Pork smoking

Smoking is the treatment of the surface of meat products with substances contained in smoking smoke resulting from the incomplete combustion of wood. For smoking, the most suitable smoke is obtained with limited access to air during the combustion of wood. Such smoke consists of gas, vapor, liquid and solid phases.

Smoke contains phenols, aldehydes, ketones, organic acids, alcohols, resins, ash, soot and other substances, many of which have bactericidal properties.

For smoking, the best smoke is from burning sawdust and shavings of hardwoods – beech, oak, birch, alder, maple, ash. Conifers should not be used, as they give meat products an unpleasant resinous odor, dark color and bitter taste.

smoked pork

Well-smoked products contain up to 2% of phenolic substances with pronounced bactericidal properties. The brown color of smoked meats occurs as a result of the polymerization of phenols and aldehydes, the formation of melanins due to the interaction of proteins, amino acids with carbohydrates, ketones and aldehydes. The color intensity depends on the smoke concentration, the temperature and humidity of the environment and the product, the duration of smoking and the shelf life. The surface of the product during smoking is compacted due to tanning under the influence of formaldehyde, which has a beneficial effect on storage stability. Some substances in smoke have antioxidant properties and prevent fats from spoiling.

Depending on the temperature, cold (18-22 °C) and hot (35-45 °C) smoking methods are distinguished. The first is used to obtain raw smoked products, its duration is 3-7 days. At the same time, the product is characterized by high palatability and storage stability due to significant dehydration and, as a result, an increase in the salt content. During cold smoking, deep autolytic processes occur in muscle tissue and the product acquires a delicate texture. The duration of hot smoking is 12-18 hours. It is used in the manufacture of boiled-smoked products. This product is less stable during storage.

At meat processing enterprises, products are smoked in stationary chambers or auto-smokers. In the smoking chamber, the relative humidity of the air is maintained at the level of 40-50%. Before being loaded into the chambers, the meat products that have undergone the salting process are soaked at a temperature of 20-30 ° C, then dried (heated) in a chamber at a temperature of 50 ° C. The temperature in the chamber at the beginning of smoking is maintained at 10-12 °C above that at which smoking will be carried out.

The end of smoking is determined by organoleptic indicators: a characteristic brownish-yellow color, a specific pungent taste and smell, and its surface becomes dry and shiny. At the end of smoking, the product is quickly cooled and dried for 3-15 days, depending on its type, at 12°C and relative air humidity of 75%.

The output of the finished product is 70% of the original mass of meat. Smoked products are stored in packaged form for up to 1 month at a temperature close to 0 ° C.

You can smoke salted and boiled hams. Salted hams after soaking for 2-3 hours are tied with twine and dried in a cool room in a draft. After that, they are transferred to the smokehouse, where they are hung up, avoiding contact. Hams are smoked at a temperature of 45-60 ° C for 12-24 hours. Raw-smoked hams intended for long-term storage are smoked at a temperature of 20-25 ° C for 2-4 days, then kept for 3-5 weeks in a dry, cool room in limbo. Loin and brisket are smoked under similar conditions, but the duration of smoking is shorter.

Smoked ribs

Smoked pork ribs

In wet smoking, instead of smoke, a smoke preparation obtained by processing smoke condensate is used. This method makes it possible to develop products of uniform quality, exclude carcinogenic and other harmful substances from the product that are present in smoke, and intensify the technological process.

Ham smoking

To prepare the ham, the hind leg is separated from the half carcass by a transverse cut between the last and penultimate lumbar vertebrae. To give the ham an attractive presentation, a leg is cut off from it along the hock joint, an incision is made between the bone and the tendon for hanging, excess fat is cut off, and it is rounded. Salting of hams prepared in this way is carried out in several ways.

Dry salting method. A layer of dry salt is poured onto the bottom of a dense wooden box or barrel with holes in the bottom to drain the resulting brine. The hams are well rubbed with a curing mixture (1 g of sugar and 160 g of saltpeter per 40 kg of salt), placed in a box with the skin down, all the voids between the hams and the walls of the box are covered with a curing mixture and put it in a cool place. Three days later, the hams are interchanged: the lower ones are placed on top, and the upper ones – down, sprinkling them with a curing mixture. After 2-3 weeks, the hams are ready to eat, they are cleaned of salt and ventilated in a cool, dry room.

Ambassador in brine carried out in clean scalded oak barrels without foreign odors. The brine can be prepared according to the following recipe: for 10 kg of pork take 0,7 kg of salt, 0,2 kg of sugar, 50 g of saltpeter. The brine is best boiled and used chilled.

The hams are placed in a barrel with the skin down, they are shifted with spices and poured with brine until completely covered. The barrel is closed with a lid and a load is placed on it. Salting lasts from 3-4 weeks to two months. Salted hams are aired in a cool room.

Combined salting method. First, dry salting is done in a curing mixture (1 kg of salt, 50 g of sugar, 16 g of saltpeter) with the addition of spices for 2 weeks. Then the hams are poured with brine (500 g of salt, 100 g of sugar, 50 g of saltpeter per 10 liters of water) and 2-3 weeks after pouring the hams are taken out and ventilated.

Quick salting method. The ham prepared for salting is injected with brine cooled to 3-5 ° C (250 g of salt, 0,75 g of saltpeter per 1 liter of water) using a hollow needle, syringe or pump at the rate of 8-12% by weight of the ham. After that, the hams are rubbed with salt at the rate of 2% of their mass, put in a barrel and covered with a lid with a load. The next day, 16-17% brine is poured into the barrel and left for 15-20 days. After this, the hams are hung out for airing for 6-10 days in a cool room.

Smoking hams. At home, for smoking hams, other meat products, as well as fish, they equip a smokehouse of the simplest design. They dig a ditch in the ground 30-40 cm deep, 25-30 cm wide and 90-120 cm long. They cover it from above with fire-resistant material and cover it with earth, leaving both edges open. At one end, a high barrel without a bottom or a square wooden box 1,5 m high is placed above the hole. At the bottom, the edges of the barrel (box) are sprinkled with earth so that smoke does not seep in, and a hearth is arranged at the other end of the groove.

In a barrel or box, transverse bars are stuffed for hanging hams.

For smoking use the wood of fruit trees (apple trees, pears, cherries, apricots) and dense species (oak, beech). Coniferous and birch firewood is not very suitable for these purposes. From above, firewood is covered with sawdust, shavings to form smoke. To give the hams a pleasant aroma and taste, fragrant herbs and shrubs (wormwood, juniper, mint, cumin, thyme, coriander, etc.) are placed on top of the firewood.

Before smoking, the hams are sheathed with gauze in 1-2 layers, having previously kept them for 2-5 hours in cold water, depending on the degree of salinity.

Hot smoking used in the case when they do not count on long-term storage of hams. The smoke temperature when smoking hams is maintained at 80-100 °C for 4-6 hours or at 45-60 °C, but the duration of smoking increases to 12-24 hours.

Cold smoking used to prepare ham for long-term storage. Smoked for 2-3 days at a temperature of 20-30 °C or 3-4 days at a temperature of 18-22 °C. At the same time, the hams lose up to 8% of their mass due to a decrease in liquid and are well saturated with smoke.

At the end of smoking, the hams are hung in a cool place, gauze is removed from them, and after 3-5 days they are wrapped with thick, clean paper to prevent drying.

Anna Evans

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