Meat smoking step by step

People in Eastern Europe are skilful in many different fields and gastronomy is one of them. Many of us smoke meat at home and each of us does it in his own way, which is the best of course, and we all like to brag about it. But there are still many of us who are getting ready to smoke meat for the first time and people like this certainly can use some guidance or inspiration. In this article we shall tell you how to do it from the very beginning to the very end. That is, starting with meat purchasing, cutting, marinating, smoking and consuming. You can also watch the entire smoking process in our video clip that is included in this article. 

Purchasing meat, garlic and salt

Let us start with the meat. We all have different preferences. We like leg, boneless flank, and brisket. Flank or plate are probably the most popular. If you like leaner meat, you may go for a sirloin or roast. We like to shop for meat at our local butcher shop where the meat is fresh and of good quality. We also prefer Czech garlic. It is more expensive but definitely worth it even though you will need plenty of garlic.

Marinade

First, you need to marinate the meat. We used 70 g of salt per litre of marinade.We also boil the water before use but many people would tell you that it is not necessary. We prefer smaller pieces for smoking and cut the meat accordingly. Meat must be salted well on all sides and covered with a good layer of crushed garlic. We strongly feel that you can never use too much garlic. We used over 15 bulbs for about 10 kg of meat. Then the meat goes to a pot with the marinade, which shall cover all the meat.

Photo: Radek Štěpán

Meat storage and turning

Now, you need to put the meat in a cellar or a similar room where the temperature is around 4 degrees Celsius. The temperature may fluctuate slightly but it cannot go below freezing. After a week, we turned the meat to make sure that it soaks well and after 14 days of marinating we smoked the meat.

Preparation for smoking

Early in the morning, we took the meat out of the pot, washed it and dried it.After that, we left it rest for a while at a room temperature, and then we attached smoking strings to each piece. Best is to use a skewer needle attached to add string.

Photo: Radek Štěpán

Smokehouse and wood

We smoked in a brick smoke house in a garage and used naturally dried beech wood without bark. Before putting the meat in, we have heated up the smokehouse for about an hour and smoked at about 70 degrees Celsius. The meat went in around 8:30 in the morning and we checked for the last time at 9:00 p.m. No more meat was left for smoking. We let the meat in and only took it out in the next morning. You can see the result yourself.

Photo: Radek Štěpán

Photo: Radek Štěpán

YouTube: Radek Štěpán

Preview photo: Radek Štěpán