How to smoke lard at home: cooking recipes. Hot and cold methods of smoking lard - cooking secrets How best to smoke hot smoked lard

Cooking smoked lard using a hot method is a fairly simple process and does not take long in itself. Preparing lard takes much more time, and not for all recipes. This article explains how to smoke lard in a hot smoker.

To prepare smoked lard at home, you can use both cold and hot smoking methods.

Preparing lard using the cold method takes quite a long time, usually about 4-5 days. During the process, the temperature does not exceed 20-25 degrees. Products are removed from open fire, and smoking is done with cold smoke.

Hot smoking of lard takes less time (no more than an hour): the lard is smoked over high heat for 15-20 minutes, then the flame is reduced and at a temperature of about 900 the process continues for another 30-40 minutes. Hot smoked lard tastes completely different than cold smoked lard, and it is stored for much less time - only a few days.

Also, some craftsmen achieve a similar result by salting lard in brine with onion peels, but this method allows you to get, albeit very similar, but only an imitation of the smoked taste. The same can be said about smoking using “liquid smoke”. This essence is a solution of wood decay products in water, and is actually used to simulate smoking of various products. It is obvious, however, that the end result is not real smoked meats, and their taste is unlikely to satisfy a real gourmet.

Smokehouse

Hot smoking of lard at home can be done in industrially manufactured smokehouses, or you can build such a device with your own hands.

If you need to quickly smoke just a couple of pieces, then an old bucket, pan or any similar container is perfect. It will require a couple of handfuls of sawdust for smoking and some kind of grate. You can take any suitable size - for example, ready-made from a convection oven, or a piece of construction mesh. You can even just chop branches and insert them into a bucket. Such a homemade smokehouse can be made in literally minutes, but it copes with the task quite well.

If you plan to smoke food regularly, then it is better to make a smokehouse from a barrel, the body of an old washing machine or an iron cabinet. There is information about this on the website.

Preparing lard for smoking

Before you start smoking, you should make some preparations. First you need to choose a suitable piece of lard. It is believed that the best choice is brisket with small streaks of meat. The pieces of lard should not be thick, from three to five centimeters (or, as people often say, “three fingers”). The lard should be cut into slices five to six centimeters wide. After which you can start salting it.

Dry salting

The lard is washed and cut into small equal pieces, rubbed with a mixture of salt and spices. To prepare a salt mixture for one kilogram of pork fat, just take 6 tablespoons of coarse salt, three or four bay leaves and a couple of heads of finely chopped garlic; you can add pepper, coriander and other spices to taste.

The resulting mixture is rubbed onto pieces of lard, placed in a container of suitable size and placed in a cold place for seven to eight days. For more uniform salting, pieces of lard must be periodically transferred, and at the end of the process, thoroughly cleaned of salt, rinsed in water and dried.

Salting in marinade

This method allows you to achieve a faster and more uniform distribution of salt. To prepare the brine, pour enough water into the pan to completely cover all the pieces of lard. The pan is placed on the stove. Add salt to hot water, stirring constantly. Since it is unknown how much water will be required specifically for each bookmark, there is a universal way to determine the required salt concentration in water. This is the use of a raw chicken egg - it should float in brine.

You can add cloves of garlic, pepper, or other seasonings to this brine to taste. At the same time, you need to remember that if the brine is too salty, then, firstly, the layers of meat in the lard may become too tough, and secondly, the lard will not be able to absorb all the flavor of the spices.

The prepared lard is placed in enamel dishes and soak with the resulting solution, cooled to room temperature. The brine should completely cover the pieces of lard, for which they are pressed under pressure and left in a cool place for a period of five to seven days.

After salting, the lard is washed with water to remove excess salt and wiped with a towel. You can hang it in a well-ventilated place to dry for a day, covering it with a cloth to protect it from flying insects.

Quick Ambassador

With this method, washed and chopped lard is poured with prepared brine and boiled over low heat for 2 - 2.5 hours. Then the boiled lard is allowed to dry and cool to room temperature.

Smoking process

Let's not forget - it is hot smoking of lard that is being considered; with the cold method everything is different.

1. Sawdust or wood chips are poured into the bottom of the smokehouse. The quantity depends on the volume of the smokehouse: for a small bucket a couple of handfuls are enough, for a barrel you need up to one liter.
2. A grease tray is installed above the sawdust. The temperature in the smokehouse will be around 90-100 degrees, and fat will drip from the lard. So that it does not fall on the hot bottom and does not give off burnt aromas, it is collected in such a tray.
3. Pre-prepared pieces of lard are placed above the pan. They can be laid out on a grid, or hung inside on hooks. Make sure that there is space between the pieces to allow free circulation of smoke.
4. The smokehouse is covered with a lid or a piece of burlap so that the smoke remains inside longer.
5. Light a fire under the smokehouse. This can be a simple fire if a makeshift smokehouse is used, or a gas stove (any other heater) if a factory-made device is used.
6. Is it necessary to somehow regulate the fire (and therefore the temperature inside the smokehouse) during the smoking process? There is no clear answer. The general recommendation is the same everywhere - the temperature inside should be about 80-90 degrees.
7. Smoking lasts anywhere from 40 minutes to one hour, and this usually depends on your specific smoker. You may have to conduct several experiments to find out your personal recipe- in which mode the best result is obtained.
8. After the process is completed, recommendations are also different. Someone advises to immediately open the smokehouse and get even hot lard. Some people, on the contrary, prefer to leave it closed for several hours so that it cools down - the smoking process will continue for some time. This is also determined experimentally.

Everyone agrees on what to do with the finished smoked lard: it needs to be wrapped in cloth and sent to the refrigerator to cool. Any lard can be consumed chilled.

What wood is used for smoking?

As they say, there are no comrades in taste and color, so there is no single opinion about which wood is best used for smoking lard. Some people believe that shavings and sawdust from fruit trees add a subtle, barely perceptible tart note to the taste of smoked meats. Others, on the contrary, prefer only alder and claim that pear or apple sawdust makes hot smoked lard taste bitter. Still others say that they always try to mix a little wood or juniper berries into the wood chips, which gives the smoked lard a special aroma.

Perhaps the only thing that lovers of smoking lard at home agree on is that coniferous wood (except juniper) should absolutely not be used, regardless of whether it is done by cold or hot smoking.

The veins of meat absorb salt and spices faster, which means that in the finished product they will have a saltier and spicy taste than the meat itself. smoked lard.

The lard should be laid out freely on the smokehouse grate, leaving some distance between the pieces so that the smoke flows freely around them from all sides.

When smoking, you must ensure that all products used are dry and clean, and the smokehouse (especially the grates) must also be clean, otherwise burnt fat or spices can spoil the taste.

Smoked meats are considered a favorite dish of many people, because they are not only very aromatic and can create a certain festive atmosphere, but also incredibly tasty. You can easily prepare it at home. Today there are many variety of recipes for every taste, so you should choose exactly the one you like best, purchase high-quality raw materials and you can begin the process of preparing and further smoking the product.

Which lard to choose

You need to choose fresh lard.

Of course, you must choose fresh lard. First of all, you should pay attention to appearance semi-finished products. The lard should be white or slightly pink. Its skin should be soft enough and not contain any remaining bristles. If the skin is thick and bristles are visible in it, then this is most likely boar fat, which, when cooked, will have a specific taste and a not very pleasant smell.

In addition, there should be no plaque on the surface of the lard. The smell should be the same as that typical of greasy products. If you doubt that the raw materials offered to you are fresh, then it is better to refuse them.

Preference should be given to lard that is more than 3 centimeters thick and contains layers of meat. If there are no layers of meat, then the finished smoked meats will be too fatty and not so tasty.

Salting methods

There are several different ways pickling, each of which has its own advantages.

You should choose the option that will be the most convenient, taking into account how much free time you have to prepare the product for the smoking process. Simple ones contain minimum set ingredients. Of course, you can find more complex recipes to prepare hot smoked lard with an original taste.

The purchased lard must be cut into portions, which will be smoked later. A special pickling mixture is prepared in a separate container, which consists of salt and a small amount of ground black pepper. If desired, you can add your favorite spices or herbs to taste, as well as garlic, which will make the taste of the finished delicacy more piquant.

The resulting mixture must be thoroughly rubbed onto each piece of lard on all sides. Particular attention is paid to the skin, because it is much more difficult for it to be saturated with enough salt. Then a small layer of salt is poured into a container that will not oxidize and lard is laid out. Additionally, each layer must be sprinkled with coarse salt. Then the lard is covered with foil or cling film on top and sent to the refrigerator to marinate. it takes from three days to a week, depending on the size of the pieces of raw material.

After the lard has been pickled, it must be thoroughly washed, the surface cleaned of any remaining salt and dried. Then you can proceed directly to the smoking process using hot smoke.

This option of salting is considered faster, because the salt and liquid penetrate deep into the lard fibers much faster. In order to prepare the raw materials in this way, you must first make a marinade. To do this, water is brought to a boil, mixed with bay leaves, ground black pepper and garlic. Optionally, add herbs, spices or herbs that you like best. The marinade should be boiled for ten minutes over low heat and left to cool.

Then the lard is cut into portions and poured with marinade so that it completely covers the semi-finished products. must be kept in a cool place for three to five days. Then you need to rinse it a little to remove excess salt and dry it for a couple of hours, preferably in the fresh air. Only after this can you start preparing a delicious homemade delicacy.

Fast

This option is suitable for those who want to enjoy hot smoked lard prepared at home as quickly as possible. To do this, prepare a marinade from water, salt, ground black pepper, spices and herbs, and garlic. After the marinade has been boiled over low heat for 5-10 minutes, lard cut into portions is dropped into it. The container is closed tightly with a lid. Semi-finished products should be cooked in the resulting marinade for 2-3 hours, depending on the size of the pieces.

After this time, you should not immediately take out the lard. It should cool down along with the marinade. Then the prepared raw materials are dried and rubbed with chopped garlic. The semi-finished products will be completely ready for further processing with hot smoke.

How to smoke lard correctly

You can use both and . Regardless of this, the finished delicacy will turn out incredibly tasty and aromatic.

After the semi-finished products are fully prepared, they need to be placed on the smokehouse grate or hung with hooks. First, a layer of slightly damp sawdust is poured into the smokehouse, and a bowl is installed to collect fat. The smokehouse is closed as tightly as possible and installed on a small heat source. Then you just need to make sure that the fire does not go out and that a sufficient amount of smoke is released. It is worth noting that hot smoking of lard occurs at temperatures from 70 to 100 degrees. Smoked meats cook quite quickly. When they are completely ready, you should wait until the smokehouse has completely cooled down and then hang the delicacy in the fresh air for several hours.

What is the best wood to use?

As a rule, it is customary to use lard for smoking at home. They allow smoked meats to be more aromatic and tasty. You should not use coniferous tree or birch wood chips along with bark for smoking. These types of wood contain a lot of resin, which will not only spoil the appearance of the finished delicacy, but will also negatively affect its taste.

In order for the finished smoked meats to be more aromatic and have a very original taste, you can add a small amount of juniper branches or grapes along with berries to the selected sawdust. Such smoke will be more aromatic and can improve the taste characteristics of the delicacy.

How long to smoke lard

Prepares quite quickly. You want the delicacy to be ready to eat. Depending on the size of the pieces of semi-finished products, it takes from half an hour to two hours to smoke lard using hot smoke. In this case, it is necessary to carefully monitor the temperature so that it is not too low or high. Otherwise, the food will be spoiled and you will not be able to get the delicious smoked meats you were hoping for.

Cooking smoked meats is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance.

Enough to follow simple recipes and listen to some advice given by experts.

• For smoking, it is best to choose lard that has a sufficient number of veins of meat. Otherwise, the resulting smoked meats will be too fatty, which will negatively affect the health of those who consume them.
• After smoke begins to appear in the smokehouse as a result of smoldering wood chips, literally 10-15 minutes after the start of smoking, you should open the lid a little and release excess smoke. If this is not done, the finished products may have a slightly bitter taste and a not very pleasant aroma.
• After the smoking is finished, you should not immediately take out the delicacies. While the smokehouse cools down, they will have time to absorb a little more smoke. Then they must be ventilated so that the too strong smell disappears.
• When preparing lard, it is worth using a sufficient amount of salt. You should not be afraid that the smoked meats will turn out too salty, because immediately before smoking the semi-finished product can be tasted and, if necessary, soaked a little in cold water.
• You should not use hot smoked lard too often and in large quantities, because this will cause quite a lot of harm. The product should not be eaten at all if there are problems with the gastrointestinal tract or any other contraindications.

How to store homemade hot smoked lard

Homemade hot smoked lard is stored exclusively in the refrigerator. In this case, it is advisable to wrap it in cling film or at least in newspaper so that the smell does not permeate all other products. You can store hot smoked lard for a maximum of a week. If you want to increase the shelf life of the prepared delicacy, then you should freeze it. In this case, the product will be suitable for use even after several months. The only condition is that you can defrost only the amount of delicacy that will be consumed at a time. Otherwise, the product will spoil very quickly and may cause food poisoning.

Preparing hot smoked lard at home does not take much time. It is enough just to purchase fresh and high-quality raw materials and properly prepare them for further processing with smoke. If everything is done correctly, the delicacy will turn out incredibly tasty and aromatic.

Alexey Mitrokhin

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Lately there has been a lot of debate about the benefits and harms of smoked lard. We offer information about the advantages and disadvantages of this product, as well as how to smoke lard correctly and profitably.

Knowing the recipes for smoked lard at home, you can prepare amazing smoked products without any problems.

Raw lard contains 82-83% pure fat. Calorie content or energy value This product contains 797 kcal per 100 g. Fat-soluble vitamins A, E, K are present in lard.

Fat's cholesterol small quantities Under the influence of the sun it forms vitamin D.

Eating fat in the form of smoked lard, prepared at home, promotes rapid saturation, and the feeling of fullness remains for a long time. Fat provides energy. But if this energy is not spent, then it can be stored “in reserve” in the form of excess fat folds.

An insufficient amount of fat in food can lead to weakened immunity (the body’s ability to resist diseases), disruptions in the functioning of the central nervous system, and weakened vision.

Many families like to prepare smoked lard at home. But don't get too carried away. Excessive consumption of fatty foods can have undesirable effects on the body and its health - weight increases, cholesterol levels in the blood rise, which leads to serious disruptions in the functioning of the blood vessels of the heart and brain.

When smoking salted lard at home, smoke carcinogens are deposited on it. To reduce their presence in the finished product, aqua filters are used in the latest generation smokehouses. And the food can be wrapped in a wrapper for baking.

Having assessed all the pros and cons, there is no need to give up tasty and aromatic smoked lard. You just need to know when to stop everything. And also eat lard correctly - with plenty of fresh vegetables and greenery.

That is, we must try to use the consumption of lard to our advantage and limit the harm from it as much as possible.

Selection of lard for smoking

When choosing lard, you should decide for what purpose you are buying it. For hot and cold smoking, pieces of lard in pure form or with layers of meat are suitable.

Pay attention to quality. The color of fresh lard is milky white or slightly pinkish. Smell – characteristic raw meat, without the smell of rot, mustiness, mold.

Important! To make high-quality and tasty smoked lard at home, make sure you buy a fresh product. If the cut product is sticky, dark or yellow in color, with a putrid odor, it means that it has already begun to deteriorate and is unsuitable for consumption. Do not buy lard from boars, as it has bad smell, which cannot be removed. Check how the skin is separated from the fat - in boars it is very tightly connected to the fat.

Selection of wood materials for smoking

At home, to smoke lard in a smokehouse, classic materials are used - wood chips, sawdust, branches of fruit trees. Experts say that the finer the materials for smoking, the better the quality of the smoking medium (smoke).

Important! To properly smoke lard at home, the shavings and sawdust should not be dry. They are additionally moistened with water, otherwise they may ignite during the smoking process. In addition, wet sawdust produces more smoke. But you shouldn’t over-water them either. Otherwise, the smokehouse will be too humid, and this will reduce the quality of the products.

The industry produces a large number of smokehouses of different designs and performance. Often home craftsmen make homemade smokehouses from barrels, used refrigerators, washing machines, and buckets to smoke lard at home.

Smokehouses for hot smoking

They consist of a processing chamber and a heating device (electric or gas stove, gas burner, fire). An ordinary saucepan can serve as a processing chamber. Lard smoked in a pan is no different in quality from smoked in a smokehouse.

Wood chips or sawdust or branches are placed at the bottom of the container, and a tray is placed on them for the fat draining from the food. A grate or rods are placed in the upper part to place food.

Semi-finished products are laid out on a wire rack or hung by hooks. This entire structure is closed tightly with a lid. To seal the lid (for smoking in an apartment), use a special groove into which you can pour water in a circle and the smoke will not escape outside.

To smoke lard in an apartment, a chimney pipe is installed in the lid, taken to the ventilation or lowered into a container of water. The smokehouse is installed on a heating source.

Cold smoked smokehouses

This option allows you to get high-quality smoked lard at home according to any cold smoked recipe.

The technology of their use is aimed at reducing the temperature of smoke processing of products. This is achieved by placing the heating source at a distance of 4-8 m from the smoking chamber, connecting them with a pipe. You can make such a smokehouse for cold smoking with your own hands.

Passing through the pipe, the smoke is cooled to the desired temperature and enters the lower part of the chamber.

Cold smoking can be carried out in smokehouses using a smoke generator. Products are placed in the chamber on grates or hooks and covered with a lid. Wood shavings or sawdust are poured into the apparatus and set on fire. The compressor forces smoke into the processing chamber through a chimney tube. The result is a delicious raw smoked lard made at home.

Product preparation

Preparing lard for smoking at home involves several operations.

If lard with skin is used, and there are purple stamps on it, then they must be cut off.

Cut with a sharp knife large pieces into separate oblong blocks of the required size. The most suitable one is 5-7 cm wide, from 4 cm thick.

Wash the product under running water and dry.

Salting methods

Dry salting

This is the easiest way to prepare salted lard at home before smoking. The semi-finished product is rubbed with a curing mixture. Excess salt will not harm the lard; it will absorb as much as necessary. But a deficiency can cause damage to the product. On average, 100-130 g of medium-ground salt is used per 1 kg of product.

You can also add ground black pepper.

Salting procedure:

Semi-finished products for smoking lard are rubbed with salt or a mixture of pepper and spices. Place a layer of salting mixture in the pan, lightly tamping it down, place the grated semi-finished products, sprinkling them with salt. Sprinkle the surface on top and place a weight (plate, glass jar with water, washed stone).

Leave for salting in the refrigerator for a period of 2-3 days to 10-14 days.

A greenish tint that appears on the cut of the bacon during salting indicates that the salting temperature was too high, which is why the process of spoilage began in it.

It is allowed to use dry salting mixture. For it, combine salt, crushed bay leaf, coriander, chopped garlic, paprika.

Wet Ambassador

When salting, you need to soak the lard in brine or marinade. Sometimes for further smoking at home, injecting with brine is used.

The marinade for making lard can be prepared according to the following recipe:

• raw lard – 1 kg;
• water – 1-1.5 l;
• table salt – 50-70 g;
• bay leaf – 3 pcs.;
• black peppercorns – 8 pcs.;
• allspice peas – 2-3 pcs.;
• oregano (oregano), coriander, other spices at your discretion - to taste;
• sugar – 20 g.

Prepare the marinade: pour water into a saucepan, boil, add salt, sugar and the entire set of spices according to the recipe. Heat to boiling and cool. Strain into a marinating container. Place semi-finished lard in the marinade so that the brine covers them by 3-4 cm.

A wooden circle or ceramic plate is placed on the food and pressed down with a weight.

Place in a cold place and marinate for 2 weeks at a temperature of 2-4 ° C (in the refrigerator).

The finished product with this salting will be more juicy.

Combined Ambassador

Involves rubbing with a curing mixture, aging and immersion in brine or marinade.

Preparing for smoking

More often than other options, raw smoked lard is made at home.

Salted semi-finished products are washed with water. If you want to get a lightly salted product, then leave it in water to soak for 2-5 hours.

The pieces are blotted with a napkin and tied with hemp rope or twine.

Important! To prepare smoked lard at home, do not use paper twine, fabric braid, or threads to avoid smoldering and burning. Do not use wire as it will damage the product layers.

You can make a puncture in the bacon and hang it on hooks without tying it up.

Leave the pork to air for 10-12 hours. If the surface of the semi-finished products is wet, the smoked products will acquire a bitter, tarry taste and will be poorly colored.

At home, use hot and cold method s smoking lard.

Cold smoking

Semi-finished products for smoke treatment are suspended in the smokehouse chamber.

Or they are placed on a grate and it, along with lard, is placed in a chamber. Close the lid tightly, direct smoke into the chamber, having previously adjusted its temperature. Smoke treatment is recommended to be carried out for 10-12 hours at 18-25 °C.

Important! When smoking lard at home, open the chamber less often, as the temperature
decreases and increases the time required for smoking.

To carry out quick cold smoking of lard at home, the smoke temperature is increased to 40°C. Time is reduced to 8 hours.

Smoked products are left for 12-24 hours so that the smoke substances are evenly distributed inside the product. Choose a place for this with good ventilation, without direct sunlight.

Cold smoked lard has a denser consistency than hot smoked lard.

Hot smoking

Pieces of pork are placed in the smokehouse chamber on hooks. Close with a lid.

If smoked lard is made in an apartment, then water is carefully poured into the gutter located around the lid, and the smoke exhaust pipe is directed into the ventilation or container with water.

Place the camera on the heating source. Leave the products to smoke for a period of 40 minutes to several hours. The duration depends on the size of the pieces. Maintain the temperature of the smoking environment within 110-120 °C. If you don’t have a thermometer, drop water on the lid. If the water evaporates calmly, the temperature is normal, and if it boils, it is higher than normal.

After the lard has been smoked, it is left hanging for several hours in the air to improve its taste.

Fragrant smoked lard is an invariably favorite product among the people. Traditionally considered a dish Ukrainian cuisine, although Russian feast I haven't been able to live without it for a long time. Let's figure out how to smoke lard at home.

Of course, you need to choose the freshest product. There should be no foreign odors, unusual coloring or other signs of deterioration in quality.

Pieces of lard for smoking should be 3 to 5 centimeters thick and have thin layers of meat. Sometimes you can find advice “three fingers thick.” This is how the thickness of lard pieces has actually been measured since ancient times, but everyone’s fingers are different! In centimeters it is somewhat more convenient. 🙂

They also advise choosing fat from the peritoneum or from the sides - here it is softer than on other parts of the carcass. Although, of course, you may have your own preferences.

How to cook

Before smoking, lard must be marinated, then you will get a product with a wonderful aroma and taste. It is customary to distinguish between two methods of preparation - dry salting and marinating in spices. Of course, everyone has their own recipe for smoking lard; only the most commonly used and simple ones are given here.

Dry pickling

Cut the pieces of lard into strips five to six centimeters wide. Choose a length such that it is convenient to put the pieces in a container for pickling. The thickness has already been mentioned above - from two to three centimeters. Slices of this size will be salted in two or three days.

If you don’t cut the lard into such chunks, but take a whole, thick piece, then salting may take a week or two.

First you need to soak the lard for 3-4 hours in cold water. While it is soaking, prepare a mixture of salt, ground black or red pepper and spices to taste. Remove the lard from the water and dry. Rub the pieces with garlic and the prepared mixture. Place in a pan or bowl and press down on top with some weight. After two or three days, the lard will be sufficiently saturated with spices, it can be taken out, rinsed with water to remove excess salt, dried and started smoking.

Pickling

This is the second method of preparation. The lard is kept in a marinade - a liquid solution of spices.

The marinade is prepared from the following components (recipe for one liter of water):

• coarse salt - 150 gr.
• fresh garlic, whole or chopped - 4-6 cloves,
• bay leaf - 2-3 pieces,
• black peppercorns,
• dry mustard to taste.

Add salt to boiled warm water.

The salt concentration can be easily checked by dipping raw chicken egg- it should float.

Add the rest of the spices, stir and let cool to room temperature. Pierce the lard slices in several places with a knife, place them in the pan skin side down and pour this solution over them. It should completely cover all the lard. Cover with a plate or wire rack and place a weight on top for oppression. Place the pan in a cool place and leave for three to four days.

After the lard is cooked, it needs to be wiped and slightly dried. You can proceed to smoking.

Hot smoking

With the hot method, the temperature inside the smokehouse should average 60 or 70 degrees. At high temperature the aromatic smoke quickly penetrates into the structure of the food.

The duration of this method of smoking lard is from one to two hours.

However, the temperature should not be allowed to rise higher, otherwise the lard will simply be fried and not smoked.

In a real smokehouse

Lard smoked at home is more trusted by people than store-bought. It is believed that the quality of such a product is higher.

A smokehouse at your dacha gives you the opportunity to smoke lard or any other product according to all the rules. The recipe for smoked lard in such a device is very simple. Prepared pieces of lard are hung on hooks or laid out on grates inside the smokehouse. Several handfuls of sawdust or wood chips are thrown to the bottom, and a fire is built under the smokehouse. The sawdust begins to smolder, emitting smoke.

Lard is smoked in exactly the same way, that is, in devices for city apartments. Sawdust is poured inside, the lard is laid out on grates, the device is closed and placed on the gas stove. Don't forget to pour water into the water seal and attach a smoke exhaust pipe to the kitchen ventilation.

The hot method is good because of the speed of cooking - after an hour and a half, the finished smoked meats can already be taken out. It is still better to cool hot smoked lard before using it, as it tastes better. The disadvantage of this method is that such products are stored for a very short time, and they need to be consumed (or sold) within one month.

In a slow cooker or cauldron

At home, you can smoke lard in containers that are not suitable for this purpose. But you need to remember one thing: when hot smoking, lard releases fat, which will drip to the bottom, burn, spoil the taste of smoked meat, and sometimes it can ignite on a hot surface. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a tray for collecting fat; it is installed above the sawdust.

You can do it this way. Place a couple of handfuls of sawdust on the bottom of a multicooker or cauldron. Place some kind of vessel on these sawdust - a bowl of the same size, or a bowl made of foil. Place a grill on top. In multicookers it is usually included in the kit, but for a cauldron you will have to choose one. Here in this photo there is already a plate on the sawdust for collecting fat, and on top there is a grate for food:

Place the prepared pieces of lard on the grill, skin side down. Close the lid, and it is advisable to seal it minimally so that the smoke does not escape.

Place the cauldron on the stove and light the gas. After fifteen minutes, the gas can be turned off, and the cauldron without opening it take it to the balcony to cool down. During this time, the smoking process will continue.

The multicooker needs to be turned on in stewing mode for 35-40 minutes. After turning it off, do not open it immediately, but wait until it cools down - during the cooling process, the smoke will continue to be absorbed into the lard.

After two or three attempts, you will understand what temperature and what duration of the process you need to choose to get a product that suits you personally.

Here is a detailed video on how to smoke lard in a cauldron on a gas stove:

In the oven of a gas stove

Yes, you can smoke lard that way. Just make sure that the hood in your kitchen is working properly. Simply because you are unlikely to be able to seal the oven from smoke escaping, like a cauldron or a slow cooker.

Take a baking sheet and place a handful of wood chips on it. Place a sheet of foil on top; it will serve to collect dripping fat. Preheat the oven to a temperature of 80-90 degrees.

Place the slices of prepared lard on the grill, skin side down. Place an oven rack over a baking sheet. The process will last from 30 to 40 minutes. An oven, by the way, is more convenient than a cauldron in that you can observe the process through the window.

Cold smoking

Domestic home smokehouses are designed mainly for hot smoking. You are unlikely to be able to cold smoke lard at home; no cauldrons or multicookers are suitable for this. You will need a real cold smoked smokehouse, albeit a makeshift one.

The peculiarity of the cold method of smoking lard is that the products are processed with cold smoke, with a temperature of 15-20 degrees. The process can last several days. Storage of cold smoked products can be quite long: up to six months, and sometimes longer.

So, lard, prepared as described above, needs to be washed from marinade or salt and dried. You can simply leave it hanging in the air to allow the remaining brine to drain, or wipe it with a cloth. Then hang it on hooks or place it on grates inside the smokehouse, and light the fire in the firebox. If the smokehouse is a simple barrel, then it is advisable to close it with a lid or burlap so that the smoke remains inside longer.

Remember that the cold smoking process can last continuously for 2-3 days. All this time you will have to monitor the fire, add firewood and wet wood chips so that the flow of smoke into the smoking chamber does not stop.

With liquid smoke

A simplified method that is not smoking, but still allows you to get lard with the taste and aroma of real smoked meat.

For the recipe you will need:

• half a kilo of fresh lard;
• one and a half liters of water;
• 150 grams of salt;
• a couple of handfuls of onion peels (or up to 100 grams of dry tea leaves);
• spices (1-2 bay leaves, a few peppercorns);
• Can granulated sugar, no more than one teaspoon;
• liquid smoke;
• garlic, ground red pepper.

You can try two methods - boiling lard in a solution and simple pickling.

First recipe(true-smoked lard).

1. Prepare a decoction - dissolve 150 grams of salt in one and a half liters of water, add spices.
2. Place in a boiling broth onion skins or tea leaves. They will give the lard a characteristic “smoked” color.
3. Pour in 100 grams of liquid smoke,
4. Bring the broth to a boil on the stove.
5. Dip lard there, cut into pieces 4-5 centimeters thick. In this case, there is no need to pre-marinate it.
6. Cook the lard over low heat for half an hour.
7. Turn off the heat and leave the lard to cool without removing it from the pan for 10-12 hours, for example overnight.
8. Remove the lard from the broth, dry it with paper towels, and rub with garlic or red pepper.
9. Wrap in foil and put in the refrigerator.

Second recipe(cold method).

1. Prepare the same decoction as in the first recipe.
2. Cool it to room temperature.
3. Place the chopped pieces of lard into the pan.
4. Cover with a plate or wire rack, put something heavy to press so that the broth completely covers the lard.
5. Leave to marinate for at least a day, and if the pieces are large, longer.
6. Take out the pickled lard, dry it, grate with red pepper or garlic.
7. Wrap in foil or cling film and put it in the refrigerator.

Smoked lard is a great appetizer and a simple dish to practice your smoking skills or try out a new smoker. It can be prepared hot or cold. The rich taste of lard can be easily enriched by adding various spices: spices, herbs.

This product will be tasty and safe, despite minor errors in choosing the temperature and duration of processing. But the shelf life of the finished dish directly depends on the time spent on smoking.

It is impossible to say in advance the exact time the lard will be in the smokehouse. It depends on the temperature of the smoke, the size of the pieces, and the presence of veins in the meat. But there is a minimum number of hours required to cook lard in a smokehouse. Focus on it, but be guided by your own taste.

Cold and hot smoking - what is the difference in time?

Cold smoking of lard is a long process. It may take a week. But products cooked in light cold smoke can be stored in the refrigerator for a month to a year. IN freezer The shelf life of lard increases further.

The hot smoking method takes several hours. Processing occurs at a temperature of 40-100 degrees. Lard smoked in hot smoke will be stored in the refrigerator for the same amount of time as boiled lard: a maximum of 2-4 months, but usually much less.

How long does it take to smoke hot smoked lard?

In terms of time, you need to smoke lard in a hot smoked smokehouse from 20 minutes to two days. The time depends on the size of the pieces and pre-processing. If you salt thin slices for 3 days and then dry them for two days, they will be ready in the smokehouse in 20 minutes.

At a smoke temperature of 40-60 degrees, smoking lightly salted bacon will take from an hour to a day. Then the smoked lard can be cooked or left to cool and ripen. To get a dish ready for immediate consumption, you need to smoke it at a temperature of 80-100 degrees.

How long does it take to smoke cold smoked lard?

If you want to get a product with a long shelf life, you need to smoke lard in a cold smoker at a temperature of 20-25 degrees. Thin pieces 5 cm long are smoked for at least 2-4 days. Cooking large bacon can take up to a week.

This does not mean that the exact smoke temperature should be maintained at all times. It is quite possible to smoke cold-smoked lard only during the day, and leave it to ventilate and ripen at night. The main thing is that total time smoke treatment was longer than 48 hours, otherwise the lard will remain raw inside.

How long can cold smoked lard be stored?

Cold smoking is a time-tested processing method. meat products, including lard. Ready dish can be stored for up to a year in the refrigerator, and there is no time limit at all in the freezer.

The condition of the lard should be periodically checked: the piece should be dry to the touch, uniform in color without bluish inclusions, and not smell of anything foreign except lard and spices. If the lard becomes slippery or mold appears, it is better to throw the piece away immediately before the spoiled lard contaminates the adjacent smoked pieces.

What's the best way to store it?

Lard, especially cold smoked, is an unpretentious product. After cooking, it should be left to ventilate and cool for at least a day. Then you can wrap it in paper and hang it in the attic at a temperature of 5-8 degrees. You cannot store smoked lard in the cellar. The lard should be kept in a room with good ventilation, away from sunlight.

In the summer, it is better to store lard in the refrigerator. The pieces should be placed in a container so that they do not fit tightly against each other. Cover the container with a cloth. Check and turn pieces weekly.

How long does hot smoked lard last?

Hot smoked lard is tasty, but short-lived. Hot smoking only briefly extends the shelf life of pre-salted lard. If the smoking conditions have been violated, the bacon may deteriorate even after a week.

Thin slices of smoked lard - table decoration

If the recipe is followed in full, the dish will be stored in the refrigerator for one to three months. If you plan to store smoked meat at room temperature, it is better to eat lard 2 weeks in advance. Smoked lard can be stored in a freezer at -18 for several years.

Hot or cold smoked lard is a suitable dish for practicing smoking skills. It doesn't require difficult conditions storage, and suitability for food can be easily determined just by looking at a piece of bacon. This dish is good for decoration. festive table and everyday meals.