prepare the carcass, what raw materials are suitable for different types of smoking, and how to store the finished product.

To smoke bream in a hot smoked smokehouse, you should know the rules for processing hot smoke.

One of them - choose a fresh and desirable bream for smoking of the same length. So the fish meat will be evenly processed with hot smoke.

Interesting to know! A bream weighing 800-900 g is smoked whole, and a larger fish is first cut.

Hot smoked bream is juicy, tender and with a pleasant smell, and it is cooked for 30-100 minutes at a temperature of 45-125 ° C.

During preparation, it is necessary to salt the hot-smoked bream in salt brine or simply rub it with salt.

Healthy! To give an amazing smell and an interesting aftertaste, grease the carcass and pepper at the end of drying.

To properly smoke hot smoked bream, you need to know:

Common marinade recipes for hot smoked bream

The easiest way to prepare fish carcasses is salting. But if you pickle bream for hot smoking in spices, then it will turn out even tastier. Therefore, consider common marinade recipes.

spicy marinade

To prepare the brine in boiling water (1 l), throw two types of citrus fruits (half each), onions (1-2 pcs.), Salt (50 g), sugar, cinnamon, black and red peppers (5 g each), bay leaf (2-3 leaves) and spices - thyme, rosemary and sage (a little of each spice, to taste). You can also add your favorite spices if desired. Boil the resulting liquid for 10-15 minutes and set aside to cool. Pour the carcass with the cooled marinade and leave for 9-11 hours.

Marinade with soy sauce and white wine

After boiling water (2 l), add sugar, salt (4 tablespoons each) and mix thoroughly. In the cooled liquid, add lemon juice (150 ml) - preferably freshly squeezed, soy sauce (100 ml), white wine (200 ml), garlic (3-4 cloves) and spices - coriander, basil and pepper. Cover the fish completely with the resulting brine and set aside to marinate for 12 hours.

honey marinade

Mix in a container lemon juice (100 ml), olive oil (180 ml), salt (5 g), pepper (at the tip of a knife), parsley, any fish seasoning (whole package), garlic (1-2 cloves) and honey ( 120 g). After mixing well, pour the carcass with the resulting mixture and refrigerate for 6-10 hours.

Interesting! With honey, hot-smoked bream at home will turn out with a golden crust and with an exquisite taste.

Recipe for an outdoor smoker

To prepare fish carcasses in an outdoor smokehouse, you will need:

1. Gut the bream, remove the scales, cut off the gills, fins, rinse with water and dry in the fresh air.
2. Soak the chips in water for 30 minutes so that there is no burning during smoking.
3. Salt the smoked bream inside and out (add seasonings to taste if desired).
4. Lay the prepared wood chips on the bottom of the smoker, put the grate and lay out the fish.
5. After covering the smoker with a lid, set it on fire and make sure that it gradually decreases.
6. As soon as smoke begins to come out, after 15 minutes, try the carcass. If it is white, then this indicates the readiness of the product.

Serve the finished delicacy on the table completely cooled. So you can better feel the pleasant taste and hear the wonderful aroma of spices and smoke.

Interesting! The preparation and the smoking process itself takes from 1.5 to 2 hours. It all depends on the size of the fish and the volume of the smokehouse.

Smoked bream on a baking sheet with straw

Wanted a smoked fish, but there is no smokehouse at hand? Then a regular baking sheet will come to the rescue. Put straw on a baking sheet, on top - pre-prepared carcasses and put it immediately on medium heat.

The straw will begin to smoke and saturate the bream with its aroma, which will be simultaneously baked and smoked.

Features of cold smoking

Cold-smoked bream at home retains nutrients, in addition, the shelf life of such a delicacy is longer - 2-3 months. The preparation of the product is quite simple, but to get a really spicy aroma and unsurpassed taste, install the smokehouse under a canopy or in a barn.

During the entire smoking, the temperature of the smoke should not exceed 24 ° C. Cold-smoked fish carcass is cooked from 1 to 3 days - it all depends on the size and quantity of fish.

Preparing bream for cold smoke treatment

To preserve the necessary vitamins and minerals, you should prepare the bream for cold smoking in accordance with all the rules. To do this, do the following:

• rinse the fish and cut off the gills;
• for uniform salting, make an incision along the spine;
• then proceed to.

For harvesting more than 1 kg of fish, in addition to rubbing the carcass with salt, placing it in a container, each layer is also sprinkled with a salty mixture.

Healthy! Preparing fish for cold smoking is exactly the same as for the hot method.

Methods for pickling bream for cold smoking

There are several ways to prepare carcasses for cold smoke treatment. Both options make the fish tender and tasty. Therefore, choose a more suitable recipe and delight your family and friends with a new delicacy prepared by your own hands.

Dry salting

1. Remove the entrails, gills, fins and rinse thoroughly with water so that no bitter aftertaste remains.
2. Make a neat cut from head to tail. In this case, the fish should not break into two parts.
3. Take salt (25-50 g per 1 kg of product) and distribute evenly throughout the carcass - in the belly, incision and against the scales.
4. Wrap with cling film and send to a cold place for 3-6 hours.
5. Also, before smoking the bream, after the time has elapsed, remove the liquid that has come out from the product with a paper towel and hang it in a ventilated place for 60 minutes to dry.

It's important to know! Always check the bream for salt. After salting, taste the fish meat with the tip of your tongue. If the product turned out to be very salty, then rinse it with water and dry it again. And if, on the contrary, it is undersalted, then put it back into the curing mixture and leave it there for some more time for more intensive salting.

Salting in salt brine

You can salt the bream for smoking just before serving it in a cold smokehouse. Place the prepared carcasses in a container, and fill with a liquid of water (1 l), salt (80 g) and spices according to taste preference. Cover and leave to infuse for 8-12 hours.

At the end of the time, transfer the fish to cool water and leave for 30 minutes. After, dry in the fresh air and proceed with the smoke treatment.

For a large number of fish, soaking in water lasts for a day and the liquid should be changed periodically.

Healthy! To speed up drying, insert spacers inside the bream.

Common marinades

Before smoking, the product must be marinated - this way it will get a special aroma and flavor. It is important here not to overdo it with spices, so that a smack of smoke can be heard.

Marinade recipes:

1. With the addition of saltpeter. Before smoking bream, you need to throw garlic cloves (5-6 pcs.), Salt, sugar (50 g each), pepper (to taste) and saltpeter (10 g) into boiled water. Stir and leave on fire. Remove the pan after 5 minutes and let the liquid cool. Then pour the carcass and set aside to marinate for 5-13 hours.
2. Brine. In a boiling saline solution, add chopped citruses (1 each), onions (2-3), garlic (3-4 cloves), sugar, cinnamon and salt (25 g each), bay leaf (2-3 pcs. .) and spices to taste (it can be sage, rosemary, thyme or others). Boil the resulting liquid for 10 minutes and fill the fish with it. After 11 hours, go to the cold smoking method.

Good to know! To get the right concentration of brine, drop potatoes into boiling water and add salt until they rise to the surface.

Smoking bream in an apartment in two ways

It is not always possible to cook smoked meat in nature, especially if you live in a city. Fortunately, there are recipes that allow you to smoke cold-smoked or hot-smoked bream in an apartment.

hot method

To cook hot smoked bream in an apartment, you will need:

• rid the product of the insides, rinse thoroughly and wipe with a paper towel;
• rub generously with salt inside and out (if desired, add pepper and seasonings to taste);
• put chips (previously prepared on your own or bought in a store) in a bag and spread over the entire baking sheet;
• cover the raw material with foil and lay out the prepared bream;
• send the baking sheet to the oven and set the temperature to 300 degrees;
• after about an hour, the smoked meat is taken out and served on the table (during this time it is advisable to check the contents so that nothing burns).

Smoked bream in the oven is golden in color and has a pleasant smell.

cold method

To process fish carcasses with cold smoke in an apartment, you will need to do the following:

• prepare the carcass - remove the insides, scales and cut into two parts;
• dry for 3 hours;
• pour liquid smoke into a container with bream and let it brew for up to 15-20 minutes;
• hang in a cool place for 24 hours.

Important! During drying, excess liquid will drain from the fish, so place a tray under the bottom.

For lovers of spices: the carcass can be pre-rubbed with salt and spices to taste. Let it brew for 24 hours and then cook according to the recipe.

All about finished product storage

When smoking bream at home in a hot-smoked smokehouse, the product is subjected to heat treatment, so it should be stored in the refrigerator, wrapped in cling film, for no more than 3 days.

Interesting! Fish treated with hot smoke can be placed in the freezer, but it must be thawed at a temperature not exceeding 8 degrees.

Cold cooking is different from smoking bream in a hot smoked smokehouse, so its storage will be different. Cold-smoked bream retains its beneficial properties from 7 days to 1 month - it all depends on temperature conditions. The fact is that with proper smoking of bream, it contains less liquid, and a large amount of salt is used in the preparation of the product.

Finally

To properly smoke bream, learn how to properly prepare the carcass, equipment and, of course, choose the right sawdust, on which the final result depends.

For beginner smokers, it should be remembered that coniferous chips add bitterness to the finished product. And the fruit fruits of the trees give a unique flavor.

Interesting to know! Smoked bream, prepared in any way, retains its calorie content and beneficial properties. Therefore, everyone can enjoy such a delicacy.

Let's add a few words about calories for those who are afraid to get better:

1. The fish carcass prepared by the hot method contains 172 kcal per 100 g of the product.
2. Cold smoked bream - 160 kcal per 100 g of product.

Important! Hypertensive patients, diabetics and people on a diet for health reasons are not prohibited from eating smoked bream. Its meat is saturated with useful minerals and vitamins even after being smoked.

As you can see, there is nothing complicated in cooking, the main thing is to know how to pickle and pickle bream for smoking, how to prepare it, what raw materials should be stocked up and what the finished product looks like.

When it comes to bream, the image of a smoked fish pops up in my head. Only dried carcasses can compare with it in taste. And although it is stored for a short time, this is definitely not a problem: no one will let it lie for a long time!

The best way to cook bream is by smoking, which gives it a unique flavor. For many, this is just an appetizer, although the fish can rightfully become a full-fledged dish for a daily or festive table. Today it is much easier to go to the store and purchase finished products, but not everyone undertakes self-cooking. But in fact, smoked bream is made very simply.

Calories and nutrients

Smoked bream retains all vitamins and minerals. Meat contains trace elements responsible for all metabolic processes in the body - potassium, phosphorus, chlorine, chromium and iron, is a source of calcium, nickel, sodium, which support the functioning of organ systems.

There are not as many other useful substances in meat as in plant foods, while fish contains vitamins of group B, as well as A, C, E.

Animal products are rich in protein with a relatively low fat content. Therefore, 100 grams of smoked bream gives the body:

• Calorie content - 142 kcal;
• Proteins - 26.5 g;
• Fats - 4.0 g;
• Carbohydrates - 0 g.

Bream fillet reduces the risk of developing hypertension and stroke, promotes weight loss and is recommended for dietary nutrition.

Cold smoked bream - a classic recipe

How to pickle bream for smoking? To begin with, the carcass should be prepared. The fish is cleaned, gutted, washed under running water. It is salted in the same way as before frying. It is important to salt the bream at home stronger only near the head. The container with carcasses is left for 2-3 days.

The next step in the instructions on how to properly smoked bream is dried. The abdomen is bursting with a toothpick, the fish is suspended in a ventilated place.

Burning torches and sawdust are covered so that the smoke goes through the chimney to the fish. The length of the pipe must be at least two meters so that the heat from the fire does not pass to the smoking carcasses. A day later, the smoked bream is ready.

Bream in a hot smoked smokehouse

The easiest way to smoke is to use a smokehouse with a water seal. Before you smoke bream, you need to prepare high-quality sawdust. One glass is enough. For half an hour, they are soaked in water so that the wood does not burn out in a few minutes, but actively forms smoke.

The insides of the carcasses are cut out, if desired, the head is also cut off. Washed and dried meat is rubbed with a salt mixture with seasonings.

Smoking bream in a smokehouse starts at a high temperature, then it gradually decreases and the process itself takes only 25-30 minutes.

As soon as the bream becomes golden, it is worth checking it for readiness. Most likely, the fish is already cooked.

Bon Appetit!

We take freshly caught bream, gut and rinse thoroughly in running water. Then we put it in a pre-prepared fish container (basin, saucepan, etc.) and fill it with salt water (heavy salted) and pepper to taste. Water should be poured so much that the fish is a little hidden under water and close the container with a lid. Then put for about one hour in a cool place. During this time, the bream will take in as much salt as it needs.

It is not necessary to remove the scales from the fish, since it does not affect the salting process and, during smoking, gives it a natural appearance without falling apart or cracking (example with potatoes). After cooking, the skin with scales is removed very easily, without scattering the scales in different directions, as when cleaning fresh fish.

Next, we prepare a smokehouse for cooking fish. The smokehouse should be stainless steel (preferably). At the bottom of the smokehouse, we put pre-cut branches of an apple tree (or other fruit trees, which we have in abundance in our summer cottages). For hot smoking of bream, I use fresh apple trees (but not dry ones!), cutting them into 10-15cm pieces, about 8-10mm in diameter in the amount of 12-15 pieces and put them on the bottom of the smokehouse.

From the food foil intended for baking, we make a small tray according to the size of the smokehouse and put it on the apple twigs so that the edges of the foil come into contact with the walls of the smokehouse, and, pressing with our hands, smooth them out. This is easy to do, as the foil is very soft.

All this is done so that when fat begins to drip from the fish during hot smoking, this fat does not fall on the branches and makes them smolder better, this is why a foil tray is made (unless, of course, there is another tray intended for smoking ). If you think that the haze will not be enough, then it is not. Smoke will always find a hole. After smoking, the foil is collected in a lump and thrown away.

So! We have prepared the smokehouse, now we take the grate on which we will put the fish. There should be at least two of them with different cells, because we catch different fish. In our case, we take a grate with a large cell and grease it with oil. Then we take out the bream, which we have salted for about an hour, wash it with water and also grease it with sunflower oil (refined) on both sides, sprinkle with seasoning for fish (golden color during smoking will be just a feast for the eyes)

For the best effect during hot smoking, we slightly open the abdominal cavity of the bream and insert a sprig from an apple tree cut across the abdomen, cut to the size of the fish’s abdomen (you can also put a tomato, bell pepper, potatoes, and so on) - as you like, then put it on the grill .

The grate is placed in the smokehouse on the ledges on the sides. For uniform coverage with a golden crust, the fish should not come into contact with each other and with the walls of the smokehouse, otherwise your place of contact with the wall may burn if the fire is too large. And we close it all with a lid.

Now we are all ready for hot smoking. We put the smoker on a small fire for 25-35 minutes, depending on the size of the caught fish, and wait for it to cook. At the end of the smoking period, we take out the bream on the grate from the smokehouse and let the fish cool. And then we start eating. From alcoholic beverages to hot smoked bream, beer or dry wine is suitable for it.

And the last. If for some reason fishing failed and you were left without fish, you can buy it in the store and do the same. I will recommend you red sea bass, it is a pity that we do not have it in lakes and rivers. Well, it's just delicious!

Bon Appetit!