THE GOOD LIFE
Advice for smallholders
LIKE MANY ARTISANAL METHODS OF PREPARING food, smoking is experiencing a huge revival. It’s not just meat and fish that are being given a richer, deeper flavour this way, but shellfish, vegetables, spices and even butter. Don’t be tricked by the many ‘smoky’ products on supermarket shelves: some are just coated in an oaky flavouring. And those that are authentically smoked can be costly. The good news is that it’s surprisingly simple to set up your own smoker at home. Before fridges, smoking was used to preserve food, but now the technique is enjoyed for its ability to reveal hidden depths in ordinary ingredients. Garlic, cheese, bacon, scallops, mackerel, haddock and, of course, salmon are all everyday foods that, can play a starring role in a host of delicious dishes.
There are two types of smoking: cold, during which food is dried and infused with cool smoke but not cooked (such as smoked salmon); and hot, when it is cooked in the heat of smoke (such as smoked mackerel).
HOT SMOKING
This is the simplest and easiest method, and can even be done on your stove. You can buy a dedicated hot smoker, or make one yourself using an old saucepan. Place a layer of woodchips or sawdust (see overleaf ) on the bottom of the pan, with a wire rack about 10cm above it, and heat until they start to smoulder. Turn down the heat and place your meat or fish on the rack, replace the lid and leave to cook. You will need to open doors and windows if you don’t want your smoke alarm to go off and your house to smell of smoked fish for a fortnight. Hot smoking works well with mackerel, trout and salmon, but also steak, chicken and duck (you can flash-fry this afterwards).
COLD SMOKING
Creating smoked salmon, garlic, spices and cheese is a more complicated process, as the smoke needs to be cooled before it reaches the food. It requires outside space, as you’ll need to build a smoker, but you can do so cheaply using salvaged
materials. You will need a container for smouldering the woodchips (such as an oil drum), and a pipe long enough to cool the smoke as it’s transported to the ‘smokehouse’. This can be anything from a small shed to an old filing cabinet – it just needs to have wire shelves and hooks to suspend the food, and a vent at the bottom to control air flow. For more advice, read Smoking Food at Home with Smoky Jo (Quiller, £12.99) by Jo Hampson and Georgina Perkins, or, better still, go on their course (£159, smokyjos.co.uk).
CURING Before hot or cold smoking, most unprocessed meat and fish will need to be cured. This removes excess moisture and creates a surface the smoke can ‘stick’ to, as well as providing the opportunity to add extra flavour by incorporating spices. To dry cure, rub on salt and sugar, then leave (around five minutes for a mackerel fillet, around 40 minutes for a 500g salmon fillet). Alternatively, you could use a salt-water brine. Leave for around 12 hours per kilo of weight, then rinse and pat dry ready for smoking.