From ham to mountain cheese to trout and salmon: Smoking is a popular method, to not only preserve food, but also to flavor them with delicious smoky notes. Was smoking earlier, before refrigerators were widely available, above all a necessary method, to preserve food, it's more of a use today, fish and co. refined with fine, spicy smoke aromas.
For more than half a century we have relied on the well-established smoking tradition in our Altona ovens, these are brick ovens. After refining with sea salt, our fish are exposed to the smoke of a beech wood fire for a certain period of time. In the lower part of the stove, the aromatic smoke is generated by burning the logs. The smoke rises into the smokehouse and envelops the fish hanging in the chamber. The food to be smoked and the heat sources do not come into contact, unlike grilling. The goal behind: not just changing the look, but also to get the best out of the taste.
If you want to know more about our traditional stoves: Here is the blog post.
Much time, low temperature: This is what makes cold smoking processes special
In the cold smoking process, the fish is located, such as our Scottish salmon, in the smoke for a long time, which has a temperature of approx 15 bis 25 has degrees Celsius. Ideally, the temperature does not rise above 25 Grad. This very gentle and lengthy process gives the fish a particularly delicious smoky note with an unforgettable taste and it also has a longer shelf life. Due to the low temperature, the smoking time increases. Depending on the nature of the product in question, it can take several hours. Other products such as ham even need days or several weeks. But: After all, good things take time and you only get such a spicy smoky note with a little patience. For example, we smoke our cold-smoked salmon for about ten to 14 Hours over beech wood smoke.
Fancy a recipe with Scottish salmon? Here is the recipe idea.
Little time, high temperature: How hot does it really get when hot smoking?
In contrast to the cold smoking process, we do not only smoke with the hot smoking process, we also cook our fish at the same time. The smoking temperature is, as the name suggests, much higher. It is approx 80 bis 120 Degree Celsius. fish, that we smoke hot, are about trout, catfish or eel. Circa 90 minutes we expose the products to the smoke. Many smokehouses reduce the temperature to just 60 degrees and smoke for longer. But we rely on hotter temperatures over an open beech wood fire. This is the only way to create the flavor-giving phenols in the smoke, which flow around the fish only once. This combines to give more flavor and longer shelf life than the competition. Due to the short smoking time, the sensitive vital substances are also protected.
Of course, we always think about the environment: After the process, the smoke is cleaned in a laborious process, so that you can no longer smell anything of the delicious production outdoors.
You want to convince yourself of the different taste of hot smoke and cold smoke? Then take a look at our Shop over. Here you will find salmon, Trout, Cobia and more for an unforgettable gourmet experience.
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