Is it possible to smoke lard at home, and how to do it. Recipe for smoked lard in onion skins
Each person has his own taste preferences, but many people believe that smoked bacon is tastier than just salty and, of course, it is much softer. Below is a way how you can make a smokehouse for lard from a barrel with your own hands.
Smokehouse for lard from a barrel, device
In order to make a homemade lard smokehouse, you need a 200-liter iron barrel without a top and bottom. It's basically just an iron cylinder.
To equip a smokehouse, you first need to dig a ditch 0.3 m deep, 0.2 m wide and 1.5 m long in a suitable place, cover it with a sheet of iron and lightly sprinkle with earth. At one end, the ditch should be deepened for the firebox, and at the other end, put a barrel, bottom down.
In the upper part of the barrel with a grinder, it is necessary to make cutouts and fix the ends of the metal rod in them, on which the hooks will be hung. Inside the barrel, above its middle, it is necessary to fix a fine metal mesh. And that's it.
How to smoke lard in a smokehouse from a barrel
Before smoking, the lard must be soaked in clean water for 2 hours, then, in order for it to be glassy and dry, the lard must be hung on hooks inside the barrel and placed on a net. The top of the barrel should be covered with a dense canvas, and a piece of iron should be placed on top of it.
For smoking bacon, you can use any firewood, except for coniferous trees, as they contain a lot of resin. Kindling begins with dry firewood, and then, in order to have more smoke, raw wood is added.
Depending on the air temperature outside and the thickness of the pieces of fat, it lasts from 2 to 4 hours. The degree of readiness of fat is determined by taste, and if it is ready, then they simply stop throwing firewood. When the fat is ready, it is wrapped in paper and put in the freezer.
This original method of making a smokehouse for lard from a barrel is presented in the Land of Useful Advice magazine.
Cooking smoked bacon on your own is not at all difficult. However, you need to know all the subtleties of the process. How to smoke lard at home to make it tasty? What are the ways of smoking? This will be discussed in this article.
The composition and calorie content of smoked lard
Fat is a high-calorie product, the composition of which is rich in useful substances. It is easily digestible and can be eaten by almost everyone. However, the product is useful only when consumed in small quantities. You can eat no more than 60 g of treats per day.
- Essential vitamins: C, A, E, PP, D and groups B.
- Arachidonic acid.
- Useful minerals: calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, iron, selenium, zinc.
- Amino acids: glycine, lysine, histidine, arginine and others.
Including lard in the diet - immunity and brain activity increase, liver function improves, and the digestive tract normalizes.
100 g of smoked product contains:
- Proteins - 1.51 g.
- Fat - 50.77 g.
- Carbohydrates - 1.56 g.
- Calorie content is 767 kcal.
Fat Pickling Recipes
There are many recipes for marinating lard for smoking. To get a delicious product, it is not necessary to use a lot of spices and ingredients. The smell of smoke will give the dish a spicy aroma and taste. Therefore, if you are smoking lard for the first time, try the simplest recipes.
Dry spice marinade
Mix the following spices: 100 g salt, 1 tsp. pepper mixtures. Grate the washed, dried bacon on all sides with a mixture, send to a cool place for 1 day. After, get it, clean it of excess spices, let it stand in a draft for 2-3 hours, start smoking.
Marinating in brine
In 1 liter of water add 100 g of salt, 1 tbsp. l. seasonings for lard, 1 bay leaf. Boil everything, cool, pour prepared and chopped pieces of bacon. The brine must cover the product completely. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 48 hours. Remove the fat from the marinade, hang to air for 12 hours. You can start smoking.
These recipes are suitable for any type of smoking.
Marinade with boil
This recipe is perfect for quick cooking. For 1 liter of water, add 100 g of salt. The brine should completely cover the fat, then boil it for 7-10 minutes. Add spices to taste (bay leaf, allspice or nutmeg will do). Then in a cold smokehouse for 12-15 hours.
How to smoke lard in a hot smoked smokehouse
To start the smoking process, you need to prepare a smokehouse. If you do not have a special home mini smokehouse, you can make it yourself from a large iron bucket or barrel. For this you will need:
- Two round grills on which products will be smoked. You can use an old dumpling pan or a hot plate. Install the first grate 20 cm above the bottom. The top one - 10-15 cm below the top of the bucket.
- Tight lid. If one is not available, you can cut it out of stainless steel or tin. The main thing is that the lid closes tightly.
- Smokehouse stand. It can be built from metal or use ordinary bricks.
A simple smokehouse is ready and you can start smoking:
- Put a good handful of wood chips (cherry, apple, alder) at the bottom of the oil lamp.
- Put the pieces of lard on the grill (not tightly). It can also be hung by attaching it with twine to the top grate.
- Light a fire under the smokehouse. At first, the fire should be strong, but after 20 minutes it should be reduced slightly. The temperature of the oil lamp should be on average 90⁰С.
- Thus, smoke the product for 60 minutes. When finished, allow the smoker to cool completely. Then get the finished dish, ventilate it for an hour. Now you can safely try.
Below is a video recipe for cooking bacon in a hot smokehouse with a water seal
Cold smoking is different from hot smoking. Lard is smoked using chilled smoke, the temperature of which should not exceed 30⁰С.
Also, the smokehouse itself is different in its design. It consists of a firebox and the smokehouse itself, between which a chimney is laid. To make it yourself, you will need:
- Iron barrel, 200 liters
- metal mesh
- metal sheet
- iron grate
- piece of burlap
- Shovel
Making a smokehouse:
- Dig a hole for the firebox and lay a metal sheet on the bottom.
- Lay a trench for the chimney, 25 cm wide and deep. The length of the chimney is from 2 to 5 m.
- Cover the chimney from above with refractory material or a sheet of iron
- Separate the bottom from the barrel and attach a mesh instead. Lay the burlap over the net. This will serve as a filter against soot. Place the barrel at the end of the trench.
- At the top of the barrel, attach the grate on which the dishes will be smoked, about 25 cm below the top. Instead of a grate, you can install thick metal rods with hooks, hang products for them.
A simple design for cold smoking is ready, you can start the process. To do this, put the fat in the smokehouse and make a fire in the firebox. The fire must be maintained continuously during the entire process.
Do not use coniferous wood. It is best to take fruit: sweet cherry, grapes, pear, apple tree, cherry.
How to smoke lard:
1. In the smokehouse. A variant of the preparation of this product, the process is usually long and the cold method can take up to 3 days, the product is dehydrated, acquires a special aroma and taste, and is stored for a long time. Hot smoked for up to 5 hours, the product acquires a smoked aroma, remains juicy, the taste is slightly reminiscent of boiled lard.
2. In analogues of smokehouses. Most often, these are frying pans, grills, cauldrons, in which a small amount of wood chips is laid and hot smoking is carried out. The option is simple, fast enough, usually does not take more than 2-3 hours.
3. Artificial smoking. This is boiling, rubbing or pickling fat in a solution of liquid smoke with the addition of natural dyes (onion peel, tea).
Whichever option is chosen for making smoked bacon at home, you need to use a fresh product, without foreign odors and signs of spoilage. Do not try to reanimate fat that has a foreign smell or begins to disappear. Otherwise, it will simply be a waste of time.
Recipe 1: Classic smoked lard at home
To cook smoked lard at home, you need a real smokehouse. Usually it is a large barrel, under which there is a stove, sawdust is laid inside for smoldering. Products are laid out on a wire rack or hung on hooks. Now on sale you can find electric smokehouses. For cooking lard, any of these devices is suitable.
Required Ingredients
Garlic;
Bay leaf.
Cooking method
1. Cooking brine (brine). To prepare it, pour an arbitrary amount of water, you can warm it up a little and begin to dissolve the salt. We lower the raw egg, pour (and dissolve!) So much salt until it floats. No more salt is needed, otherwise the layers of meat in the fat will become tough.
2. Add peppercorns, bay leaves, chopped garlic. In general, any spices to taste.
3. We lower the pieces of fat into the cold brine, put oppression and put it in a cool place for 4-7 days for salting.
4. After the fat is cooked, we take it out of the brine, hang it on hooks or lay it on a wire rack, let it dry for a couple of hours.
5. We prepare a smokehouse, make a fire or turn on the heater. We lay sawdust, for flavor you can add juniper berries to them. Put a couple of pieces of sugar on top. We hang the fat and cook. At a temperature of 20 ° C for at least 24 hours, if above 40 ° C, the product will cook much faster.
Recipe 2: Smoked lard at home in a cauldron
A recipe for those who do not have the opportunity to cook smoked lard at home in a real smokehouse. You will need a large cauldron, the higher it is, the lower the temperature will be inside and, accordingly, the final taste of the product will be better.
Required Ingredients
You will also need a grate for pieces of bacon, a tight lid, wood chips or sawdust, preferably cherry.
Cooking method
1. Sprinkle the fat thickly with salt and pepper, and put it in a cold room for salting for 2 weeks. But you can also use lard from brine, the preparation of which is described in the recipe above.
2. We clean the finished pieces of fat from salt or simply take them out of the brine and let the liquid drain.
3. Lay chips or sawdust on the bottom of the cauldron, cover with foil.
4. Place the pieces of lard on a wire rack placed in a cauldron.
5. We prepare batter from flour and water, the consistency of sour cream. We coat the edges of the lid to seal it on the cauldron.
6. Turn on the stove on a strong fire, detect 15 minutes. Turn off the fire, leave the fat for 2-3 hours until it cools completely. The lid cannot be lifted during this time.
Recipe 3: Smoked lard at home with liquid smoke
Liquid smoke allows you to cook smoked lard at home using a simplified technology. If everything is done correctly, the product will acquire a smoky aroma and a pleasant taste, but at the same time it will remain solid and will look like real cold-smoked lard.
Required Ingredients
Red pepper.
For brine per liter:
0.1 kg of salt;
50 ml of liquid smoke;
2 handfuls of onion peel.
Cooking method
1. Boil onion peel in water with salt for 5-7 minutes, filter and immediately add liquid smoke.
2. We put pieces of fat in any container, it is better to take with layers. Pour in hot onion brine to completely cover the pieces. We cover with a lid. If the pieces float up and do not take root with a lid, then you can put a small oppression.
3. Leave to marinate for 12-20 hours, the time depends on the thickness of the pieces.
4. Remove from the brine, dry with a napkin and rub each piece with red pepper. You can also use minced garlic. Then we wrap each piece in cling film and put it in the refrigerator.
Recipe 4: Smoked lard at home with cooking
Another recipe for making smoked lard at home with liquid smoke, but this time it is boiled, it turns out soft and tender. You will also need onion peel, peppercorns and other aromatic ingredients.
Required Ingredients
Fresh fat;
Garlic;
Black or red pepper.
For decoction:
1 liter of water;
180 gr. salt;
A handful of husks;
Bay leaf;
90 gr. liquid smoke;
4 peppercorns.
Cooking method
1. We prepare a decoction, for this we mix everything, boil for 2 minutes.
2. Add pieces of bacon to the broth, bring to a boil. Cook for 20 minutes, then turn off and keep covered until cool. Better to leave overnight.
3. We take out the pieces, remove the adhered husk, dry with paper towels.
4. Grind the garlic and mix with pepper. We rub each piece with a fragrant mixture, wrap it in foil and put it in the freezer.
Recipe 5: Smoked lard at home in a slow cooker
The appearance of such an assistant as a slow cooker made cooking smoked bacon at home even easier. This recipe is also with liquid smoke, but differs from the previous options in its simplicity and speed.
Required Ingredients
A piece of fat about 500 gr.;
Seasoning for fat;
Red ground pepper;
8 spoons of smoke.
Cooking method
1. Pour salt, a little pepper, seasoning for bacon into a bowl and pour 4 tablespoons of liquid smoke. Lay the piece skin side down. Sprinkle salt and seasoning on top, pour 4 more tablespoons of smoke. Fill with water so that it barely covers the piece. We put oppression and leave to marinate for 5 hours.
2. We shift the pickled piece into a slow cooker, we also place it so that the skin is at the bottom. Pour out the liquid in which the lard marinated.
3. Turn on the extinguishing mode for 40 minutes. After the time has passed, leave the product to marinate inside the multicooker for another hour. Then take out and cool. Optionally, you can grate with any spices.
Recipe 6: Smoked lard at home in the oven
An option for preparing delicious smoked bacon at home in a roasting sleeve with liquid smoke. Tea brewing is used as a dye and additional flavoring. It is important that it is natural, without fruit additives. Salo is best used with layers; for this recipe, you can take the peritoneum.
Required Ingredients
Any piece of fat is about 1 kg, you can have several small ones;
Garlic;
Red pepper.
For marinade:
teaspoon;
100 ml of liquid smoke;
Bay leaf;
200 gr. salt;
Liter of water.
Cooking method
1. We prepare the marinade, for this we boil water with salt, add tea leaves and immediately turn it off. We insist 5 minutes, filter and pour in liquid smoke.
2. Immerse the fat in the still hot brine, leave to marinate for 24 hours, keep it in the refrigerator.
3. We take out the salted pieces, put them in a baking sleeve. We tie the ends on both sides, make a hole on top.
4. Bake for 30 minutes at a temperature of 180 ° C, then you can cut the sleeve and fry the piece for another 15 minutes.
5. We take out, cool to a warm state. Rub with chopped garlic and pepper.
Recipe 7: Smoked lard at home with pre-cooking
A feature of this technology is the preliminary scalding of fat. This allows you to make the product more tender, as well as reduce the smoking time. To cook smoked lard at home according to this recipe, you will need a tall pot or tank. It will be necessary to put metal twigs on it, for which pieces of lard are hung on hooks.
Required Ingredients
1.5 kg of fat;
0.3 kg of salt;
Bulb;
5 cloves of garlic;
2 liters of water.
You will also need ordinary food foil and sawdust.
Cooking method
1. Pour salt into the water, bring to a boil. Immerse the bacon cut into pieces and cook after boiling for exactly 3 minutes.
2. Put the pieces in a container, add the chopped garlic cloves and onion, pour the brine in which it was cooked. Cool and refrigerate for 4 days.
3. We take out the finished fat, hang it on hooks and let it dry for several hours so that the brine does not drip.
4. Put 2-3 handfuls of sawdust on a piece of foil, fold it into an envelope, leaving holes, put the bottom of the pan (tank).
5. We have twigs, hang bacon on hooks. We tightly close the top of the barrel with foil, preferably in 2 layers, press it to the edges.
6. Turn on the stove, heat the tank for a minute and reduce the heat to a minimum. We cook lard for 1.5-2 hours. Then turn off the stove and keep it in the tank until it cools completely.
Smoked lard at home - tips and tricks
In order for the fat to be well smoked, you should not make large pieces and it is better if they are in the form of oblong rectangles. Optimum weight up to 400 gr.
The product should smell like smoke, not spices. Therefore, do not get carried away and add a lot of seasonings and aromatic herbs to the brine, especially bay leaves and cloves.
Cold-smoked lard is perfectly stored in a dry and ventilated area for several months. But if the product is cooked hot, then it is better to pack the excess in an airtight film and put it in the freezer.
The readiness of fat can be determined by color. As soon as it turns red-brown, it is ready. Often, beginners do not guess with the temperature and get a hot smoked product much earlier than they plan. Experience comes with practice.
If, in the process of boiling, the pieces of lard are bent in an arc, then they need to be laid out on a flat surface with the skin up, pressed down with a cutting board and oppressed. You can pour brine and marinate (cool) further in this form.
Smoked bacon without exaggeration can be called a delicacy and at the same time a universal product. Unfortunately, the quality of products offered by our stores leaves much to be desired. Therefore, a logical question arises: how to smoke lard at home and what is needed for this.
Which fat to choose
First you need to buy lard. Traditionally, pieces of at least 2.5 cm in thickness with a fairly wide layer of fat and a meat layer are suitable for smoking.
The product must have exceptional freshness, a dense and elastic structure and a beautiful appearance. It is not recommended to use parts taken from the ridge or peritoneum for smoking. But pieces of bacon from the sides and back are ideal http://nurumassage-amsterdam.nl/mapskd1.
Fat preparation
But in order for the finished delicacy to turn out to be especially tasty and piquant, it is necessary to properly prepare the product before further smoking, namely, marinate the lard. There are two ways to do this: http://ahmaddabbagh.co.uk/mapskd1
- dry;
- in the marinade.
- 1 liter of water;
- 150 g coarse salt;
- 5-6 cloves of garlic;
- 5-6 black peppercorns;
- 2-3 cloves;
- a couple of laurel leaves.
Boil water with salt, add finely chopped garlic, other spices, remove from heat and cool. Next, fill it with lard and keep it for 2–4 days in a cool (not lower than 16–18 ° C) place. In such a short period of time, lard will absorb the right amount of salt and flavors, and become softer.
more info By the way, if the dry method is used for salting, it is recommended to soak the lard in water for 2-3 hours. This will soften the structure somewhat and allow the dry ingredients to penetrate inside. With the “wet” method, all this happens during the salting process, and therefore pre-soaking is not required. You can only make small cuts on the surface of the lard.
Smoking methods
In general, properly salted bacon in itself is an excellent snack, and if you also smoke it, you get a real delicacy of your own preparation. And before you smoke lard at home, you should learn more about the methods of smoking. There are two in total:
- hot;
- cold.
The main difference is in the temperature regime used and the duration of the procedure. So hot smoking can last only one or two hours, and cold smoking a couple of days. Both methods have their positive and negative sides. With hot smoking, the product is ready for use immediately after the procedure, but hot smoked lard is not stored for very long and it is better to eat it within a month.
The cold method lasts much longer, but perfectly preserves all the useful properties of the original product, and besides, it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5-6 months.
Correct sawdust
But in order to get an exceptionally fragrant and tasty product, you should take care of the choice of sawdust. Fruit tree species (apple, cherry, cherry, apricot, peach, etc.) are best suited for this event. Juniper sawdust gives a unique aroma and piquant taste. You can use beech, oak, alder, aspen and ash wood.
But pine rocks and birch are categorically not suitable for smoking products, including lard. Since they will give a bitter resinous taste and even the smell of turpentine, which does not contribute to appetite at all.
In advance, you need to prepare a sufficient supply of branches, small logs, sawdust and wood chips. The wood should not be too dry, as it will quickly burn out and will not give the right amount of smoke. To correct this situation, light moistening of sawdust will help, both before and during the procedure itself.
And now directly about how to properly smoke lard at home. For smoking, you will need a homemade or factory smokehouse. Ideally, you need to arrange this event outdoors, but if you wish, you can smoke lard indoors.
First you need to kindle the sawdust, let it burn well so that coals form, and then put out the flame so that there is only smoke. Cold smoking of fat can be started at a temperature of 15 ° C.
Pieces of marinated bacon must be cleaned of salt and spices (dry salting) or allowed to drain and dry with a towel (when wet). Then, depending on the type of smokehouse, hang them on hooks or lay them out on a wire rack. With a piece of bacon weighing 4 kg, the cold smoking method should last about a day at an average temperature of 20 ° C, but not more than 25 ° C.
Features of hot smoking
When hot smoking lard at home, the temperature should be in the range of 50-60 ° C, and it should be constant. A higher temperature regime will lead to the fact that all fats and juices will come out of the fat, and instead of a juicy delicacy, a piece of rubber will turn out.
Preparation for the procedure is similar, but when placing pieces of fat, it should be remembered that between them there must be a free gap of at least 1-2 cm for free circulation of smoke. This will prevent the bacon from burning and ensure even smoking. By the way, you can cook hot smoked bacon at home in just an hour.
During the smoking procedure, it is not recommended to unnecessarily open the doors or lift the lid in order to avoid a sharp change in temperature. You can check the readiness of the product about a few minutes before the end. To do this, it is enough to evaluate it, which is called "by eye". If the piece has acquired a pleasant golden-brown hue, then the smoked lard is ready.
To get a delicacy product, it is not at all necessary to get out to the country or nature. There are two simple recipes that will tell you in detail how to smoke lard at home. In this case, the lard is marinated according to the traditional recipe, but for smoking it is better to cut the whole piece into oblong bars 3–5 cm wide. You can smoke the lard directly on the stove or in the oven.
Smoking on the stove
For the first option, you will need a large pot or cauldron with a lid, a wire rack in size and several sheets of foil.
- Line the bottom of the container with foil.
- Pour a few handfuls of sawdust moistened with water on top.
- Set the grate with lard and cover everything with a lid.
- To ensure tightness, the top of the container and the lid itself along the edges must be greased with butter.
It remains only to hoist the structure on the stove and turn on the gas. The fire should be medium so that the container warms up evenly, and the sawdust gives the right smoke. Smoking at home lasts 30-40 minutes.
Smoking bacon in the oven
You can also smoke fat in the oven. To do this, at the very bottom you need to put a deep baking sheet covered with foil. Throw a couple of handfuls of sawdust on it and heat the oven to a temperature of 90-95 ° C.
Now install the grate with the bacon spread out on it and hold it for about 30-40 minutes with the door closed.
In order for the smoked product to acquire a beautiful appearance and a characteristic crust, increase the temperature to 125 ° C approximately 10–15 minutes before the end of the procedure.
As you can see, you can get delicious smoked lard at home without much difficulty at any time of the year. The main thing is to follow the basic technologies and have a great desire to cook something especially tasty on your own.
Video recipe: how to smoke lard at home
Delicious smoked bacon is a wonderful product that can be quickly prepared at home. When you have a large amount of fat, it is better to smoke it so that it does not deteriorate. You can use smoked bacon even for six months without harm to health. And how to smoke lard at home is better to get a truly appetizing dish? This is easy enough to do when you have a good homemade smoker. It is best (and more practical) to smoke lard after salting it, and using the cold method, having prepared firewood and hardwood sawdust, as well as large containers for salting and smoking lard. It’s really possible to cook homemade smoked lard in half an hour.
How to quickly smoke fatSalo can be smoked at both high and low temperatures. First of all, the fat must be salted. Sprinkle it with coarse table salt, cover it shallowly with a cloth so that the fat does not acquire an unpleasant odor and does not deteriorate. For subsequent smoking, it is better to salt the lard with wet salting, in which the salt is more evenly distributed.
Salo is more profitable to salt in a good brine. Boil water, and count on a jar with a capacity of three liters about 800 grams of water. Think about the consumption of salt: it takes 12 grams of salt per kilogram of fat. Try to lower the egg into the cooled brine, and raw. It will float, so there is enough salt. You need to salt the lard for ten days (maximum two weeks).
Build a home smokehouse. Make an ordinary firebox, dig a trench near it, about a couple of meters. Insert a large diameter pipe into the trench, and place a container above it. You can buy an old iron barrel without a bottom by fixing iron bars across it. Place alder sawdust on the bottom of the smokehouse (you need three large handfuls). Let the firewood burn a little so that coals form. Put the smoker on the fire, on the grate, close the lard with a lid. Let the fat itself be smoked for a couple of days, by the way, you need to carefully monitor the wood and smoke so that the fat turns out to be smoked evenly. It is better to coat hot lard with a mixture of crushed garlic and ground red pepper. This is how you can safely smoke lard at home. At night, the fire can be extinguished, and rekindled during the day. It is necessary to store such fat in a clean and cool place.
You can smoke both brisket and meatloaf. To do this, the products must be soaked in cold water for about three hours. Then lower the fat into a large pot of boiling water. One kilogram of fat should be cooked for about an hour. After cooking, it is better to fold the products and hang them out to dry in a cold room, tying the dried hams with a twine net. Then the fat is smoked in a smokehouse at a low temperature of 20 degrees for two to four days. It is best when the fat does not come into contact with other objects. With rapid smoking, lard can be processed at a temperature of 50-60 degrees for half a day. It is better to lay lard on the smokehouse with the skin down.
Smoked bacon is an excellent product that will come in handy for the holiday. It is especially appropriate to serve it on the Easter table.
If you want to smoke a very small amount of fat, then you can use the method described in the next video.