Smoked and salted. Is it possible to smoke lard at home, and how to do it?

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

Preparing lard for hot smoking: selection and salting method

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

How to salt lard for smoking?

There are two ways to salt lard:

• in marinade;
• dry method without water.

The dry method without water is quite lengthy, and for 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 is salted much better. The lard must be cut into strips 10-15 cm long and about 5-6 cm wide - due to this size it is convenient to put it in a pan.

Marinade for smoking lard: recipe

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

Compound:

• chicken egg;
• coarse table salt;
• dry garlic;
• fresh garlic;
• black pepper;
• bay leaf;
• dry mustard.

Preparation:

1. The amount of salt is of great importance for the correct marinade, since over-salting can lead to toughness of the meat layer and will not allow all the flavors of the seasonings to be absorbed. To determine the required amount of salt, you will need a chicken egg, which should be placed in warm water. You need to add salt until the egg floats to the surface and its top the size of a ruble coin is visible.
2. After adding salt, pour the remaining ingredients into the pan one by one.
3. For five liters of marinade, add ½ tbsp. l. dry garlic and 6-7 cloves fresh. Fresh garlic does not need to be chopped; it can be packed whole.
4. Add black pepper to the resulting mixture, 5 pcs. bay leaf, finely chopped or mashed, and ½ tsp. mustard. Some people add sugar to the lard marinade, but it all depends on the cooking method and taste preferences.
5. Pour the resulting marinade into the lard, which was previously placed in a plastic container. It must be remembered that the brine should completely cover all the lard for more thorough absorption of the spices.
6. To prevent the lard from floating to the surface, it must be pressed down with pressure. The brine for smoking lard must be heated enough so that the salt and spices completely release their microelements to the water.
7. Lard covered in marinade should be stored in a cool place for 5-6 days.

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

How to smoke hot smoked lard?

Preparation:

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

When preparing hot smoked lard, the temperature must be constantly stable, that is, not decrease or rise for 1 hour. During this time, the lard 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 lard may differ.

Cold smoking process

Cold smoking lard requires more time and effort. It may take at least a day to prepare 4 kg of lard. The process of cold smoking lard should begin 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 lard has its advantages:

• the pieces do not burn;
• the lard is smoked evenly on all sides;
• the lard turns out more juicy, since the fat is not rendered, but languishes;
• The layer of meat is not tough, but melts in your mouth.

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

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

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

Compound:

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

Preparation:

1. Lard, salt, pepper, garlic, and mustard to taste are placed in the baking sleeve.
2. The resulting mixture is thoroughly mixed and allowed to brew for 12 hours in the refrigerator.
3. Then the mixture is sent to the oven, heated to 130 degrees.
4. The simmering time is 45-50 minutes depending on the size of the pieces.

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

Experienced lard smokers advise remembering a number of requirements:

• It is better to use for smoking only chips from fruit trees, but in no case from coniferous trees;
• Do not raise the temperature in the smokehouse above normal;
• Lard should always be salted before smoking;
• It is better to eat lard chilled.

It doesn’t matter how the lard is prepared, hot or cold. The main thing is to choose the right product and salting. With any smoking method, lard will turn out tasty and juicy if you follow all the above tips.

Description

Hot smoked lard is a delicious appetizer that can easily be served even on a holiday table. The dish comes out unusually aromatic and looks very appetizing, has a pleasant taste and a delicate juicy texture. To prepare it at home, you will need a portable smoker.
In order for the appetizer to be tasty, you need to salt the lard yourself before smoking. Salting lard at home is a very simple task, which consists of properly preparing the brine. Brine, a concentrated salt solution, is best suited for this. It is very simple to prepare, just add a handful of salt to cold water, and then pour it over the lard cut into pieces.
Many housewives cannot come to a decision about which lard tastes better: hot or cold smoked? In this regard, we can only say that both of these dishes are very tasty and have slight differences, but hot smoked lard is juicier and has a richer taste.
It is quite difficult to smoke lard in an apartment, since it is best to use an open fire for this purpose, which is contrary to fire safety rules in a closed room. It is better to make a fire in the yard and smoke lard, meat, fish or any other products in the fresh air.

To properly smoke lard you need sawdust. It is best to take alder chips, as they will saturate the lard with a pleasant woody aroma. As for the time during which this procedure must be carried out, on average, smoking lard at home takes no more than two hours.
Having prepared the product for hot smoking by keeping it in brine or marinade, it is very important to know that the finished lard has a limited shelf life, which is no more than two weeks. If you keep the snack in the freezer, the storage time may increase slightly, but the taste of the product will become less intense over time.
In order to quickly and tasty smoke lard at home using hot smoking, you need to prepare all the necessary ingredients in advance, and also arm yourself with our recipe with step-by-step photos, which will tell you in detail about all the secrets of this procedure. Let's start right now.

Ingredients

Hot smoked lard - recipe

Choose responsibly when choosing lard for smoking. It is necessary to take a product whose meat veins are dark pink, almost purple, and the lard itself is white or soft cream. The smell should be pleasant, without any foreign unpleasant odors..

Having prepared an appetizing piece of lard, it should be rinsed, dried with paper napkins, and then placed on a cutting board and cut into fairly wide pieces. This is done in order to simplify the process of salting the product before smoking..

It is better to choose a container for salting that is plastic and deep, into which all your prepared lard will fit. Having chosen a suitable container, place the ingredients in it as tightly as possible, but do not fill it to the top, as you need to leave room for the brine.

Now you need to prepare the brine. It is better to do this in a deep, non-enamelled metal container. Fill a saucepan with water; you can use both drinking water and tap water. Next, measure out the required amount of salt and add it to the water. The optimal amount is considered to be one hundred grams..

Stir the salt in the water until it is completely dissolved. Next, you should add a little dried garlic to the water so that the lard has time to become saturated with its aroma during salting.

Fresh garlic will also come in handy, so peel a few cloves and add them to a strong salt solution, stirring the liquid thoroughly.

After preparing the brine, pour the lard into the container so that the liquid completely covers all the ingredients and no part of the product is outside the solution. Fill the lard with brine, close the container with a lid and send it to steep in the refrigerator for a week.

After seven days, remove the lard from the solution. You may notice that the meat veins have noticeably faded, but do not be alarmed. This is just the effect of the brine. Take a clean, dry rag and wipe the pieces of lard dry, putting them in a separate container for now.

Take out your smoker, make sure it is clean, and then put sawdust on the bottom. Next, place the lard on the grate, close the smokehouse lid and place it on the fire. Under good weather conditions, this lard will take a little over an hour to smoke. In the worst case, all this will take you two hours, no more.

When the appetizer takes on the same color as shown in the photo, you can remove the smoker from the heat and leave the hot smoked lard to cool. This completes the process of preparing a delicious, aromatic dish. You can enjoy the resulting delicacy and treat your family and friends.

Making smoked lard yourself is not at all difficult. However, you need to know all the intricacies of the process. How to smoke lard at home to make it tasty? What smoking methods are there? This is what this article will discuss.

Composition and calorie content of smoked lard

Lard is a high-calorie product, the composition of which is rich in nutrients. It is easily digestible, and almost everyone can eat it. 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 group 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 increases immunity and brain activity, improves liver function, and normalizes the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.

100 g of smoked product contains:

• Protein – 1.51 g.
• Fat – 50.77 g.
• Carbohydrates – 1.56 g.
• Calorie content is 767 kcal.

Recipes for marinating lard

There are many recipes for marinating lard for smoking. To get a delicious product, you don’t have 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. mixture of peppers. Rub the washed, dried lard with the mixture on all sides and place in a cool place for 1 day. Afterwards, take it out, clean it of excess spices, let it stand in a draft for 2-3 hours, and start smoking.

Marinating in brine

Add 100 g of salt, 1 tbsp to 1 liter of water. l. seasonings for lard, 1 bay leaf. Boil everything, cool, pour in the prepared and chopped pieces of bacon. The brine should cover the product completely. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 48 hours. Remove the lard from the marinade and hang to air for 12 hours. You can start smoking.

These recipes are suitable for any type of smoking.

Marinade with boiling

This recipe is perfect for quick cooking. Add 100 g of salt to 1 liter of water. The brine should completely cover the lard, then boil it for 7-10 minutes. Add spices to taste (bay leaf, allspice or nutmeg will do). Then into a cold smokehouse for 12-15 hours.

How to smoke lard in a hot smoker

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 grates on which food will be smoked. You can use an old dumpling maker or a stand for hot dishes. Install the first grid 20 cm above the bottom. The top grid is 10-15 cm below the top of the bucket.
• Tight lid. If you don’t have one, 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.

The simple smokehouse is ready and you can start smoking:

• Place a good handful of wood chips (cherry, apple, alder) on the bottom of the smokehouse.
• Place pieces of lard on the grill (not tightly). It can also be hung by attaching it to the top grill with twine.
• Light a fire under the smokehouse. The heat should be high at first, but after 20 minutes it should be reduced slightly. The temperature of the smokehouse should be on average 90⁰C.
• In this way, smoke the product for 60 minutes. Once finished, allow the smoker to cool completely. Then take out the finished dish and ventilate it for an hour. Now you can safely try.

Below is a video recipe for cooking lard using a hot method in a smokehouse with a water seal.

Cold smoking is different from the hot process. Lard is smoked using chilled smoke, the temperature of which should not exceed 30⁰C.

Also, the smokehouse itself differs 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, volume 200 liters
• Metal mesh
• Metal sheet
• Iron grate
• A 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 top of the chimney with fireproof material or a sheet of iron
• Separate the bottom from the barrel and attach a net instead. Place burlap on the mesh. This will serve as a filter against soot. Place the barrel at the end of the trench.
• At the top of the barrel, attach a grate on which you will smoke the food, about 25 cm below the top. Instead of a grate, you can install thick metal rods with hooks and hang food on them.

A simple design for cold smoking is ready, you can begin the process. To do this, you need to place the lard in the smokehouse and light a fire in the firebox. The fire must be maintained continuously throughout the entire process.

Do not use coniferous wood. It is best to take fruit ones: cherries, grapes, pears, apple trees, cherries.

The product should be smoked at a temperature of 20-30⁰C for 12-24 hours. After the process is completed, the lard must be hung in the air and ventilated for 12 hours. The dish is ready, bon appetit!

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

Preparing lard for hot smoking: selection and salting method

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

How to salt lard for smoking

There are two ways to salt lard:

• in marinade;
• dry method without water.

The dry method without water is quite lengthy, and for 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 is salted much better. The lard must be cut into strips 10-15 cm long and about 5-6 cm wide - due to this size it is convenient to put it in a pan.

Marinade for smoking lard: recipe

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

Compound:

• chicken egg;
• coarse table salt;
• dry garlic;
• fresh garlic;
• black pepper;
• bay leaf;
• dry mustard.

Preparation:

• The amount of salt is of great importance for the correct marinade, since over-salting can lead to toughness of the meat layer and will not allow all the flavors of the seasonings to be absorbed. To determine the required amount of salt, you will need a chicken egg, which should be placed in warm water. You need to add salt until the egg floats to the surface and its top the size of a ruble coin is visible.
• After adding salt, pour the remaining ingredients into the pan one by one.
• For five liters of marinade, add ½ tbsp. l. dry garlic and 6-7 cloves fresh. Fresh garlic does not need to be chopped; it can be packed whole.
• Add black pepper to the resulting mixture, 5 pcs. bay leaf, finely chopped or mashed, and ½ tsp. mustard. Some people add sugar to the lard marinade, but it all depends on the cooking method and taste preferences.
• Pour the resulting marinade into the lard, which was previously placed in a plastic container. It must be remembered that the brine should completely cover all the lard for more thorough absorption of the spices.
• To prevent the lard from floating to the surface, it must be pressed down with pressure. The brine for smoking lard must be heated enough so that the salt and spices completely release their microelements to the water.
• Lard covered in marinade should be stored in a cool place for 5-6 days.

Smoking lard at home: hot and cold methods

Chips or sawdust from cherry, apple, and alder are best suited for smoking lard. In order for the sawdust to emit enough smoke, they need to be moistened with water, but not too much, otherwise they will stop smoldering altogether.

Two methods are used for smoking:

• cold;
• hot.

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

How to smoke hot smoked lard

Preparation:

• Before placing lard in the smokehouse, you need to remove it from the marinade, rinse it, and then wipe it dry or hang it on hooks or a grate for 1 hour to allow excess water to escape.
• When hanging lard in a cabinet on hooks or a grate, you must remember that a distance of 1-2 cm must be maintained between pieces so that the product can be well smoked on all sides.
• For smoking, you need to make a homemade 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 below from the hand-made hearth. When hot smoking, the temperature inside the cabinet should be at least 50 and not higher than 60 degrees. This temperature is needed for the lard to smoke quickly enough. A very high temperature will cause the lard to simply start frying and all the juices will come out of it. Such lard will be very tough and tasteless.

When preparing hot smoked lard, the temperature must be constantly stable, that is, not decrease or rise for 1 hour. During this time, the lard 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 lard may differ.

Cold smoking process

Cold smoking lard requires more time and effort. It may take at least a day to prepare 4 kg of lard. The process of cold smoking lard should begin 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 lard has its advantages:

• the pieces do not burn;
• the lard is smoked evenly on all sides;
• the lard turns out more juicy, since the fat is not rendered, but languishes;
• The layer of meat is not tough, but melts in your mouth.

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

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

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

Compound:

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

Preparation:

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

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

Experienced lard smokers advise remembering a number of requirements:

• It is better to use for smoking only chips from fruit trees, but in no case from coniferous trees;
• Do not raise the temperature in the smokehouse above normal;
• Lard should always be salted before smoking;
• It is better to eat lard chilled.

It doesn’t matter how the lard is prepared, hot or cold. The main thing is to choose the right product and salting. With any smoking method, lard will turn out tasty and juicy if you follow all the above tips.

by the materials LadySpecial.ru