Cold smoked bream

Before smoking, the fish must be soaked in a solution of salt, but first of all, of course, wash and gut. Thoroughly wash the fish under running water, remove the insides, rinse the abdomen well, cut off the tail fins.

Next, prepare the solution by mixing water and the specified amount of salt. We immerse the fish carcasses in the solution and leave them in it for 12 hours. At this stage, you can add spices or aromatic herbs, if you wish. You can limit yourself to just salt. Herbs such as thyme or rosemary will do, and spices - any suitable for fish.

When half a day has passed, we hang the fish on a hook in the smokehouse. Here you need to pay attention to the fact that the carcasses should hang at some distance from each other. A trench is dug from the fire to the smokebox, which is covered with boards and sprinkled with earth. This is necessary so that the smoke is not unnecessarily hot. Next, we set fire to the firewood, the temperature in the smokehouse should not exceed 30 degrees Celsius - it is at such a low temperature that cold smoking occurs (for comparison, with the hot method, the temperature reaches 90 degrees Celsius).

You can do it easier and use a smoke generator - with the help of such an aggregate, you can smoke fish even in a city apartment. All efforts in the preparation of a delicious delicacy in this case are minimized.

Another important point is that in the first 10-12 hours the smokehouse should work without pauses, and then you can take short breaks. The fish will be smoked for 1.5-2 days.

The fish is ready and when it cools down, it can be served to the table. Such fish is stored for 1-1.5 weeks in a refrigerator (it must first be wrapped in thick parchment paper). Or in a freezer for 3 months, hermetically packed. But, as a rule, such bream is eaten very quickly!