Smoke food at home

How to smoke food at home? Not only is it possible to smoke both fish and meats, but the results are surprising and delicious. Let's see how to do it.

What smoking is

The food smoking is a food processing technique that originated, like many others, for preservation. It consists of exposing the food to a stream of smoke usually generated by the partial combustion of wood chips.

Smoking was done in the past not only because it imparts flavor and aroma, but fundamentally because by partially drying the surface of the food it helps to preserve it better. In addition, many substances present in the smoke are preservatives.

Now, thanks to refrigerators, we don't need to smoke strictly for preservation but because the flavor that smoking gives is distinctive and wonderful. Because we like it, ultimately.

Types of smoking

There are two smoking techniques depending on the temperature used:

• Cold smoking: the food is subjected for 24 to 48 hours to a stream of smoke at a temperature that does not exceed 30 ºC. It is the technique used to prepare the commercial smoked salmon we all know. The food in this warm smoke stream undergoes changes, but it is not cooked according to the traditional meaning of the term (denaturation and coagulation of proteins); its texture still somewhat resembles that of raw food. The long exposure period to the smoke allows it to penetrate the entire piece, flavoring it throughout.
• Hot smoking: as in cold smoking the food is kept in a stream of smoke, but at a temperature above 60 ºC, so the food is cooked, but besides that it acquires a delicious smoky aroma. Because smoking is done at a higher temperature the process is much shorter than cold smoking and the flavoring of the piece is more superficial.

Cold smokers

They consist of a chamber where the wood chips are burned, connected to another chamber where the food is placed. The latter is far enough from the former so that the smoke cools down along the way to the appropriate temperature for cold smoking.

In our store we currently don't have any cold smoker models, but if you are interested you can contact us because we can order it. De Buyer has a fantastic cold smoker both for professionals and for home cooks who want to explore this technique.

De Buyer cold smoker

Hot smokers

Not needing much space between the combustion chamber and the food, the most common hot smokers are shaped like a lidded pot, with an inner rack where to place the food and a base in which we put the wood chips and some liquid, if necessary.

There are excellent smokers that allow smoking on the stovetop. The Zwilling smoker, made entirely of stainless steel, is a tool for life, versatile and durable, suitable for induction, and has the plus that the base pot can be used independently, even for roasting in the oven. The Nordic Ware smoker, although simpler, has a thermometer to control the internal temperature.

Nordic Ware smoker and Zwilling stainless steel smoker

Also, all covered grills such as Weber grills are suitable for smoking. Additionally, Weber offers an accessory to conveniently place the wood chips (essential for gas grills and useful for charcoal grills) and turn any grill into an excellent smoker.

If you are true home smoking enthusiasts, the Weber brand also offers the Smoky Mountain, a unit exclusively for smoking. If you're interested, you can request a quote from us.

Which foods are suitable for smoking at home?

There are many foods that can be smoked beyond the classic smoked salmon (which is very tasty, we have nothing against it), which is perhaps the most popular smoked food in our country, but it is possible to smoke:

• Meats and cold cuts
• All kinds of fish
• Seasonings like salt

Recipe for smoked duck breast

On the blog we have two wonderful recipes for hot smoked duck breast and hot smoked salmon using the Nordic Ware smoker, or the delicious smoked pork loin recipe that you will find here. In all of them you can consult the instructions on how to hot smoke; you'll see it is not difficult at all.

Regarding flavoring, you can play with the use of chips from different woods, which add different nuances, as well as with marinades or prior cures of the food to introduce additional flavors with various spices and seasonings.

In summary, smoking is one more technique that we can add to our cooking skills, which can be practiced with uncomplicated utensils, which is not difficult and which adds variety and interest to our everyday cooking. And to our diet, of course.