Liquid smoke is a natural or artificial flavoring agent. With its help, at home or in an industrial workshop, you can give meat and fish the taste and appearance of smoked products. It is a dark brown concentrate with a smoky odor.

How to smoke lard in liquid smoke

There are two options for preparing lard using liquid smoke:

it can be cooked for a long time, then it will lose its elasticity and become soft, such a product is pure fat;

cook for a small amount of time, in this case the finished product will remain elastic, it will correspond to the consistency of the raw product as much as possible, it will retain a maximum of vitamins and microelements.

Fresh lard

Consider the second option for preparing the product. To smoke lard according to this recipe, you will need:

fat itself;

liquid smoke;

two containers, one of which is suitable for cooking;

spices to taste and onion skins - if desired, add ready-made lard intense shade of smoked product.

The smoking process itself is as follows:

add salt to the water at the rate of 100 g per liter;

also to give the finished lard a rich color, you can add onion skins;

boil water, if onion husks have been added - boil for 5 minutes;

remove from heat, add liquid smoke at the rate of 65 ml per liter of water;

at this stage, you can also add spices to taste;

put bacon in an enamel bowl;

pour it with the previously prepared brine with liquid smoke and cover with a lid.

Lard should be left in the brine for 12 hours. After that, it must be wiped dry with napkins. To further dry the product, you can leave it in the shade, preferably in a draft, for several hours.

Smoked bacon

The finished product must be stored in an airtight container or plastic bag. Before storing it, you can rub it with black or red pepper.

How to smoke fish in liquid smoke

To make the finished fish tastier, it is better to pre-soak it for several hours. For smoking you will need:

any kind of fish;

liquid smoke;

1 potato;

2 deep containers.

Smoked fish

Smoking instruction

Gut and clean the fish, rinse it under running water. If it is large, cut it in two along the spine, and also make transverse cuts along the sides. Small fish you don't need to cut it, moreover, you don't even need to gut it.

Prepare the brine. To do this, dip a raw potato into the water and add salt until it floats. If the potato floats in the brine, it means that its concentration is optimal.

Place the fish cooked with brine, cover with oppression and put in a cool place for several hours.

After salting is complete, take out the fish and dip it in liquid smoke: for a fish divided into two parts with side cuts along the ridge, 15 seconds is enough, for small fish - a minute, for large fish that you smoke whole - 3 minutes.

Hang the fish in a cool place for 24 hours.

When 24 hours have passed, the product can be consumed.

Smoking meat in liquid smoke

Raw meat

For smoking you will need:

meat - 1 kg;

liquid smoke - 3 tablespoons;

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil;

1 head of onion;

salt to taste;

spices - you can use parsley, dried mint, oregano and other seasonings to taste.

To cook smoked meat with liquid smoke, it must be marinated first. To do this, cut it into portions, pour over with liquid smoke and rub with salt. After that, put the meat in a cool place for half an hour so that it is saturated with flavor and absorbs the salt.

After that pour it over vegetable oil with spices and wrap each piece in foil. Place the meat on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 180 degrees. Serve with any side dish you like - it can be vegetable salad, potatoes, boiled rice.

Smoked meat

You can also cook meat with liquid smoke and tomato paste in a skillet. To do this, you will need:

1 kg of meat;

2 tablespoons of liquid smoke

3 tablespoons tomato paste;

onions - 2 heads;

carrots - 2 pieces.

Cut the meat into cubes, cover with liquid smoke and stir in tomato paste. Leave it in a cool place for half an hour to marinate. After these preparations, you can proceed directly to cooking:

cut the onion into rings and fry until golden brown;

fry the carrots until tender;

Put the meat in a hot frying pan, when it starts up juice - reduce heat, add onions and carrots, salt and simmer until tender.

To add a spicy sour taste to the dish, add a little more tomato paste when stewing. An excellent side dish for such meat will be fried mushrooms, as well as potatoes, buckwheat or crumbly rice.

How to smoke a chicken

Delicious smoked chicken with liquid smoke can be cooked in the oven. For this you will need:

whole chicken carcass;

ingredients for the marinade: 1 tablespoon liquid smoke, 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil, salt, ground black pepper, mayonnaise, half a lemon.

Chicken carcass

To smoke a chicken in a liquid smoke oven, you must:

cut the carcass along the ridge and rinse it well under running water;

mix in a suitable bowl all the ingredients for marinating, cover the chicken with the resulting marinade, put the dishes in the refrigerator for a day;

per day, the chicken is well saturated with marinade, after which it must be baked in the oven.

To get a delicious chicken carcass smoked with liquid smoke, it must be placed in an oven at 200 degrees for an hour.

Smoked chicken

To make the chicken carcass more appetizing, you can apply a special sauce with liquid smoke on it before sending it to the oven. To prepare it you will need:

2 tablespoons of liquid smoke;

2 tablespoons of mayonnaise;

4 cloves of garlic.

It is better to push the garlic. In this case, you will get a homogeneous paste, which can be coated on the outside of the carcass, as well as inside the incision that runs along the spine.

How to smoke a rabbit

To cook a rabbit, you will need:

medium-sized carcass;

liquid smoke;

• spices: pepper is suitable for flavoring the meat, Bay leaf, cilantro, parsley, onions and carrots can also be used to add flavor and aroma.

Rabbit carcass

The carcass must be rinsed under the tap and cut into portions, and then soaked in water with the addition of vinegar until the meat turns white. Before soaking in water, the fat can be cut off - in this case, the dish will turn out to be less greasy, but also less juicy.

After this pre-treatment, you can proceed directly to cooking:

pieces of meat must be put in an enamel pan;

pour water so that it covers the rabbit completely;

bring water to a boil;

remove foam and salt, add liquid smoke at the rate of 5 tablespoons per 1 kilogram of meat;

also put onions, carrots, peppers, bay leaves, parsley, cilantro in the pan;

simmer for 50 minutes.

After this time, to add flavor, if desired, the meat can be covered with a mixture of white wine and crushed garlic.

You can smoke products not only with natural smoke. It is easier, more economical and safer for health to do this using a special one.

Liquid smoke and its benefits

Like regular smoke, liquid smoke increases the shelf life of foods, gives them taste, color and smoked aroma. However, it has one indisputable advantage - unlike natural smoke, it does not contain benzopyrene and other carcinogenic substances that can cause cancer.

The use of liquid smoke allows you to regulate the degree and intensity of smoking of products, ensuring their stable quality.

Cold smoked lard

Pour 1 liter of water into a saucepan, dissolve 4 tablespoons of kitchen salt in it, and then add one handful of onion skins. The husk must be present, it will give the finished product a yellowish-golden color.

After boiling saline solution with husk, let it boil for 5-6 minutes, then remove from heat.

Cut one kilogram in large pieces and place them in a spacious enamel pan so that there is a gap of about half a centimeter between the pieces.

V hot brine add 6 tablespoons of liquid smoke, stir and pour lard over it so that it is completely covered with the solution.

Put the pot on fire. After bringing the brine to a boil, reduce heat to the lowest possible and simmer for half an hour. Remove the pan from heat and set for 12-14 hours in a cool time.

After the specified time has elapsed, remove the bacon from the solution, wipe it dry with napkins or dry in a draft. It remains to thoroughly grate each piece on all sides with ground red pepper and garlic gruel. Smoked bacon is ready!

Smoking fish with liquid smoke

Fish intended for smoking, thoroughly wash, peel and gut.

Cut along the spine in two, or cut it from the inside along the ridge so that the two halves remain connected only by the spinal fin.

You can also make cuts from the inside of the carcass, so the fish is better saturated with brine. You don't need to gut small fish, just wash them thoroughly in running water.

Place the fish tightly in a plastic or enamel container, fill it with brine made from 1 liter of water, 3 tablespoons of salt and 2 teaspoons of sugar, and then put it under pressure in a cool place for 24 hours.

After a day, remove the fish from the brine, rinse with water and hang to dry for 2-3 hours.

Mix 5 tablespoons of liquid smoke with 1 liter of water and dip the salted fish into the prepared solution. For large fish, the residence time in the flavoring agent is 2-3 minutes, for small fish - 1 minute, and for a fish divided in two, 20 seconds is enough.

After hanging the fish by the tail, let it dry for 24 hours. After the specified time has elapsed, you can start taking a sample.

Good appetite!

Meat) always look delicious. Their scent is maddening. Many people buy smoked meats with pleasure, without thinking about how they are made. Usually, liquid smoke is used for these purposes, the benefits and harms of which will be considered by us today. What goes into its composition? Where is the product used? How to make liquid smoke itself? The answers to these questions are contained in the article.

Composition of the product

Surely you have heard such a phrase as liquid smoke. The composition of this product is unknown to many. And in general, few people know what it is. Let's figure it out together.

What is the technology for producing liquid smoke? This happens as a result of wood burning. The resulting smoke is filtered. Special equipment cleans it from tar and tar, and then dissolves it in water. This produces liquid smoke. depends on the materials used. Usually bird cherry, beech, alder or apple wood is used for these purposes. Liquid smoke is marketed in the form of powdered mixtures, sprays and aromatic liquids in bottles. Regardless of the form of release, this product belongs to the category of artificial flavors.

Application

Today, many people know that fish can be done not only in the traditional way, but also with the help of liquid smoke. Each of the two options has its own pros and cons. We will talk about them another time, but for now we are interested in liquid smoke. The use of this product is increasing. The main goal is to improve the aroma and taste fish, meat and various dishes.

Liquid Smoke (Cooking Uses):

• as an additive to sauces ("Grill", "Barbecue" and others);
• to add an amazing aroma to second courses, soups and gravies;
• for fish and meat snacks;
• for cooking delicacies in the microwave, multicooker or oven;
• for pickling (smoking) meat products and fish products.

How to make liquid smoke yourself

Many of us have a weakness for smoked meats. But on the products presented in stores, the method of their manufacture is not always indicated. Some smoked products contain resins and carcinogens that have a negative impact on human health and well-being. To avoid unpleasant consequences you can use the natural flavoring "Liquid Smoke". It is sold in almost all supermarkets and chain stores. If you haven't found this fragrance, then don't despair. Now we are going to show you how to make liquid smoke yourself. We offer several options.

Method number 1 - obtaining liquid smoke from natural smoke

We'll need a cigarette and a frozen glass. What are the next steps? We light a cigarette, blowing smoke into the glass. What will it give? Harmful resins will settle on the walls of the glass. The smoke will turn out to be very thick, which means that it can be easily poured into another container or onto food.

Method number 2 - the use of spices

Take soy sauce, curry, garlic and mayonnaise. We mix them in a deep cup (bowl). We will get a marinade in which you need to soak meat for main courses or barbecue. In this case, you can do without a food additive. A great option for those who choose healthy image life and proper nutrition.

Method number 3 - original solution

A little sugar, a mixture of green and black tea, rice - all these ingredients must be wrapped in two layers of foil. We put it under the meat during stewing or frying. The resulting thick smoke will smoke the dish well, improve its aroma and taste.

Now you know how to make liquid smoke in three ways. Choose any of them and proceed to the practical part.

Liquid smoke: benefits and harms

Doctors do not recommend getting carried away with smoked meats. And people suffering from diseases of the liver and stomach need to reduce the use of such products to a minimum. These are general guidelines. But we are interested in liquid smoke. Benefit and harm - what outweighs? Let's figure it out.

Let's start by listing the positive qualities of liquid smoke. First, it improves the aroma and taste of main courses, soups, cheeses, fish and meat products. Secondly, in the composition of liquid smoke, carcinogens, tar and tar are present in negligible amounts. This makes it safer than natural smoke. Thirdly, smoking food with liquid smoke does not take much time.

Now let's highlight the negative aspects. It all depends on the dose of the carcinogen. Some manufacturers deliberately overestimate the concentration of liquid smoke. This is done in order to kill the unpleasant smell of stale meat or fish. But a large dose of carcinogens is dangerous to human health. In a number of countries, the use of liquid smoke is prohibited. After all, it is considered the strongest carcinogen. In Russia, the permissible doses of this substance have not been determined or regulated.

Liquid smoke: recipes

So, you bought a bottle of fragrance from the store. What to do next? We offer several recipes for making real delicacies.

Smoked chicken

We take a deep saucepan. We put the chickens in it, breast down. Combine chopped garlic with black pepper in a separate bowl. Sprinkle the meat with this mixture. Product consumption for 1 kg of chickens: 20 g of garlic and 4 g of ground pepper. We press down the pan with the meat with a load, fill it with brine and leave for 14-16 hours. You do not need to put it in the refrigerator. For brine you will need (per 1 liter): 10 tbsp. l of liquid smoke, 5 g of sugar and 50 g of salt. When the chickens are ready, we put the sauce on them. It is made from 2 tbsp. l tomato paste and 1 tbsp. l of liquid smoke. We stand for 2 hours. Then we send and bake until full readiness... Meat is served both cold and hot.

Boiled pork

1 kg of pork should be stuffed with garlic and carrots. Salt and pepper. Fill with liquid smoke (4 tbsp. L). In order for the meat to be evenly saturated, you need to massage it for 3 minutes. We wrap the pork in foil, send it to the oven and bake until tender.

Smoked ribs

Prepare a mixture of black pepper, chopped garlic and liquid smoke (4-5 tbsp. L). Rub the ribs with it (1 kg). We put the meat in the refrigerator for a day. Then we take it out and bake it in the oven. The ribs can be served hot. They will be a great addition to your main course. Cold smoked and baked ribs are perfect snack for beer.

Sausages

We take sausages (wieners), remove the shell from them. Apply liquid smoke to the surface. We send processed products or to the oven. Bakes until cooked through. The dish is served with a side dish (rice, mashed potatoes, pasta).

Smoke mackerel at home

We are offering to you uncomplicated recipe... You can also do it at home. Liquid smoke is one of the main ingredients. With strict adherence to the recipe, you will get a delicious and aromatic fish.

Grocery list:

Preparation:

1. Frozen mackerel should lie in a plate for a couple of hours at room temperature. After that, you need to start cleaning it. We cut off the head and remove all the insides. We wash the fish with cold water.

2. Making the pickle. We take a saucepan, pour warm water, add sugar, husks, salt and your favorite spices. The brine should boil for 15 minutes. Next, remove from the stove and cool.

3. Add the above amount of liquid smoke to the brine. We put the mackerel there. Cover the top with a lid and set a little oppression. Put the pot with fish in the refrigerator for 4 days.

4. We take out the mackerel and dry it using paper napkins. Now we hang it at 12 o'clock. Be sure to put a baking sheet under the fish so that the fat drips there.

5. At the end of the process, wrap the smoked fish in cling film... It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

How to identify foods cooked with liquid smoke

Today the stores offer a huge selection of smoked meats. The method of their preparation is indicated extremely rarely. But you can distinguish a naturally smoked product from a product soaked in liquid smoke. We carry out a visual inspection. An orange or golden color of the product and uneven coloration indicate the use of liquid smoke. Naturally smoked meats should be dry and not oily.

Afterword

Now you can easily prepare liquid smoke. The benefits and harms of this flavor have been examined in detail by us. Whether to use it or not is up to you.

Liquid Smoke Food Additive This is a concentrated flavoring agent that is sold as a dark brown suspension. Less commonly, a seasoning is produced in the form of a powder. Used in cooking to replace the natural smoking process. Gives taste, shade and smell to meat, fish dishes, as well as cheeses, sauces.

To understand whether there is any benefit in liquid smoke or there is only harm, you need to understand the process of its production:

1. Preparation of raw materials. Natural wood is used for production - alder, birch, beech, apple. It is crushed and placed in an industrial smoke generator.
2. Smoke production. The wood material is set on fire, the generator collects the resulting combustion product and drives it through pipes into special equipment.
3. Smoke handling. Under pressure, the resulting smoke is converted into a concentrated mixture, which is purified from tar and tar. The product is filtered from carcinogens (they are deposited in a special equipment container).
4. Fine cleaning. The prepared raw materials are analyzed for the presence of benzopyrene, filtered and fed to the packaging already in liquid form.
5. Shipment of the product. The finished smoke is packaged in sterile bottles, immediately closed and sent to stores.

Whether industrially produced liquid smoke is harmful depends on many factors. Including whether additional ingredients were added. And also to what extent the laboratory requirements for the quality of this product are met - its degree of purification and the presence of carcinogens in it.

Therefore, you should be carefully interested in the composition when buying liquid smoke, as well as read additional information on the packaging - conscientious manufacturers usually indicate the advantages in production quality products.

Liquid smoke composition

The product includes:

• Up to 92% water
• Not more than 3% phenols
• And 9.5% organic acids
• It also contains carbonyl compounds - up to 4.6%

The benefits of liquid smoke with such a composition are not high, but there will be no harm from it either.

In Europe, the daily consumption of PAHs (organic hydrocarbons), which make up liquid smoke, is set at 47 nanograms. Is liquid smoke harmful if the indicated amount of this substance is contained only in 2-4 liters of the additive? No, the hydrocarbons in the fragrance cannot harm the body.

Although the lack of direct evidence of safety - neither the benefits nor the harm of liquid smoke has not been confirmed by official research. But in some countries of the European Union, this additive is prohibited.

Analysis of store products with liquid smoke:

Sometimes the stores sell smoked meats prepared using the liquid smoke flavoring:

• Natural smoking gives meat and fish a matte color
• When using liquid smoke, delicacies take on a bright yellow or orange hue.
• The golden, "shiny" fish is most likely cooked with the "liquid smoke" flavor.

In the case of store products, the benefits of liquid smoke are of course reduced to nothing, since other additives or even the decay process (spoiled products) are also masked with strong flavors.

Unlike natural smoking, the aromatic seasoning “liquid smoke” does not have an antibacterial effect, so manufacturers add preservatives to the product with this type of smoking.

Harm

Is liquid smoke harmful?

The properties of any product depend on its composition, method of preparation.

Is industrial liquid smoke harmful? There are several things that can make a product hazardous to health:

• Overuse - Eating foods prepared with flavorings every day will irritate the lining of the stomach (eventually leading to gastritis and ulcers).
• Carcinogens - Poorly purified liquid smoke contains combustion products that increase the risk of cancer.
• Allergy - people prone to allergic reactions should beware of the product.

V industrial production maintenance of a smokehouse can be a rather expensive process, therefore, smoked meats producers use an easier way of smoking - with the help of an aromatic additive “liquid smoke”.

At the time of buying smoked products for example, sausages, manufacturers do not advertise information on the labels for the presence of "liquid smoke", they disguise the additive "liquid smoke" under captions like "flavor identical to natural."

Benefit

The benefits of liquid smoke

There are few health benefits of liquid smoke, but it can reduce the harm in other foods.

Unlike natural smoking, the flavoring does not saturate meat and fish with ash, tar, or heavy carcinogens.

The cost of a natural flavoring agent is much lower than the price of smoked dishes.

Culinary experts often point out that the main benefit of liquid smoke is the opportunity to save cooking time. meat dishes(no need to marinate ingredients for several hours, burn sawdust, have a whole smokehouse in the yard).

How to choose and store liquid smoke

For the benefits of liquid smoke to be greater than the harm, you need to choose the right flavor:

• Examine the label, it should be visually clear, with the manufacturer's contacts.
• Sometimes wine, alcohol is used with water, pomegranate juice... However, it is almost impossible to determine the quality of the primary components. Good food supplement sold in dark glass.

More importantly, choose a product that does not contain seasonings, molasses, or vinegar. They can change the quality of smoking. If the composition contains caramel, then ready meal can sweeten.

Keep an open bottle of fragrance in a cool place, be sure to tighten the cap. In this form, the product does not deteriorate for 2 years.

Interesting fact!

In addition, we can say that in order to reduce the possible risks of harm from using a purchased flavoring liquid smoke, you should carefully read its composition when choosing.

And if you do not want to take risks at all and have doubts about the health effects of a certain purchased supplement, you can prepare these aromatic spices for smoking at home. And it's pretty easy to do.

ADDITIONALLY

How to make liquid smoke at home

You can prepare safe flavoring imitations of liquid smoke additives at home in several ways, taken from folk recipes: foil and matches, curry seasoning, tea and sugar.

Smoke from matches

The recipe will require a lighter, 10-20 matches, food foil and a glass that was frozen in the refrigerator:

1. A 15 x 15 cm square is made of foil.
2. Fold 10 matches on a prepared square so that the heads look in one direction.
3. Roll up the tube tightly, from the side of the heads, wrap the foil.
4. They take a glass out of the freezer, put a tube in it so that the open side touches the side wall, but does not touch the bottom.
5. Heat the top of the foil (with matches) with a lighter. When the matches ignite, the heating is stopped.
6. The smoke begins to flow into the glass. A concentrate is formed and flows down to the bottom.

The resulting liquid smoke can be used for fish, meat products. However, it will be unrefined.

Rice, tea and sugar

You can prepare the supplement from other products: 1 tsp. black tea, 1 tsp. sugar, 2 tbsp. l. white rice, 1 tsp. green tea without additives. Additionally, you need a piece of foil. Cooking process:

1. Mix dry ingredients.
2. Wrap the loose mixture in a piece of foil, make a bag with the top closed.
3. Punch holes in the foil with a fork.
4. Place the bag on a baking sheet, place it in the lower compartment of the oven, and place the food on top of the wire rack.
5. Bake meat or fish until tender at 180-220 degrees.

The taste of the dish will not be the same as that of products treated with a store flavor.

Curry for liquid smoke

Take for homemade seasoning: 250 ml mayonnaise, 25-30 g ready-made curry powder, 1-2 cloves of garlic and a few spoons soy sauce with or without additives. Cooking process:

1. Stir the ingredients until smooth.
2. Soak meat or fish in the marinade for 3-6 hours.
3. Juicy ingredients cook in the oven or in a skillet.

The seasoning will taste like liquid smoke, but due to the absence of combustion products, it is as safe as possible for health.

Producers of liquid smoke assure that the product is completely harmless, since it is obtained as a result of a special method of processing smoke during the smoldering of natural wood and there are practically no harmful resins and carcinogenic substances in its composition. The liquid smoke produced in industrial conditions undergoes multi-stage purification, the quality of the product and the content of harmful substances in it are closely monitored by the food safety control services.

You can use liquid smoke at the beginning of cooking or after the meat or fish has already baked - for this they are coated on top, wrapped in foil or covered with a lid and infused for 10-15 minutes.

Liquid smoke packs usually come with a small collection of recipes that can be prepared using it. Mackerel marinated in liquid smoke turns out to be very tasty, this recipe can help out the hostess on the eve of the holiday, when you want to pamper your home with delicious smoked fish, but there is no smokehouse.

You will need:

2 pcs. fresh mackerel;
- 2 tbsp. l. granulated sugar;
- 1 liter of water;
- 2 handfuls of onion skins;
- 5 tbsp. l. salt;
- 2-3 peas of black ground pepper and cloves;
- 150 ml of liquid smoke.

The fish must be gutted, the entrails removed, and the head and tail can be cut off if desired. At the same time, you need to prepare a brine for the marinade: pour water into a saucepan, add sugar, salt, add onion peels, spices, bring to a boil and boil for 5-7 minutes. Remove the marinade from heat, cool and add liquid smoke to it. Put the prepared mackerel in a separate container, pour this solution and refrigerate for a day.

After this time, remove the fish from the brine, wipe with paper towels, cut into portions and put on a dish. To add shine, you can grate the mackerel with vegetable oil, decorate the dish with lemon, herbs and vegetables.

Can be cooked at home lard, which will match the taste and structure of the smoked product as much as possible, but can be stored for a longer time than that prepared by hot smoking. Better to use lard with layers of meat.

The recipe for the marinade is prepared in the same way as for mackerel, various spices are added to the brine to taste (optional), and liquid smoke is added at the end of cooking. The bacon cut into portions is placed in an enamel bowl and poured with hot brine. Close the pot with a lid and put it in a cool place for 12-15 hours. After that, remove pieces of bacon from the brine, dry them with paper towels and rub on all sides with red or black ground pepper, trying to rub the powder into the pores. The fat must be kept at room temperature for 25-30 minutes, then you can put the product in a plastic bag and put it in the refrigerator or freezer.