Beginning smokers often encounter disappointment in the form of bitterness in the fish after cooking. The taste of the finished delicacy is influenced by many factors that need to be taken into account before choosing fish, preparing it and heat treating the product.
Incorrect preparation
Experienced chefs claim that the reason for the bitterness of smoked fish often lies in improper preparation of the carcass for marinating. To prepare a delicious delicacy with a smoky aroma, you can only use fresh product. It is important to choose fish of the same variety and size so that at the end of cooking you get beautiful golden carcasses with uniform impregnation.
To make the taste of the fish more intense, it is recommended to smoke it whole, first gutting each carcass, thoroughly cleaning it of entrails and scales. Large fish should be cleaned of the gills, fins and dark film from the insides removed.
Experienced smokers do not recommend gutting small fish up to 400 grams, so as not to dry it out during cooking.
Excessive salting of fish can also be a mistake that leads to bitterness of the finished product. After marinating the carcass, you need to soak it well in water, changing it several times, or wash off the remaining salt under running water.
Wrong choice of wood chips
With the hot cooking method, wood chips are always poured into the bottom of the smokehouse; when lighting a fire, the temperature of the product reaches 90°C degrees. If you add too much wood chips, the smoke concentration will increase significantly, resulting in a bitter finished product. The fish should be immediately removed from the grill as soon as the wood chips turn into coals, otherwise the delicacy will acquire an unpleasant color and smell.
Chips from coniferous trees containing resin are not suitable for preparing tasty smoked fish without a bitter aftertaste.
Incorrect smokehouse volume
A mistake many new smokers make is choosing the wrong smoker. Wanting to save money, cooks choose a small smokehouse. Even if the task is not to fully load the grill of the device every time, it is better to choose a volumetric smokehouse to avoid high concentrations of smoke during the cooking process.
Uniform circulation of air and steam during the cooking process is the key to obtaining a tasty delicacy without an unpleasant bitter taste.
Violations during and after smoking
The pleasant taste of the finished product also depends on how long the fish is cooked. It will take 2-3 hours for large carcasses to be ready, and 30-40 minutes will be enough for small fish.
If the fish has acquired a golden color, this indicates the product is ready. There is no point in continuing smoking.
After starting to cook the fish, the smokehouse should not be opened to prevent moisture from the wood chips. Excessive moisture not only leads to bitterness of the delicacy, but also contributes to its rapid spoilage.
At the end of cooking, the fish is ventilated, but you cannot try the dish immediately after removing it from the smokehouse, because excess odor and moisture must leave the fillet. It is best to leave the smoked meats in the refrigerator overnight or at least for a few hours.
Any of these mistakes can lead to bitterness in smoked fish. It is easy to avoid the rancid taste of the finished delicacy if you study all the intricacies of the culinary process before starting cooking. Having mastered the basics of home smoking, every gourmet will be able to regularly delight himself with delicious delicacies, spending a minimum of effort.
Pollock is a bottom-dwelling pelagic cold-loving fish of the cod family, genus Pollock (theragra). The most common cod fish in the North Pacific Ocean. It is one of the main commercial fish in Russia. This fish lives in cold waters (2 to 9 °C), preferring depths of 200 to 300 meters.
Pollock as a commercial fish has been known to people since ancient times. Ancient doctors already knew about the benefits of its liver and prescribed it to people with poor eyesight. It was believed that pollock liver helps restore vision.
In modern stores you can find a large assortment of canned pollock liver.
Selection in store
Two types of packaging are available for sale: glass and cans. Which to choose? Glass is preferable. It is good because color, consistency, and excess impurities are clearly visible through it. The best color you see through glass is pink. If the contents are more orange, it means the manufacturer used dyes, which is not the best option.
Can. Here the matter is more complicated. First of all, study the expiration dates, composition, and then shake the tin jar near your ear. If something gurgles inside, this is a bad sign, there is already something spoiled and slimy there. It is not possible to somehow assess the quality of pollock caviar in tin before purchasing. It’s better to keep the store receipt with you, and if at home the quality of the product causes complaints, go back to the store.
One of the characteristic features of high-quality pollock caviar is the inscription that the caviar was beaten. If there is a mention of “shatter” on the packaging, this means that the caviar has already been separated from the film and cleaned of unwanted impurities.
Sometimes cod roe is added to pollock caviar. The latter improves the color of the product and dampens a little bitterness. If, when opening the jar, you find that pollock caviar is bitter, do not be sad. This is not a sign of spoilage, but on the contrary, this is how it tastes initially.
What to do if the product is too bitter? Tip: add a teaspoon of oil to the jar and stir. Let the caviar sit for several hours or until the morning, this will make its taste much softer.
Each jar has a shelf life. If the product was pasteurized in production (that is, it was heated in special chambers for an hour at a temperature of 70 degrees), then the shelf life of such caviar automatically increases. The manufacturer indicates it on the label, usually 12 months. Without pasteurization, the shelf life is halved.
There will be no fundamental difference between the two jars. But if you see on the can that the expiration date is approaching, but has not yet expired, then it is safer to buy the pasteurized version. But if the caviar is a month old, for example, then there is not much difference.
Particular attention should be paid to the smell after opening the can. Slightly sour, sweetish, sharp - all these are signs of defect, “delay.” Good pollock fish caviar smells like fish and nothing else.
Fish is very healthy and tasty, because you can prepare a huge number of dishes from it. Fish can simply be fried, baked, stewed, made aspic, added to salads, first courses; its use is probably limited only by the cook’s imagination.
But in order for the fish to be tasty, juicy and not bitter, you need to know the following points:
- How to clean fish correctly
- How to properly cut fish
- How to properly process fish for cooking.
How to properly clean fish?
1. Carefully clean the fish of scales, cut off the fins and head.
2. Then proceed to remove the entrails. To do this procedure, place the fish on its side on a board and cut open the belly, but do not cut it deeply. Under no circumstances cut the fish in half - in this case, you may damage its liver and bile, and then it will be necessary to get rid of the bitterness in the fish.
If bile does spill, the fish can be saved, provided immediate action is taken.
How to remove bitterness from fish?
As you already understand, bitterness in fish appears when bile gets on it, or if you cook it, then from the gills, which must be removed.
There are several ways to get rid of the bitterness of fish.
1. If bile does spill, you should soak the fish in water, treat it with salt and leave for 20 minutes. After this, rinse the fish well with cold water.
2. You can also spray the belly of the fish with lemon juice to get rid of the bitter taste and smell. This method is applicable only with a small amount of bile.
3. If a lot of bile gets on the fish, vinegar will help remove it. It is best to use apple cider vinegar, which will not take away the delicate taste of the fish, and, at the same time, will remove the bitterness. Before using it, rinse the fish, and then coat the belly with apple cider vinegar. After this, rinse off the vinegar and leave the fish in a bowl of cold water.
How to remove bitterness from cooked fish?
If you find a bitter taste in already cooked fish, the only way to remove them is to add celery and parsley to the dish. It is better to use fresh herbs from the garden, as they are more aromatic and juicy, but regular store-bought ones will also work.
When preparing a fish product in a smokehouse on his own, a novice smoker is faced with the fact that the fish tastes bitter after smoking. The fact is that the taste of the prepared delicacy is influenced by many factors, which are discussed below.
If the fish tastes bitter after smoking, look for the cause of the bitterness from the very beginning - from the preparation of the fish carcass. Cooking rules:
- Only fresh product is suitable for smoking.
- Place the same type of fish in the smokehouse and preferably the same size. This is done for uniform impregnation with smoke and the same color of the finished dish.
The product is often smoked whole, so it is better to gut a large carcass - remove the entrails, cut off the gills and remove the dark film from the ribs. Otherwise, when smoked, the finished fish may taste bitter.
Important! Fish weighing 300-400 g are not gutted and remain with scales. Just rinse the fish thoroughly with water, salt it and send it to the smokehouse. Bream up to 700 g cannot be gutted.
What volume of smokehouse will not spoil the taste of fish
Many factors affect the taste of smoked meats, and one of them is the size of the smokehouse. If hot smoked fish is bitter, then pay attention to the tray in which the cooking takes place. To avoid unpleasant taste and color, a hot smoker should be:
- Made of stainless steel with thick walls. A simple iron box will quickly burn out, rust and become covered in soot.
- Large volume. Even if you are going to smoke a small amount of product, the smokehouse should still be spacious. This way the smoke and air spread throughout the smokehouse, and it becomes the most optimal.
Good to know! As soon as the smokehouse has warmed up and smoke begins to come out of it, open the lid for a few seconds to release the accumulated steam.
Suitable smoking time
The pleasant taste of the finished delicacy also depends on how long the product is smoked. In a hot smoked smokehouse, medium-sized fish are cooked for 30-40 minutes, and large-sized fish – up to 2-3 hours.
Of course, the duration of smoking depends on the amount of fish, so if the delicacy has turned a dark golden color, then this indicates complete readiness.
A spoiled product is also obtained if it is placed too tightly on the grill. This way the fish will be boiled, but not smoked.
Important! If smoked fish tastes bitter, try reducing the smoking time. If this does not help, you should look for another reason.
Raw materials for smoking fish
- It is not recommended to use spruce sawdust for smoking or twigs of other coniferous species.
- Only well-soaked wood is placed in the smokehouse.
- For a good taste, a small amount of raw material is thrown into the firebox - a thin layer is enough.
- A suitable option would be chips from fruit trees (pear, apple, cherry).
Good to know! If you are using fresh wood chips, you should not soak them. Try to change the raw material tray before smoking again.
What to do with a spoiled product
If mistakes were made during smoking, then do not expect the desired result. The finished delicacy will either be burnt or taste bitter. Even if you remove the soot, the taste of the fish will be unpleasant.
Don't know much about smokehouses and smoked meats? Our site will definitely be useful, because here we have collected a lot of life hacks and cooking tips. Follow all the rules and then the finished delicacy will have a pleasant taste and aroma.
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