How to salt and dry river fish. How to dry fish without landing a fly? Box for drying fish. How and how long to dry fish in an electric dryer

Avid fishermen know well how to dry fish at home. But beginning amateurs often have problems when faced with such a task. Is there a difference between drying small and large fish and how to prepare the catch? Let's figure it out.

Preparation

Before you start drying, the fish must be properly prepared.

1. Clean fresh fish carcasses from the insides and rinse thoroughly. Do not peel off the scales under any circumstances.
2. Fill the bottom of a pre-selected container with coarse table salt. Place the fish on it in several layers. Try to keep the masonry even. Sprinkle each layer with salt so that it covers the carcasses evenly and tightly.
3. Cover the future snack with a lid whose diameter is slightly smaller than the container you are using.
4. Prepare the oppression. For these purposes, you can use bricks, stones or water bottles. Place the selected weight on the lid.
5. After 4–7 days, remove the workpieces and rinse well in water. You can determine the degree of readiness of the product by appearance. Well-salted fish are dense and firm, with a dark gray back.
6. Soak the salted carcasses in water for 1.5–2 days. This will remove excess seasoning and saturate the fish with water, so that during subsequent drying it will retain its nutritional qualities and will not turn into a salty piece of wood.

Small fish

In summer, small fish can be salted and dried in just 3-4 days, reducing processing steps. This is especially true for capelin and bleak. Small specimens don’t even need to be hung when drying. Just lay them out on paper or oilcloth. Don't forget to turn the carcasses over from time to time.

Drying in winter is practically no different from summer. Hang or place the salted and soaked fish in a warm place with good ventilation. You can dry your catch over a stove, boiler or stove. If you prefer to dry the fish this way, then make sure that it is placed as high as possible and does not fry under the influence of warm air, but gradually dries out. The drying time will be 4–5 days.

Large fish

When drying large fish, keep in mind that the thicker and fattier the meat, the more salt it will require. Therefore, professional fishermen do not recommend drying fish weighing more than 1 kg; they need to be salted.

1. First, large carcasses need to be crimped. To do this, make a cut along the back and lay it out. When placing medium-sized fish for salting, place them with their belly up.
2. Sprinkle a small amount of salt into the mouth and gills.

Large specimens of fish need to be salted for 10 to 15 days, and soaked for about 5 days.

Insect protection

To protect fish from insects while drying:

1. wipe it with a 3% vinegar solution or unrefined sunflower oil.
2. After this, use a needle to thread a copper wire or thick fishing line through the eyes and hang it in a dry, ventilated area.
3. Insert spacer sticks into the abdomen and gills of especially large specimens.
4. For additional protection against flies and wasps, cover with gauze or a fine mesh tulle curtain.

Under favorable conditions, the fish will be ready for consumption in 7–10 days.

Drying over a gas stove

If desired, you can speed up the drying process. To do this, hang the catch over the gas stove. Warm steam will dry it out in 4-5 days. Remember: properly cooked fish should not show any traces of salt. After removing the scales, its meat will be elastic, but not dry. If you pull the carcass by the tail or head, it should creak.

Now you are armed with the knowledge of how to dry fish at home, and you will be able to organize the process even in winter. After all, you can make dried preparations in an apartment without a balcony. It is enough to place the salted preparations over the stove. Please note that there are two ways to hang a fish: by threading the fishing line through the eyes or by tying it by the tail. In the first case, the product turns out to be fattier and retains its special taste and aroma. When using the second method, drying proceeds more evenly, and dehydrated fish are less fatty and last longer.

It is more pleasant to make any dish yourself than to buy it. This rule also applies to salting fish. Often when deciding to cook it yourself, the question arises of how to salt fish for drying correctly. Experienced chefs recommend using 5 basic recipes for salting.

Which fish is suitable for home salting and drying?

The following types are considered optimal:

• vobla;
• crucian carp;
• loach;
• silver bream;
• pike;
• perch;
• goby;
• silver carp.

Freshly caught inhabitants of rivers and lakes are best suited for salting and further drying. Therefore, if there are fishermen in the family who often catch river or lake representatives, salting them will be an excellent solution.

The best way to hang fish is through the gill openings

How to properly prepare fish for salting

There are two types of carcass preparation.

1. For big fish. If the carcass is more than 30 cm in length, then it must be gutted. To do this, it is washed, the abdomen is ripped open and the entrails are removed. Then wash everything again in cool water. It is not recommended to cut off the head, but the gills must be removed.
2. For small fish. Small carcasses up to 30 cm practically do not need to be prepared. They can be salted ungutted. The only requirement is that the gills must be removed.

If the gills are left, the carcasses will begin to disappear due to the fact that harmful bacteria will begin to develop in them. Even a large amount of salt will not save you from this, because it does not completely disinfect them.

Salting recipes

There are many recipes for salting fish. But not everyone can save taste qualities, and also give the meat the necessary firmness and fat content.

You can salt fish for drying and subsequent long-term storage in the traditional way, but if you process it and eat it right away, it is better to choose a spicy method.

Dry or traditional method

For this method, you will need a deep wooden container with holes (a box made of boards is best), a linen bag, coarse rock salt and prepared carcasses.

The bag is laid out on the bottom of the box, and salt and carcasses are already laid out on it.

Each fish is well rubbed with salt and placed in a container. You must first pour about 1 cm of salt onto its bottom. The carcasses should be laid so that they lie very tightly. Therefore, it is better to lay them head to tail. Each layer must be sprinkled with a small layer of salt. After everything is laid, salt is poured on top in a 1 cm layer. Place a lid over the contents of the container and press it down with a heavy weight.

Oppression will not allow the formation of air voids in which putrefactive bacteria can develop. In addition, under pressure the meat becomes denser.

Everything stays in this state for about 8 - 10 days in a cool, shaded place. When the juice begins to release on the 3rd – 4th day, it will not linger in the container.

After salting, you can begin soaking and then drying the fish.

This method is suitable for salting large carcasses

Wet method or salting in brine

You can salt fish in this way in a container that does not oxidize (bucket, pan, barrel or tank). To do this, it is placed tightly in a container, belly up, sprinkled with salt (1 kg of salt per 10 kg of prepared carcasses).

To make the meat tender, you can add 20–30 g of sugar.

The lid is placed over the contents of the container and pressed down with a weight. Around day 2, juice will begin to release. It will be mixed with salt and you will get a brine in which the carcasses will remain for about 5 - 10 days. The duration of salting depends on their size.

After this, the fish is taken out and washed in running water. Only after this can you proceed to further drying or drying.

There is another way to prepare brine. To do this, you need to dissolve 1 kg of salt in 3 liters of fresh, filtered water. Afterwards, fresh brine should be poured over the pre-laid carcasses. Afterwards everything is covered with a lid and placed under pressure in a cool place. So they are salted for 4 – 8 days.

Spicy way

You can properly salt fish with spices in the following way. First of all, you need to prepare the brine, as in the previous recipe, and then add bay leaves, black peppercorns, horseradish leaves and ground or grain coriander to it. You can also add sugar to taste.

The fish is placed in an enamel container and filled with brine. After this, it is covered with a lid and pressed down with pressure. She should stay in this state for 2–3 days.

After salting, it should be dried a little. This will allow the meat to acquire a more pronounced taste and increase its shelf life in the refrigerator to several months.

Hanging method

This salting method differs from the previous ones and is only suitable for fatty varieties. The carcasses are strung on a transverse rod through the gill openings and placed in a container with brine so that they are suspended.

To prepare the brine, you only need water and salt. Its amount can be determined using a raw chicken egg or potato. They shouldn't drown in it.

The salting process is slightly different in time and takes only 4 – 6 days. But not everyone knows how many days the carcasses need to be kept in brine, and therefore it often happens that they are overexposed and they manage to gain a lot of salt. In this case, the fish will need to be soaked a little longer than usual and the frequency of water changes will need to be increased to 4-5 times.

After soaking, the fish can be slightly dried or dried.

Salmon method for fresh fish

Mackerel or herring are suitable for this salting.

The fish must first be cut and generously sprinkled with salt in the belly section and on the back. It is recommended to add 10 g of sugar, black peppercorns and bay leaf to taste to the salt. After this, it is wrapped in linen or cotton cloth and placed in the refrigerator.
With this method, the fish must be salted for 30 hours, after which it can be taken out and dried, laid out on a flat surface. However, some people prefer to eat it immediately after salting.

Soaking after salting

If the fish was salted at home using a dry, brine or hanging method, then this procedure is required.

For the rest, before drying, you can simply rinse it (if necessary) under running water.

Soaking instructions.

1. For convenience, sort the carcasses by size.
2. Large fish are soaked for 1.5 - 2 days. In this case, it is necessary to change the water three times.
3. Cool water must be used and the procedure should be carried out in a cool place.
4. Small fish are soaked for 24 hours, and the water is changed only 2 times.
5. After the procedure, the water must be drained and the fish allowed to flow around.

After these manipulations, you can safely move on to drying or drying.

When soaking, the main thing is to change the water promptly.

What is the difference between dried fish and dried fish?

Not many people know how dried fish differs from dried fish.

In both cases, the fish is first salted and then soaked. The difference is that when drying it is placed in well-ventilated areas with access to sunlight. At the same time, complex processes (physical and biochemical) occur in meat. The peculiarity of dried fish is that after it is ready, it can be immediately eaten without additional processing.

By the way, a dryer for drying fish is best suited for this, but if you don’t have one, you can also use the balcony.

But dried carcasses do not go through the ripening process due to the fact that they are usually dried a little differently. Therefore, such fish is considered a semi-finished product and requires additional processing.

There are many ways to salt fish and they are all suitable for further drying and for drying it at home. The drying process depends on the size of the carcasses and their fat content, and if they do not have time to reach condition within the allotted time, they can always be dried. Salted fish must be additionally steamed and served with boiled potatoes. It perfectly complements the taste of salted, dried or dried fish.

Dried fish can be easily obtained in many stores, but real lovers prefer to prepare such a delicacy on their own. After all, only by preparing a dish with your own hands can you be completely confident in its safety. But to make the fish tasty, you should know some rules and secrets of its preparation.

What kind of fish can be dried?

Typically, fishermen who bring home their catch set aside small or medium-sized fish for drying or drying. Large representatives are rarely used for these purposes, as they were originally intended for frying or baking. But this does not mean that large fish cannot be dried.

It just takes a little longer to prepare. In fishing parlance, drying fish is called “making a ram.” But this does not mean at all that only ram is suitable for preparing delicacies.

What types of fish can be dried:

Some craftsmen even dry fish that is fatty and difficult to dry, such as catfish and burbot. Gourmets claim that the fattier the finished product, the tastier it is.

You can dry any fish, but it is important to consider that each variety has its own differences in taste:

It is necessary to remember that fatty fish is dried for a long time, and in the future it is poorly stored and does not last long. During storage, it may acquire an unpleasant taste and smell of rancid fat. Fatty varieties can be dried, but in small quantities, and for long-term storage it is preferable to choose a leaner breed for drying.

Preparation

Experts advise that you cover freshly caught fish (intended for drying) with the leaves and stems of old nettles and place them in a cool place for a couple of hours, and only after that start salting them. Nettle will protect fish from spoilage on a hot day.

in winter

A small fish carcass (up to 500 g) can be salted without gutting.
This is done so that the fish meat is saturated with subcutaneous and internal fat and it was juicier. For fish carcasses weighing over 500 grams, the abdominal cavity is cleared of entrails; if the fish came with caviar, then the caviar is put back into the abdomen.

In summer

IN summer time They gut all the fish (large and small), since in the hot season the entire fish population feeds on algae. Aquatic greens are even included in the diet of predatory fish species.

If freshly caught prey is not cleaned abdominal cavity from algae, it begins to actively decompose within a few hours, which will make the meat rancid and unfit for consumption.

• warm salting at a temperature of +15°C...+16°C - from 9 days;
• cold salting at a temperature of +5°C...+6°C - from 13 days;
• dry salting (not gutted) - from 13 days;
• dry salting (gutted) - from 12 days.

How to dry in stages

Briefly the drying process can be described as follows:

• salting;
• soaking;
• drying.

Pickling

Finely ground salt, such as “Extra”, is not entirely suitable for these purposes; it is better to take very coarse salt.
The consequences of salting with fine salt are the possible formation of a thin crust on the fish carcass, preventing the salt brine from penetrating inside. There are two ways to salt fish: dry salting and using brine.

Salting in brine:

1. You can take any container of suitable size (food grade plastic, metal), the main thing is that its wall does not oxidize. Galvanized containers and technical plastics are not at all suitable for these purposes.
2. The prepared carcasses are placed tightly in a container, if necessary, in several rows.
3. A cover is placed on top of the last row, on which oppression is installed.
4. After this, brine is carefully poured over the oppression, which flows into the container. The brine is poured until it covers the lid lying on top of the fish by several centimeters.

When salting, oppression is almost always placed on top; it is needed to compact the fish in the brine and prevent the formation of air chambers in which putrefactive bacteria can develop.

Video: salting fish in brine It can be selected from improvised means, or it can be made from wood. Wooden oppression will serve the fisherman for many years. It is recommended to choose a tree for these purposes that does not emit tannins or resin (aspen, linden).

Preparation of brine:

1. For 3 liters of water add one and a half glasses (250 ml) of coarse salt.
2. If you need more brine, the proportions are increased.
3. The salt is completely dissolved in water and only after that the prepared brine is poured over the fish laid under pressure.
4. Some fans add sugar to brine, claiming that this makes the taste of the meat more tender. In this case, for every kilogram of salt, one tablespoon of sugar is added.

If you need to salt fish directly while fishing, you can use polyethylene bags. To do this, dig a hole in the bushes (not in a sunny place) and place a tight bag there in which the catch will be salted.
The neck of the bag is wrapped with a roller and left open. A pressure is placed on top of the salted fish and filled with brine.

Dry salt:

1. In this case, you can salt the fish in baskets, wooden boxes or any container that has holes at the bottom to drain excess liquid.
2. The bottom of the vessel (basket, box) is covered with fabric. Clean burlap or cotton is suitable for this.
3. During the salting process, the fish will release liquid, which will flow into the cracks and openings of the salting container.

Did you know?Experienced fishermen salted fish directly in bags when traveling. Afterwards they were buried in the ground to a meter depth. The fish was salted safely, and the cold of the earth prevented it from spoiling.

Soaking

According to recipes, soaking should last about 12 hours. Experts are sure that you need to soak the salted catch for the same amount of time as it was in the brine. For example, if a carcass has been salted for three days, then it should also be in clean, cold water for at least three days. It is advisable to change the water every 5-6 hours of soaking.

Drying

The technology of the drying process requires hanging the carcass to dry after soaking. Disputes are still raging in which experts in the process defend their opinion on how to properly hang a fish.

There are two hanging methods:

What to hang it on and where to dry it

For hanging, use a thin rope made of natural materials (two or three weaves) or stainless steel wire. The future jerky is hung through the eye holes so that it does not come into contact with each other when drying. In this way, you can dry up to five carcasses on one piece of cord.

Such garlands made from battering rams are hung in a drafty place in a slightly shaded place. Some fishermen prefer to hang the future jerky out in the full sun for 3-5 hours to dry, after which they move it to a shady and windy place. It is the wind that helps dry the carcasses faster. Provided the weather is good, three to five days are enough for complete drying.

If the weather is not suitable (cold and humid), then the belly of large fish is cut open and several transverse sticks are inserted into it. An attic (with open through windows) is a great place to dry fish. The most suitable temperature for drying fish is +18C...+20C.
You can hang fish to dry at different times, it’s a matter of taste:

1. Some people prefer to hang it up at night, citing the fact that the top layer of fish skin that has dried out at night will attract flies less with its smell.
2. Others dry only during the day, in good weather, hiding the “drying” indoors at night. They explain it there that when the day and night temperatures change, the ram becomes damp and subsequently loses its taste.
3. Still others, on the contrary, try to time the start of drying specifically for damp and rainy weather, arguing that although this fish takes longer to dry, it is juicier and tastier.

Fighting flies

There are several ways to control insects during drying:

Did you know? The largest fish in the world is the giant whale shark, which can grow to be almost the length of two school buses. It has more than four thousand tiny (3 mm) teeth, weighs about 25 tons and feeds mainly on plankton.

Video: fighting flies when drying fish

How to dry in winter

It is necessary to harvest fish in winter using the same technology as in summer. The only difficulty lies in the drying process. In winter, the fish also dries out, but it will take a little longer for it to be fully cooked than in summer.

For listening, the carcasses are hung on a warm loggia or glassed-in balcony. To create a slight draft, open balcony windows and vents slightly. You can also dry it in the room if the owners are willing to tolerate a rather specific smell.

Important!Under no circumstances should you dry fish in winter using heaters installed nearby or near a radiator.. What will happen in the end like this« drying» practically inedible.

How to dry fish in the oven

According to this recipe, you can prepare a dried delicacy from any (not too large) carcass. Capelin, perch, crucian carp, small carp or small silver carp are suitable for this. For cooking, an oven and food foil are used.

Ingredients:

• fish;

Preparation:

1. The catch is gutted and washed, and then dried with a kitchen paper towel.
2. The carcass, inside and out, is well rubbed with salt, black pepper and chopped bay leaf.
3. The fish is placed under pressure and left for 48 hours for salting.
4. After two days, the salted carcasses are washed, soaked for two to three hours in clean water and wiped dry with napkins or a paper towel.

Video: drying fish in the oven Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to +40C.
2. Dry (pre-salted and soaked) fish are placed in one row on a baking sheet lined with food foil. The heads of carcasses placed on a baking sheet should be directed in one direction.
3. The baking tray is placed in the oven. The oven door remains ajar 5-10 cm.
4. Thus, the fish is dried for 2 hours. The oven temperature is maintained at +40C. After the required time has passed, remove the pan from the oven and cover the fish heads with foil.
5. Place the baking sheet back in the oven for another 3-4 hours.
6. After which the already well-dried carcasses are taken out and strung on a rope or wire.
7. The resulting kukan is hung out to dry in fresh air. Choose a place that is cool and windy.
8. After two or three days, the dried fish is ready from the oven.

Secrets of perfect cooking:

1. For drying in the oven, it is better to take non-fatty fish (ram, roach or crucian carp).
2. If you need to dry large carcasses, then make a cut along the back to the ridge (this will make the process easier and faster).
3. To avoid the hassle of threading ropes through the eye holes, use a paper clip (making a hook out of it).
4. For long-term storage, dried fish is greased with olive oil before packing in foil or polyethylene.

Did you know? In Japan, fugu fish is a popular but deadly dish. Its insides contain a deadly poison - tetrodotoxin. To be eligible to cook fugu, a chef must obtain a certificate from a special school that teaches the preparation of this poisonous fish.

How to determine readiness

Before use, the product must be checked for readiness and quality:

1. If the drying process is completed, the structure of the meat becomes translucent, and no salt is visible on the surface of the carcass.
2. If the ram is clearly dry, the situation can be corrected by placing the fish in a wet canvas, wrapping it and placing it in the cellar or refrigerator overnight. In the morning, the dried meat will be softer and more elastic.
3. The finished fish is folded in half (head to tail). If the ram returns to its original state and springs back, it means it is ready for use.

It is almost impossible to oversalt carp in this way, since it picks up exactly as much salt as it needs. During the soaking process, the water will draw out any excess salt. If for some reason the fish is not removed from the brine within 3 days, it’s okay, but it will have to be soaked in clean water a little longer (about a day).

We dry the ram (salt in brine) We take a medium-sized ram, but weighing no less than half a kilogram. For smaller fish, dry salting is suitable.

Making a strong brine:

1. Add 150-180 g of salt to a three-liter jar of cold water. The solution is stirred until the salt is completely dissolved in the water.
2. The strength of the brine is checked using a raw egg; in a suitable brine, the egg does not sink, but floats on the surface.

Pickling:

Soaking and drying ram:

When the ram is ready, the meat acquires an amber color and becomes slightly transparent.

Dried pike (dry salting):

1. The pike is washed (without gutting in winter), 2-3 transverse cuts are made on both sides of the carcass.
2. Take a container with a suitable bottom (the pike should lie completely on the bottom).
3. Salt is poured onto the bottom of the pickling container (the layer should be at least 0.5 cm thick).
4. The pike is placed on the salt layer and generously sprinkled with salt on top.
5. If there are several fish, then they are laid on top of each other, each time sprinkled with salt.
6. The last layer of salt is poured over the top pike and a lid with pressure is placed.
7. If a large pike is salted, then the container is placed in a cool place for 48 hours. If the fish is small, 24 hours is enough.
8. The salted pike is washed and hung in a draft to dry until ready.

Important!When drying pike, the most important thing is not to miss the moment when it is ready. If you miss a little, then instead of juicy dried meat you will get a dried product. Dried pike is an excellent beer snack.

Storage

Experienced fishermen claim that as it is stored, dried fish matures and only gets better.

Where to store:

1. Suspended in a cold and drafty place, in a bag made of natural fabric.
2. Placed in a basket of willow branches with a lid. Such a basket should be placed in a drafty place in a shaded and cool place (not in the sun).
3. In the kitchen cabinet - securely and tightly wrapped in polyethylene, parchment, cling foil or film.

There is nothing complicated in preparing dried fish; both experienced fishermen and beginners can easily cope with it. It’s safe to say that even beginners will succeed in making dried fish the first time. You can always treat your family and friends to this delicacy, because when prepared with your own hands, it will be much tastier than store-bought.

It often happens that after a big catch, a significant part of the fish remains, which has nowhere to go. You can dry such fish at home; it’s not that difficult. Just imagine, when you come home after a hard day at work, how wonderful it is to relax by sitting in front of the TV screen, opening a bottle of cold beer and savoring home-made dried fish, sometimes this is so missing. People learned how to dry fish a long time ago, and this good way save your catch. This is exactly what this article will discuss.

Fish cutting

Before salting, you first need to clean the fish from the insides and wash it thoroughly under cold water. The scales themselves should not be peeled off, otherwise this will lead to excessive drying, which we do not need. Don’t be lazy and save time, clean even small things from the insides; if you don’t do this, it will add a little bitterness to the taste. If you have chosen a large fish, then you should make an incision with a knife on the back from head to tail, this way we will protect the fish carcass from excessive drying.

The following types of fish are suitable for drying: carp, roach, ruffe, perch, crucian carp, ram, roach, bream, large goby.

What is the purpose of salting? We must remove excess moisture. Salt, as everyone knows, absorbs moisture. There are many types of salting fish, but we will look at two common methods: dry and wet salting.

Dry salting , it is strongly recommended to use at temperatures no higher than 20 degrees. You should start with the gills of the fish. Salt is poured under the gills, then each fish is placed tightly in a layer in a salting vessel, it can be a bucket, pan, bowl, basin. Each layer of fish is alternated with a layer of salt. When we are finished and all the fish are already in the container. A weight is placed on top of our salted fish. It can be any massive object: a stone, a log, a pan, or you can get by with a three-liter jar of water. You need to make sure that the pressure on the fish is even. The resulting juice, if there is a lot of it, can subsequently be drained from time to time.

The fish is ready if it feels firm when you press it. Press in different places, it happens that in some places it is not salted well enough, and it feels soft to the touch. Also, if the belly of the fish is soft to the touch, it is most likely spoiled. The juice released from the fish should remain transparent.

If the fish goes bad, what mistakes can there be? You could have made a mistake in the amount of salt, the fish could have been poorly washed. The weight with which you pressed the fish may not have been strong enough, or what your weight was on did not press the fish tightly.

Wet salting is different from dry salting . For this method, take 1 kg. salt per 0.5 kg of fish it turns out quite thick. The juice that will constantly be released from the fish dilutes the consistency and comes out not so strong. The fish should remain in this solution for 4-6 days. Small fish are salted faster, and large ones take longer. You can also prepare brine by adding a kilogram of salt to three liters of water. This solution is poured into fish containers. This method is more suitable for small fish.

Before drying the fish, it is necessary to wash it from any remaining salt and mucus. . Afterwards, place the fish in a clean pan, or another container that is on hand, and fill it with clean water. This is called soaking. Soaking usually lasts about the same number of days as it took to salt it. Its readiness is determined by the fact that the fish floats to the surface from the bottom. Next, you should take out the fish, wipe it with a clean towel or napkins and place the fish on oilcloth or newspaper and give it time to dry.

To protect fish from small insects and pests, you can treat it with a solution of vinegar or unrefined oil; this is an old but effective way to protect fish, which not everyone knows about. Then you can proceed directly to the drying itself.

Drying

Typically, drying fish at home occurs in a well-ventilated, dry and sunny place. It is best to hang the fish at night, when there are no pests. The fish is suspended on a rope, the line is threaded through the eyes or lower lip. You can also hang it on hooks, which in turn can be made from paper clips or wire. Sometimes they hang the fish upside down. It is believed that this way it dries faster and more evenly. In this case, the fish is pierced at the tail and hung on
hooks The fish must be covered with gauze.

You can also make a special box made of wood lined with gauze; the drying process in it will be more convenient, and the likelihood of protection from insect pests increases.

You can also dry fish inside the apartment. What is needed for this? In this case, an oven, stove, hotplate, or a specially purchased electric dryer in a store will suit us. The main thing is to maintain the temperature, no more than 40 degrees, otherwise the fish will be baked. The primary processing of fish before drying does not change. The fish is laid out on a sheet and kept at this temperature for 6-8 hours. If we use an oven, then we leave its door open for better air circulation. During heat treatment, the fish is dried, not as well as we would like, and for this it is advisable for it to undergo additional drying in a warm place, in which good ventilation would be desirable.
When using electric dryers, the fish must be thoroughly marinated, keeping it in the refrigerator in a marinated form for about 7-8 hours, and it takes 8-9 hours to dry. Initially, the fish undergoes the same additional processing as mentioned earlier.

Drying fish in winter has its advantages: in winter you don’t have to worry about annoying insects that are attracted to salted fish. The main condition is a balanced indoor environment. For winter drying, you need to hang the fish, where there is a constant flow of fresh air, which is quite problematic in winter. Such drying can be established, for example, on a loggia.

Video tutorial

4

Dried fish is delicious and useful product. Fresh fish does not need to be heated to cook; exposure to the surrounding atmosphere is sufficient.

The meat of dried fish is dry and elastic, it is not for nothing that it is often called dried. It can be stored for a long time without requiring special conditions.

This is a great appetizer that can be served to a set table or taken with you on a trip.

Dried fish is a fish that, after pre-salting, is dried under natural conditions.

Slow drying in the open air or in a well-ventilated area changes the properties of the fish and gives it a sharp, piquant taste. This process is also called drying.

Slow dehydration in combination with environmental influences leads to gradual ripening of meat:

• Protein tissues are saturated with fat and become dense and elastic.
• The pulp appears translucent and acquires a beautiful amber color.
• Caviar turns into a particularly tasty grainy delicacy.

Overall, the savory taste and pungent spirit of dried fish is unique and easily recognizable. The silky skin with silvery scales is easy to remove, and the salty strips of meat can be eaten.

What kind of fish can you dry at home?

Not every fish gives good results when dried and dried.

You need to choose varieties whose meat is able to ripen properly, acquiring the specific consistency and smell characteristic of a dried product.

Small species, which are considered of little value in industrial fishing, have an excellent taste when dried. These are roach, ram, saberfish, silver bream and other species belonging to the so-called partial ones. Of the larger ones, we can recommend bream, pike perch, and catfish.

The best quality is fresh fish, salted on the day of fishing. A catch that was stored in an insufficiently cold place may already turn out to be “smelly.” This “bear-style” drying is popular among northern peoples, but unaccustomed people may not like this result.

Sometimes frozen and then thawed fish are dried. It is recommended to buy mackerel, herring, flounder, and halibut. You can also freeze your own catch for later drying.

The tastiest fish is medium to high fat content. Its quality greatly depends on the time of year. Before spawning, the fat content is higher, so catch made in early spring or winter is recommended for drying.

Preparing fish for proper drying

The scales are never cleaned off, and smaller fish do not need to be gutted. The fat from the peritoneum and viscera imparts a more intense flavor.

In herbivorous species, the entrails are removed in the summer, since the contents of the stomach quickly deteriorate and impart bitterness to the abdomen.

Large specimens are cut completely. They are gutted, leaving the skin and scales intact. The belly is left whole so that the fat is retained inside. To remove the entrails, a longitudinal incision is made along the dorsal fin. The cut carcass and its parts are not washed with water.

Drying fish in the summer at home: stages of preparation

The drying process is based on many years of experience and has a certain sequence of actions that differ only in details.

1. Salting. Produced in any suitable container. The fish is sprinkled with salt or filled with saline solution and placed in the cold until it is salted.
2. Washing and soaking. Cold is used fresh water, the time depends on the duration of salting.
3. Direct drying. Occurs naturally or with the use of any devices.

Summer salting methods

Apart from salt and utensils suitable for food, nothing is needed for pickling. Any vessel of sufficient volume made of steel, glass or plastic will do. It is important to choose the right type of salt. When dissolved, the large one slowly takes moisture from the fish, which is what is required before drying. Fine salt penetrates the meat too quickly for dehydration to occur.

Dry method

When drying large specimens weighing more than a kilogram, the best results are achieved using the dry salting method.

1. The fish carcass is freed from the entrails by cutting from the back and cleaned with a rag.
2. The internal cavities are salted generously, but without excess.
3. The carcasses are laid out in dense rows in a basket or box, the bottom of which is covered with a layer of fabric. They are laid according to the rule: head to tail and belly up.
4. Sprinkle salt again, right on top of the scales. In total you need to prepare about 1.5 kg of salt per 10 kg of fish.

Covering with a flat lid, the contents are pressed down with pressure - a stone or a jar of water.

Oppression helps get rid of air bubbles in which harmful bacteria persist. Also, meat thickens better under pressure.

Salting in a cool place takes 5 to 10 days. Gradually, juice begins to be released, which flows through the cracks at the bottom. This is where the name “dry” technology comes from.

Small fish, which are also sometimes salted dry, do not need to remove the insides. The fabric is spread on a solid base, and the fish are carefully placed on it one by one. After sprinkling them with salt, wrap them in the same rag and press them with a weight on top. The fabric allows the resulting juice to pass through and allows it to flow out.

Wet method

1. The fish are placed closely in a pan or basin, having previously sprinkled the bottom with salt. They operate according to the following scheme: back to belly and head to tail.
2. All layers are sprinkled with salt one by one, including the top one. Salt consumption is planned at the rate of 1 kg per 10 kg of fish.
3. Gourmets prefer a mixture of salt with a spoon of sugar. It makes the product taste more refined.
4. The entire mass is pressed through the lid with pressure.

Soon after brining, brine begins to appear. After 1-2 days it rises above the top layer and may even leak out of the container. While salting continues, the dishes are placed in the cellar. Needs to be supported low temperature, otherwise the meat, which has not yet reached the salt, may spoil.

In urban environments they use a refrigerator, and when hiking, they use a hole in the ground covered with branches.

Smaller fish are salted quickly; 1-2 days are enough for them. The larger ones will take a week. When the fish is ready, its meat seems to harden, and the back is pulled towards the spine. If you pull it by the head and tail, you can feel a crunch. If the test result is negative, it is left in the brine for another day. The brine remaining after the process can be poured out or used next time.

Bridle method

Before you start salting using the brine method, the fish is collected on twine using a needle. The finished shortbreads are dipped in brine; they must be completely covered with liquid. It is enough for small fish to lie like this for 2-3 days. A salt solution is additionally pumped into the belly of large specimens with a syringe.

To prepare the solution, dilute 350 g of salt in a liter of water. You can add brine left over from the previous salting or even from commercially salted herring.

It is believed that a raw egg will not sink in a properly prepared brine solution.

The speed of salting depends on the weight of the fish, its thickness, and the permeability of the skin. At room temperature 20°C, approximate salting times:

• with a weight of 2-3 kg one week;
• if you weigh less than 500 grams, 2-3 days;
• For very small fish like sprat, one hour will be enough.

Readiness is determined in the same way as with the wet method. If the longitudinal stretching of the fish occurs silently, it means that the salt has not yet reached the vertebrae, so they do not creak. The meat of well-salted fish does not resist pressure with a finger; if you press on the back, a hole remains.

The fish removed from the brine is left to rest; for large specimens it takes several hours. The salt inside will disperse evenly, and the result will be of better quality.

Soaking in fresh water

Soaking is done after salting in order to desalinate the outer layers of meat. Dried leather will not become damp during storage. Therefore, this step should not be skipped, even if there is no excess salt. Approximate time calculation: an hour of soaking for every day of salting.

The countdown of soaking time begins when the fish is washed from mucus and salt residues. You can wash it by hand or with a sponge, but be careful.

The scales should not fly off; they protect the internal tissues.

The fish is placed in a large container with cold water, where after a while it floats to the surface. This means that the desired state has been achieved, and after drying it will be lightly salted and transparent amber.

Soaking large fatty fish for too long can ruin them. The outer layers get wet from prolonged exposure to water. It is advised to take the fish out for the same period of time every few hours and then put it back.

Rules for drying under various conditions

Experience shows that it is most convenient to dry fish by stringing it on a wire or cord. Low-fat varieties can be hung by threading twine through the tail. On the contrary, bream or pike perch should be positioned upside down, pulling the needle with the line through the eye hole. Then the tasty fat will not flow out of the abdomen. The fish is also dried on wire hooks or pinned on nails or thin rods.

On open air

Fish dried in good weather under open air, it turns out the most delicious. A cool spring day with a temperature of 18-20°C can be considered ideal. The baskets are hung outdoors on horizontal slats, in open boxes, etc.

It is desirable that the fish hang with their belly outward and do not move close to each other. Small varieties like sprat are dried on a horizontally stretched mesh.

In the hot sun, the fish can “cook” or begin to spoil before it dries. Valuable fat will also leak out of it. Therefore, it is better to hang the flowers in the shade or under a canopy. During short-term rain, they can be hidden under an awning. If it becomes very cold and damp, it is better to move the catch indoors.

In a cool cellar

The cellar is often used as a cool place during pickling. But small fish can be hung there after they are removed from the brine. True, then you will have to dry it in a warmer place.

Large fish are dried slowly and normal conditions may go rancid before it dries completely. Due to the low temperature in the cellar, the drying process there can last 2-3 weeks. The product obtained in this way has a high taste.

On the balcony and loggia

Ventilated balconies can be adapted for drying if necessary, especially in rainy and cold times. First, the fish is hung so that the juice flowing from it does not stain the floor, for example, above the basin. After this, it is hung on the walls of the loggia or stretched across the bottom.

It is better when the fish is dried in a draft, so the windows are opened slightly even in cold weather. If the temperature on the balcony is much higher when the windows are closed, then they don’t have to be opened.

In the attic

A well-ventilated attic is an almost ideal room for drying. It heats up through the roof but stays cool thanks to drafts. Bundles of fish are protected there from both direct sunlight and rain. There is also usually a lot of space under the roof in the attic for hanging ropes. You just need to raise them high enough so that the cats don’t get them.

In the room

Many people don’t like to dry fish in the room because of the inevitable smell, but sometimes there is simply no other choice. It may not be as fragrant as dried in the garden in summer, but lovers will be pleased with the taste. Heating devices help with drying quite well.

To speed up the process, you can attach a fan to the battery. Also, a small amount of fish can be placed above the gas stove.

In the oven

The fish are evenly distributed in parallel rows on the grill. You can put foil down. The temperature regulator is set to no more than 80°C, otherwise the fish will simply be baked. The oven door is left ajar by 5-7 cm for ventilation. After two hours, cover the heads with foil and leave the oven on for another 4-6 hours. The dried fish is hung and dried until the final result is achieved within another one or two days.

In an electric dryer

Any electric dryer with a convective operating principle in which the heating is turned off is suitable. The fish is kept in a dryer at temperatures up to 30°C. Otherwise, it is steamed and the meat begins to fall away from the bones.

Air blowing from a fan ensures drying, which lasts about two days. You won't be able to escape the smell in the room, but the result will be a perfectly acceptable dried fish.

How long to dry and how to determine readiness?

How long to dry fish is affected by temperature and humidity, as well as the size of the fish. The smallest fish has a chance to dry out in a couple of days, but more often it takes about one or two weeks. Large ones can dry for more than a month.

There is no need to over-dry the fish; it is better not to dry it out at all. The easiest way to determine readiness is by taste.

If the meat has not yet dried enough, leave it hanging for another day.

• Properly and completely cured meat is translucent, it is dense and elastic, with a fatty sheen.
• There are no salt crystals on the scales, the skin is durable and can be easily removed.
• Freshly dried fish has a specific pungent aroma that stimulates the appetite.

Dried fish can be eaten immediately after drying, but to fully ripen it must lie in the cold for 3-4 weeks, wrapped in a rag or parchment. After resting, it will acquire its final full taste and aroma.

How to get rid of flies

The smell of dried fish quickly attracts insects. Flies and wasps not only crawl on the skin with scales and feed on meat. The worst thing is that flies lay their eggs in fish that have not yet dried, and instead of dried caviar, larvae - maggots - may appear in its stomach.

In the spring, while the flies are still not visible (or in the fall, when they are no longer there), you can safely dry the fish. The rest of the time, it is recommended to hang it in the evening, then by morning it dries out and flies do not besiege it as much. In an attempt to escape from flies, the drying areas are covered with a net, and the scales are lubricated with oil and a weak solution of vinegar. Sometimes fish that have already been dried indoors are hung outside.

How to dry fish in winter?

In winter it is not possible to achieve the same quality as when drying in summer. Proper ripening occurs in fresh air with low humidity. In winter, it is too warm at home, the process happens faster, and the meat does not have time to acquire transparency and an amber shine.

Balconies, attics, kitchens and even living rooms are used for drying. The main problem with winter drying is the smell. He is omnipresent and makes his way everywhere. But you don’t have to worry about an invasion of flies.

When drying in winter, it is better to use the dry method. The fish is salted, washed and hung to drain in the bathroom, and then the bundles are placed in a convenient place.

You can, for example, hang it near the radiator or stove. But under the ceiling in the kitchen, the fish will also dry out in about five days. It will not be possible to dry a large quantity in this way, since there is simply nowhere to hang these fragrant garlands at home.

Is it possible to dry fish in cold weather?

For drying fish, a temperature above zero is desirable. Severe frost destroys tissue.

But the process of freezing moisture also occurs at sub-zero temperatures.

Winter catch can be hung on the balcony or under a canopy. Although slowly, it will dry out, after which you will need to dry the fish in the apartment. It is unlikely that it will be possible to obtain a high quality product in this way, but for amateurs it turns out to be a completely acceptable delicacy.

When processing and storing their catch, experienced fishermen pay attention to details to make the process easier and more efficient:

• When salting, large specimens are placed on the bottom of the dish, and small ones on top.
• Carcasses of the same size are strung on one cord. Then it will be ready at the same time.
• To make drying at home faster, the bellies are opened by inserting toothpicks.
• In winter, they make a frame box for hanging. Together with the frame, the fish can be moved from place to place.
• From large, fatty specimens, balyk can be prepared by drying.
• If fish becomes damp and has a musty taste if stored improperly, it can be washed in a weak salt solution and dried again.

Drying fish is a simple and effective process. Over time, experience is gained that allows you to make the most of existing conditions and opportunities. You need to carefully monitor how the properties of fish change during drying. Then you will get a tasty and aromatic delicacy that can be served as a festive table, and use it at a warm, friendly meeting.

In this video, an avid fisherman shares tips on how to properly dry fish.