Brine recipes for cold smoking lard. Brine for smoking bacon and methods for pickling it

Salted lard is the first important step in the preparation of a delicious smoked product. The final result largely depends on how correctly and efficiently the salting is done. This recipe is for those who want to learn how to smoke at home, but do not know how to salt lard for smoking.

Buy a pork loin from a freshly slaughtered pig at the market. If the slaughter was done a couple of days ago, then you can immediately start salting, and if the fat is still “alive”, i.e. resembles jelly, stand it for at least one day to solidify.

Put the lard in a large jar or pan for salting. When you put the product in a container, do it with the skin down. Fill the voids between the pieces of loin with salt. For high-quality salting of fat, it will take at least twenty days.

After that, remove the fat from the jar and clean it of salt.

Smoke lard over low smoke for 5-10 days. The longer the smoking time, the longer the fat can be stored. It is considered completely ready when it is covered with a dark golden crust. Ready smoked lard can be grated with pepper and / or chopped garlic.

As you can see, salting lard for smoking, although a crucial stage, is not difficult to make. Salting, like smoking lard, can be easily and simply done at home. Such a delicious smoky lard is very suitable for jacket potatoes and pickles.

We salt the lard on our own at home in various ways and recipes. And since it is correct to pickle fats at home, you do not need specific and expensive ingredients. The main component is, of course, lard, as well as salt and spices. Naturally, salt and spices are available in every kitchen, but lard must be chosen correctly. How to pickle lard at home? See below for many recipes for salting lard.

Salo needs to be salted fresh, preferably steamed. Meat products are considered to be paired within 4 hours after slaughter. It is recommended to take lard with layers, but this depends mainly on the wishes of the hostess and household members. The thickness of the shmat should be approximately 3 cm. And also the consistency should be homogeneous, that is, not hardened, and not particularly loose.

Recipes

A simple recipe for how to properly pickle lard at home.

You will need: garlic, salt and a plastic bag.

Cut the salo into pieces that can fit in a bag and on a plate. Place the shmat on a cutting board, skin side down. Make a few small cuts. The incisions should be so deep that 0.5-1 cm is left to the skin. Cut several cloves of garlic lengthwise into halves. Put the garlic in the cuts and sprinkle the whole shmat with plenty of salt. Now put the pieces in the bag. This should be done with the skin down, stacking one on top of the other. Sprinkle each layer with additional salt. Now wrap the bag and let it soak. Salting lasts about three days at room temperature. First 50 hours in the position as described, and then the package should be turned over.

Further, in order to salt the fat correctly, it should be placed in the refrigerator, creating a temperature of about 10º C in it. Leave for another three days - until fully cooked. Now extract the package and make sure the product is ready. The main sign of salting fat is the darkening of the veins. That is, previously pink veins acquire a grayish color. If this does not happen, you need to add salt and leave for a while. Before eating, clean the fat from excess salt and cut into small pieces. Here you have a delicious salty bacon cooked at home and no worse than the store one !!

How to salt lard for smoking

A very good recipe for salting lard for smoking, and preparing it before smoking.

Would need:

salt,
Bay leaf,
garlic,
cloves Pepper,
water,
salo.

Some gourmets prefer salted bacon, smoked. But for proper smoking, lard must first be salted. How to do this, consider below.

First you need to cook a brine for fat. To do this, pour water into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Then add 150 grams of salt, three bay leaves, two cloves, garlic and pepper to taste. Boil for 15 minutes on low heat, covered. Cool the prepared saline brine to room temperature.
Put the lard in a saucepan, pour over the brine and close the lid. Cover the pan with a thick cloth and place in a dark and cool place. The lard in the pan should be turned over every day so that it is better saturated with brine. This process will last for 18 days. After that, the fat must be removed and washed with running water.

Now you need to get rid of the excess brine soaked in shmatki. To do this, you can put pieces under the load. And you can wrap and tighten tightly with a strong, natural thread. In this position, leave the fat for 1.5-2 days, after which you can start smoking. Having smoked the fat to the state you need, you can grate it with ground pepper. This will give it a spicy taste. Warm shmats should be rubbed, but consumed slightly frozen.

Salo with garlic

Many people love lard and an hour, but few people know how to pickle lard with garlic. This will be our next simple recipe with you.
Would need:

garlic paste,
Bay leaf,
pepper,
salo,
pan,
salt.

Pass the garlic through a garlic press. Add pepper, ground and peas and salt to the resulting gruel.

Cut the salo into pieces the size of which is suitable for the container. Place skin side down on a cutting board. On the pieces, make small cuts a little not reaching the skin. Coat each piece with the garlic mixture and place skin side down in a container. On top of each piece, you can put one bay leaf. Now pick up the lid that will be included in the container with bacon. Put the lid on and place a weight on it. Leave for a day at room temperature, and then put in a cool place. After two days, the delicious salty bacon with garlic is ready to eat.

Salo in Ukrainian

Recipe for delicious lard in Ukrainian.

You will need:

container,
salo,
salt,
spices.

Ukraine is the so-called "homeland" of salted lard. In Ukraine, as well as in Russia, there are several ways to salt delicious lard. I will tell you the most popular.
Cut the lard into pieces about 20-25 cm in size and stuff with chopped garlic in the previously made cuts. Then red and black pepper are mixed with salt and chopped bay leaves. The resulting mixture is rubbed with each piece of fat. Then take the container, you can use the parcel box lined with parchment. Put the pieces in a container and close the lid tightly. For two days, the fat should stand on the floor, and then moved to the freezer. Such fat is usually eaten frozen. We can also tell you, delicious and fast!

Salo in onion peel

Few people know, but lard in onion skins is a very tasty and gourmet dish that everyone should try.

You will need:

pan,
onion peel,
salt,
salo,
spices.

We learn the recipe for salting lard in onion peel. Pour onion skins and salt into a tall saucepan. Pour in cold water and bring to a boil. When the water boils, add the bay leaf and peppercorns. After boiling the spices for a minute, we send chopped bacon to the pan. Shmats should be buried in brine. Cook over low heat for 10-15 minutes. Now we leave the brew for a day so that the fat is saturated with brine. After a day, we remove the fat from the brine and spread it on a dry surface so that all the liquid is glassed. While the water is running, cook the garlic. That is, we grind it with a knife or garlic press and insist in a warm place for a minute. Then we rub the fat with garlic and send it to freeze.

Salo in the bank

A very old and everyone loves the recipe for lard in a jar at home, salting is very simple and it turns out deliciously delicious.

You will need:

chilled jar,
boiled water,
garlic, pepper, bay leaf,
salt.

In order to salt the fat in a jar, you need to put a three-liter jar in the refrigerator for a day. Cut the fat into pieces that can pass through the neck of the jar. Now prepare the brine. Pour water into a saucepan, boil and cool it to room temperature. Add garlic mass, pepper and salt to the cooled water. Put the fat in a jar not very tightly and fill it with brine. Now send the jar to a cool place for 3-4 days. Before use, it is necessary to remove the pieces and leave for 15 minutes in order to get rid of excess liquid. That's all the delicious salted lard in a jar is ready!

Salo in brine

Well, the recipe for lard in brine is not for everyone, although its taste is not ordinary, but it is still quite tasty. Worth trying!

Would need:

bucket,
spices (garlic, peppercorns),
salo,
water,
salt.

To begin with, we prepare a brine for lard, here is his recipe. Pour water into a saucepan and add salt. Bring to 100 degrees and boil for 10-15 minutes. Then cool, and while it cools, prepare the dressing. Garlic is peeled and mixed with pepper. Then it is added to the cooled brine and allowed to brew for an hour.

At this time, you need to prepare a container, you can use an enameled bucket or a glass jar. Pieces of chopped bacon are placed in a bucket and poured with cold brine. Shmats must be buried in liquid. Cover the bucket with a thick cloth or gauze folded in several layers. Wrap the fabric around the top with a thread so that it does not move out and does not get wet. Now send the bucket to the bottom shelf of the refrigerator and wait 2 weeks. After the salting period has expired, you can try by first draining the brine that you prepared for the fat.

Salting secrets

Little secrets of salting fat

When salting lard at home, little tricks can be used and that will simplify the process or give a unique taste. I will tell you about them now.

Black peppercorns will give more flavor if ground just before use.
Also, various spices will give the fat a richer taste, if you first knead them. You can simply rub it in your hands or hold it between two spoons.
Fat absorbs as much salt as it needs and not a gram more. Therefore, do not spare salt, you won’t be able to oversalt, but undersalting is easy.
Salting by any of the above methods is recommended in cold conditions. That is, at a temperature of + 10º - + 18º C, it can be lower.
Immediately after salting, check the fat for salt. This is necessary so that it does not have time to deteriorate in case of undersalting.
Prepare the brine, should be immediately before salting. The fact is that water after boiling acquires special properties: it becomes softer, loses harmful microbes, and so on. If you leave boiled water for a long time under normal conditions, the beneficial properties will be lost.
For smoking lard, it is recommended to use alder or apple wood. So you can give the fat a unique taste. It is also important to smoke on moderate heat without overheating.

Video how to pickle lard

Cold appetizers from meat products can hardly leave anyone indifferent. With proven technology, you can make a variety of dishes, from everyday to the most exquisite delicacies. Pork meat in its popularity is inferior, perhaps, to chicken meat. Moreover, the leading positions have to be taken solely because of the high cost. As for taste, there is no bright dominance.

Due to the fat layers, pork is quite soft and juicy, and if you cook it correctly, you can get the most tender meat pieces, which even chicken cannot be compared with.

Everyone knows that the key to a successful recipe is the preliminary preparation of the product. This law always applies, no matter what dish you decide to cook. Even such, at first glance, an elementary product in preparation, like smoked lard, requires a step-by-step implementation of all the prescribed procedures, most of which are implemented even before direct smoking.

Some features of cooking meat dishes

The consumption of meat for the body plays an invaluable role. Even many nutritionists agree that no diet based on a diet of plant foods is able to fill the body with a complete set of required substances. Man refused raw meat in ancient times, and even the popular raw food diet implies preliminary salting of the product.

The structure of fat and meat makes the product quite tough and elastic when raw. However, there are several ways to turn a product into an edible food. The preparation itself initially involves heat treatment. Our ancestors thought of this from the moment fire appeared in their everyday life. Under the action of temperature, the protein is subject to restructuring, which leads to the re-formation of fibers. Denatured protein changes its density, and due to this, the meat or fat becomes looser.

Later it turned out that not only high-temperature exposure is capable of splitting fibers. There are a number of active substances that enter into chemical reactions with protein, these are all kinds of acids, as well as salts. Under the action of acid, animal fibers change their structure.

Salt can act as the mentioned substance, as well as a flavoring additive. If heat treatment is not planned (cold smoking), then all that remains is to salt the bacon to make an edible dish out of it. Otherwise, for example, with hot smoking, pickling of lard must still be done to fill it with taste.

Dry salting products

The most ancient way of storing meat products and preparing them for consumption is salting according to a simple recipe. It has a lot of advantages.

The relatively simple recipe eliminates the need to purchase a large number of ingredients.
There is no need to maintain proportions, since the fat will not absorb excess salt. You just need to salt each piece abundantly, and then get rid of excess salt.
The salting algorithm is so simple that it is accessible even to those who first encounter self-cooking.

To make it more convenient to salt the lard for smoking, you need a flat horizontal surface. You can prepare the mixture on the kitchen table. Salt is mixed with pepper, and spices are added to the resulting composition. Thyme or dried dill is great for a dry marinade. The composition of the mixture may be different, it depends on the desires of the cook.

With reciprocating movements, the salt is rubbed into the fat. At this stage, there is a great opportunity to diversify the recipe by stuffing the pieces with garlic. To do this, you need to make deep cuts and put finely grated garlic into the resulting sinuses. Salt should completely cover the pieces, so salting is carried out carefully, with the processing of each face.

Salted pieces are placed in an enamel pan. Pieces should be folded compactly so that there is as little space as possible between them. Oppression is placed on top. Under the action of the load, moisture will be released from the fat. In the resulting brine, it will be possible to quickly salt the product. By and large, the fat will be ready in a day, but for cold smoking it is advisable to extend the salting for another day. With a cold method of processing fat, it is very dangerous if the product is undersalted, this is fraught with damage to the semi-finished product.

After two days of salting, the fat is removed from the container and excess salt is removed by any available method. If there is no desire to wipe the remnants with a napkin, then you will have to soak the fat in water. The whole procedure will take no more than an hour, but after that the fat should be dried. Drying is an integral part of the whole process. Moisture in the fibers during hot smoking will make the lard boiled, and during cold smoking it will create favorable conditions for bacteria. At home, lard is dried by hanging in the fresh air. In half an hour it will be time to send it to the smokehouse.

Marinade with spices

Another way to prepare lard before placing it in the smoker is pickling. There is no fundamental difference from salting, since the ultimate goal is to impregnate the fibers with saline. The difference can be seen only in technology. It allows you to marinate meat or lard using various spices. The ingredients dissolved in water form a brine in which the product should be soaked.

The algorithm for preparing the marinade begins with the fact that you have to make simple calculations. Water should be salted according to a strict proportion, which involves adding 70 g of salt to one liter of water.

The lard smoking brine is brought to a boil, and then garlic, pepper, bay leaf, basil and dill are added to it. Everyone has their own understanding of a deliciously prepared dish, so the composition of the ingredients may vary. Only salt remains unchanged, as the main preservative in any recipe.

The marinade should boil for at least 10 minutes. By choosing the right salting method, it is possible to manipulate the flavor bouquet. Traditionally, it is believed that for salting lard with spices, it is necessary to pickle it. This opinion is twofold.

Firstly, no one bothers to add the listed ingredients to the dry composition.
Secondly, when boiling the marinade, the taste is always kept under control, and it is easy to adjust it during the cooking process.

If you add all the components to the dry mix, then it will be quite difficult to evaluate the future result. Now you can decide once and for all how the preparation of fat for smoking should take place. For lovers of everything natural, including the natural smell and taste of pork fat, a simple salting recipe is suitable. And gourmets, whose taste comes down to bouquets of spices, should stock up on instructions for marinating meat products.

After the preparation of the marinade is completed, lard is immersed in it, while the pan is removed from the gas stove. After cooling the brine and the fat in it, you should still soak the product for 5 hours. Then the pieces are suspended so that the moisture swells and partially evaporates. The average drying time for bacon is 30 minutes.

Recipe for boiled smoked bacon

There is no limit to popular imagination, so all possible ways to pickle lard have long been tried. And yet there are more and more new recipes. The idea of combining heat treatment with salting has found its way. At home, cooking boiled-smoked lard is not only possible, but also technically easy.

As a result of preliminary boiling, a product is obtained that is almost ready for use. In the oil lamp, it will quickly pick up a fragrant smell and will be urgently put on the table as a delicacy.

First, prepare the marinade. Due to the fact that hot water penetrates more intensively into the fibers of the fabrics, the lard will not marinate for long. For the same reason, the solution will have to be made somewhat less dense. For 1 liter of water, 50 grams of salt will be enough.
Water must be boiled, and lard is already immersed in a boiling solution, which is boiled for 40 minutes. During this time, all the desired ingredients are added. Boiling water kills bacteria and promotes more effective dissolution of spices in water.

Recipes for cold and hot smoking

Often, the same recipe can be taken from different sources. But in the first case, it is recommended for hot smoking, and in the second - for cold smoking. To avoid confusion, let's deal with this issue. The fact is that there is no fundamental difference, so the same recipe can be used for both smoking methods. Understanding in more detail with the device of the oil lamp and with the nuances of one and the other method, we come to the conclusion that despite the apparent similarity of the recipes, there are still some subtleties.

Salting lard with simple salting and marinade for cold smoking should take a little longer. Despite the recommendations, increase the salting time. Excess salt will not be absorbed into the fat, and this will have a positive effect on the smoking process.
Welding fat during cold smoking is usually not used. This type of smoking is chosen for the naturalness of the resulting product. It makes no sense to cook lard if hot smoking is provided for this.
When preparing for smoking, it should be remembered that hot-cooked products have much less fat, since a significant proportion of them is rendered under high temperature.
To simulate smoking, the recipes remain unchanged. Even a simple ambassador takes a little less time, which is surprising. The secret lies in the fact that after a day spent in salt, lard is considered edible, and when cold smoked, it must be additionally held, excluding the possibility of microbial development.

Smoking at home allows you to get both elastic fat with a natural taste, and loose boiled fat, with a delicate texture. It is impossible to describe all the recipes because of their countless number, but we have considered the basic principles of pickling. They must be taken as a basis for the realization of your imagination.

Salo is a product that can be used in everyday food, as well as cooked from it into an “elegant” and tasty delicacy for the festive table. In this article, I will present Cold smoked salo recipe based on your experience.

Cold smoked salo recipe

Ingredients

fresh fat - thickness from 2.5 cm
rock salt
wood chips for smoking

Salting fat for smoking

Fat should be chosen with a thickness of at least 2.5 cm, since when salted, dried and smoked, it will dry out, excess moisture will go away. Before salting, rinse the lard well under running water, dry it with rags or napkins. Cut into pieces for smoking.

Salting fat for smoking does not differ from the usual salting of fat for storage. You need to salt in a food dish, I personally salted in a stainless steel pan. At the bottom of the dishes we pour salt, about 2-3 mm, carefully wipe each piece with salt, put it tightly and also sprinkle each layer of fat with salt, put a small oppression on top. We send the lard to the refrigerator for 10-14 days, sometimes the pieces need to be turned over - the lard that is at the bottom is moved to the top, and the one that was from top to bottom. You can use spices if you like.

After salting, remove excess salt from fat, rinse under cold water, dry, if necessary - make a strapping. Next, you need to dry it in the shade in a light draft, the time depends on the temperature, it usually takes from 5 to 24 hours.

Cold smoked fat

After drying, place the lard in a smoking chamber and smoke for at least 8 hours; when smoking, the temperature should not exceed 35-40C. It is better to smoke on alder chips with the addition of apple, beech and cherry. Some pieces for taste can be wiped with crushed garlic and hot pepper.

When the fat is smoked, it must be left in a draft for at least a day, so that the aromas of smoke are evenly distributed over the fat. Cold-smoked lard is best stored in paper, sealed packaging in the refrigerator. Storage time depends on salting time and smoking time. I personally kept smoked lard according to this recipe for a month and a half in the refrigerator.

Salo is a versatile product that can be used both as an appetizer and as a main course. There are several varieties of this product, but many people love smoked lard. By the way, hot smoked bacon can be easily prepared at home.

Preparing lard for hot smoking: the choice and method of salting

Most often, for smoking lard, pieces with a meat layer and with a fairly thick layer of fat are selected. It is advisable to take pieces from the piglet's abdomen, as the fat is softer there. When cooking, it is not the smoking process itself that is of great importance, but the correct way of salting the fat.

How to salt lard for smoking?

There are two ways of salting fat:

in marinade;
dry method without water.

The dry method without water is quite lengthy, and for a good salting it will take at least two weeks for the lard to absorb enough salt and spices. Most often, they prefer to salt lard in the marinade, since it evenly absorbs all the necessary juices and salts out much better. Lard must be cut into strips 10-15 cm long and about 5-6 cm wide - due to such dimensions it is convenient to put it in a pan.

Marinade for smoking bacon: recipe

It is important to note that how the brine for smoking lard is prepared depends on its taste and structure. To prepare the marinade, you will need a plastic container and an iron pan.

Composition:

egg;
coarse table salt;
dry garlic;
fresh garlic;
black pepper;
Bay leaf;
dry mustard.

Cooking:

Of great importance for the correct marinade is the amount of salt, since oversalting can lead to stiffness of the meat layer and will not absorb all the flavors of seasonings. To determine the right amount of salt, you will need a chicken egg, which should be put in warm water. You need to add salt until the egg floats to the surface and its top is visible the size of a ruble coin.
After adding salt, add the rest of the ingredients to the pan one by one.
For five liters of marinade, it is necessary to fill up ½-st. l. dry garlic and 6-7 fresh cloves. Fresh garlic does not need to be chopped, it can be laid whole.
Add black pepper to the resulting mixture, 5 pcs. bay leaf, finely chopped or pounded, and ½- tsp. mustard. Some people add sugar to the marinade for lard, but it all depends on the method of preparation and taste preferences.
Pour the bacon with the resulting marinade, which was previously placed in a plastic container. It must be remembered that the brine should completely cover all the fat for a more thorough absorption of spices.
In order for the fat not to float to the surface, it must be pressed with oppression. The brine for smoking bacon must be hot enough so that the salt and spices completely give up their trace elements to the water.
Salo, filled with marinade, must be removed in a cold place for 5-6 days.

Smoking lard at home: hot and cold methods

For smoking lard, chips or sawdust from cherries, apple trees, and alders are best suited. In order for the sawdust to emit enough smoke, they need to be moistened with water, but not too abundantly, otherwise they will completely stop smoldering.

For smoking, two methods are used:

cold;
hot.

Hot smoking is a faster method, it differs from cold smoking only in the duration of heating and temperature.

Cooking:

Before laying the fat in the smokehouse, it is necessary to remove it from the marinade, rinse, and then wipe it dry or hang it on hooks or a grate for 1 hour so that excess water runs off.
When hanging lard in a cabinet on hooks or a grate, it must be remembered that a distance of 1-2 cm must be maintained between the pieces so that the product can be well smoked from all sides.
For smoking, you need to make a home-made box from boards or iron, in which special poles for hooks with lard or grates will be made.
The required temperature must be supplied from the bottom of the hand-made hearth. During hot smoking, the temperature inside the cabinet should be at least 50 and not higher than 60 degrees. This temperature is needed in order for the fat to be smoked quickly enough. A very high temperature will cause the fat to simply begin to fry and all the juices will come out of it. Such fat will be very tough and tasteless.

When preparing hot-smoked lard, the temperature must be constantly stable, that is, it must not decrease or rise for 1 hour. During this time, the fat will be sufficiently smoked and covered with a bright yellow crust. Depending on the amount of spices used and the type of marinade, the color of the fat may vary.

cold smoking process

Cold smoking lard requires more time and effort. It may take at least a day to prepare 4 kg of fat. The process of cold smoking bacon should start at 15 degrees, gradually increasing the temperature to 20 degrees. At the last stage of cooking, the temperature inside the smoking cabinet should be at least 25 degrees.

The duration of cold smoking of fat has its advantages:

pieces do not burn;
lard is smoked evenly from all sides;
fat turns out to be more juicy, since fat is not rendered, but languishes;
The layer of meat is not hard, but melts in your mouth.

The only disadvantage of cold smoking is the high probability of spoilage of fat. When cold-smoked, lard should be eaten within 2-3 days, since its long-term storage is impossible due to poor heat treatment.

Hot smoked lard at home: a recipe for cooking in the oven

Some housewives do not bother creating a smokehouse and cook lard in an ordinary home oven. To make smoked bacon at home in the oven, you need a baking sleeve.

Composition:

seasonings;
salt;
mustard;
garlic;
pepper;
salo.

Cooking:

Fat, salt, pepper, garlic, mustard to taste are laid in the baking sleeve.
The resulting mixture is well mixed and allowed to brew for 12 hours in the refrigerator.
Then the mixture is sent to the oven, heated to 130 degrees.
The languishing time is 45-50 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces.

Some housewives add liquid smoke to the fat to give it flavor and color.

Experienced masters of smoking lard are advised to remember a number of requirements:

it is better to use for smoking only chips from fruit trees, but in no case from conifers;
it is impossible to raise the temperature in the smokehouse above the norm;
Salt must always be salted before smoking;
it is better to eat lard chilled.

Read also:

It doesn't matter which way - hot or cold - the lard is cooked. The main thing is to choose the right product and salt it. With any method of smoking, lard will turn out tasty and juicy if you follow all of the above tips.

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