Smoking eels – Eels are one of the most popular fish species in Germany and can be caught by the fishermen themselves. The preparation of eels is very uncomplicated and many anglers want to turn it into a gourmet fish themselves. Smoking an eel is highly recommended because the smoked meat is very digestible, but costs too much at fish markets. With a little help, anyone can smoke an eel.
Preparation for smoking eel
First of all you should consider which method you want to use to smoke your eel. Here there are two different variants that everyone should know:
Smoking eel – cold smoking
Cold smoking takes the longest, up to 20 days. An eel does not become in this way
smoked, but many other fish can be smoked in this way. Here the smoke is always kept below 30°C. Thus, the fish remains very raw in its consistency, but extremely tasty. An eel has too little meat for cold smoking, in exceptional cases only very thick and heavy specimens.
Smoking eel – hot smoking
Smoking the eel is usually achieved with the help of hot smoking, which smokes a fish with up to 90°C hot smoke. Thus the eels are finished smoking within maximally two hours. This is the fastest and most used way to smoke eel. After you have pulled an eel out of the water, you can gut it very easily after killing it by rubbing it with a lot of salt beforehand. This loosens the slime before smoking the eel. When gutting, it is essential to remove the gills completely, otherwise too much blood will come out when smoking eel, which could affect the color of the fish. The kidneys, which extend to the tail, are best removed under running water. For eel smoking eels from 40 cm are suitable.
Smoking eels – the right brine
The next important point is the brine, which prepares the fish for smoking eel.
For each kilogram of eel, 1.5 liters of water with 90 to 125 grams of salt are used. If desired, juniper berries can be added to give a special aroma. The fish is completely laid and covered in the brine. Now it must lie in it for twelve to 16 hours. Another alternative is dry salting. This involves rubbing the fish vigorously with salt. A good handful on the outside and inside should be enough. When dry-salting, the fish needs only eight to twelve hours. The eel must be in a cool place without high humidity.
Smoking eels – The actual smoking of eels
Now comes the most exciting part for you. If you do not have a smoker, you can also use a smoking barrel. This should be about 1.6 meters high. Alternatively, we have also with a table smoker, already very good Ergebniss achieved when smoking eel and then cut the eel into pieces.
The fish are now rinsed with cold water, dried and can be skewered on smoking hooks. This is done by piercing the top of the skull or by passing the hook through the mouth.
A good selection of accessories for smoking can be found here: Smoking
Before smoking the eel, it is essential to heat up the smoking oven. Thereby the
Beech logs for smoking eel
Leave the flap of the furnace open and use a lot of wood to create a big flame that heats up the whole furnace. You should do this for about ten minutes. Afterwards the eels are pre-cooked, which means that the flame is kept very low in order not to burn the fish. This takes about 15 to 20 minutes and can best be seen when the belly flaps spread out. Now smoke and fire damper can be closed, so that the smoke can develop in the furnace. Through the thermometer we look at the maximum temperature of 90°C. Wood, preferably beech wood, should be added again and again and after 1.5 to 2.5 hours the eel smoking is finished. The fish should have a golden color are taken out of the oven. To cool down, they are hung in a dark, cool place and can either be eaten immediately or after a night of you enjoyable.
Conclusion: Anyone who has tried smoking eel with these instructions will be delighted with the culinary delights and will want to smoke eel again and again. Thrill also your women with tasty smoked eel and nothing stands in the way of your further fishing trips&
We hope you enjoyed our article on smoking eels and would be pleased to welcome you more often on our eel page.