There is a huge advantage in camp cooking: liberation, complete freedom in movements and decisions. You can smoke, scatter and spray as much as you like without any damage to the interior. Moreover, some culinary techniques can only be done outdoors. For example, smoking. One of the most delicious options for preparing fish. If grayling has just been pulled out of the river, and the smokehouse has been waiting for its “exit” in the car for a long time, we will not hesitate. Let's light a fire on the shore and create hot smoked fish. A culinary masterpiece is guaranteed! There are many options for smokehouses. This recipe uses a box smoker with two grates and a drip tray.
Ingredients for 1 bookmark:
- 3-4 grayling, 300-400 g each (small lenkas are also perfect);
- salt to taste.
We gut the graylings and remove the gills. There is no need to remove scales; they retain the juice inside the fish. Rub the carcasses inside and out with salt. Leave to salt for half an hour.
During this time we make a fire. We collect thin dry willow twigs - they will give us the desired smoke. You can use wood shavings or sawdust.However, planing a thick branch takes longer than collecting what the willow itself is ready to give. Why willow, you ask? Because its smoke does not taste bitter, like coniferous smoke. Willow bushes are easy to find; they grow almost everywhere along river banks. If desired, you can use twigs or sawdust from other species suitable for smoking.
Smoking fish
Fire burns? Begin. Place the broken branches on the bottom of the smokehouse.
We install one of the grates, the one with low legs. We place a tray on it to collect fat. Now it’s the turn of the second lattice with long legs.
By the way, about the pallet. You can, of course, do without it by installing the main grill (which is for fish) immediately above the branches. But in this case, fat and juice will drip down onto the smoking coals and burn. And the fish will come out with a bitter taste.
We place our graylings and lenoks on the grill.
We install a smokehouse stand over the fire. In our case, it was this special grille. It is inserted into a campfire stake.
Close the smokehouse with a lid and put it on fire.
We keep the entire structure on an even, moderate flame for 15-20 minutes. At some point, smoke will come out from under the lid: our willow branches have smoldered and smoking has begun.
Towards completion, the process must be controlled by removing the smokehouse from the heat and opening the lid. The finished fish should have a pleasant brown-smoky color and look delicious.
And what does it smell like... Mm... Bon appetit!
