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Showing posts from 2013

Food Smoking - a practical guide

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Back in our cave-dwelling days, food smoking was used to preserve food and then our ancestors discovered just how great it makes food taste. Turan has been a passionate smoker of food for many years, teaches courses all around UK and now crystallises his knowledge in food smoking; a practical guide. Within its covers he explains the basics of cold and hot smoking; delves into the principles of combustion (he's a career fireman in another part of his life so he should know!) and explains brining and dry salt curing. He outlines how to source wood for smoking and provides plans for building a cold smoker and smoke generators. He simplifies and demystifies the process of smoking food to enable you to produce wonderful smoked food in a sustainable, eco-friendly way. Enjoy! If you would like to purchase a signed copy of the book please visit smokedust.co.uk and drop Turan an email with your name or who you would like the book signed to. turan@coldsmoking.co.uk

Kippers - Ever fancied having a go yourself?? Part 2

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If you like this post please visit Facebook and like our page - We also have a youtube channel Thanks. In part one we looked at the process of turning a herring into a kipper. We looked at the preparation of the fish, splitting the fish through it's back and the method used to brine the fish ready for the smoker. In this part of the blog we will discuss the smoking process, what's happening to the fish while it is being smoked and some of the finer points of smoking. In particular we will look at the cold smoking process, what this means and how to manage the process. First of all we will discuss the benefits of hanging your fish or laying them flat. Well, we've brined and dried the herrings and were ready to give them some time in the smoke. The smoking process will transform the humble herring into the wonderful kipper. We will be cold smoking the herring which means we will be using the qualities of the smoke to add flavour and utilise the ability for smoke

Kippers - Ever fancied having a go yourself?? - Part 1

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If you like this post please visit Facebook and like our page - We also have a youtube channel Thanks. Kippers have come in and out of favour more times than flares and platforms but these days trying to purchase anything other than a vacuum packed dyed abomination can be a little difficult. It's true, there are lots of supermarkets out there with impressive wet fish counters but when it comes to kippers, there's nothing like a home smoked one to really set things alight.   The big question for many would be how the heck do I brine and smoke my own herrings to make a wonderfully home smoked kipper? Herrings each about 400g The process is not that daunting as one might think. The first thing obviously is to get hold of a supply of herrings. Thankfully these little darlings are available through the supermarket but do watch out that you only pick the freshest of the bunch. A good barometer for freshness is a nice clear eye and reddish gills. If the eyes are a little