Smokehouse or drying room, chimney and prosciutto, is a special room for drying and smoking meat and meat products. Dried meat, or just dried meat, is one of the most popular delicacies not only in Serbia, but throughout the region. Meat prepared in this way is on the menu of many restaurants, and it is also an indispensable specialty at Serbian celebrations. And for this, as well as for many other recipes, almost every household has its own method of preparation.
However, as far as the technical side of the meat drying chamber itself is concerned, its construction must meet certain criteria that apply to anyone who wants to build their own smokehouse to dry meat. What should it be made of, what should it contain and which wood is the best to burn – these are all questions that interest someone who has no experience with making a smokehouse for drying meat.
Practical tips for making a smokehouse
First of all, let’s deal with the term itself – smokehouse or dryer, smokehouse and prosciutto, is a special room for drying and smoking meat and meat products. This way of preparing meat has been present in our people since ancient times, as well as the room itself where this process takes place. Even before, people dried meat in special rooms such as attics, or they made special buildings for this purpose out of stone or a combination of stone and wood.
Although today that construction is a little more modern because we have greater possibilities, the key criteria for building a smokehouse remain the same. The smokehouse can be built in many different ways, according to the place where you are building it, which material you have chosen for construction, how much product you want to dry, as well as the climatic conditions in the area where the smokehouse will be located.
If you intended to build a smokehouse, there are several functional criteria that you must keep in mind. The smokehouse must be completely closed and contain a chimney that allows the smokehouse to reach a certain temperature.
The smoke should be released through the smoker by alternately opening and closing the flue, because in this way the smoking of the meat is completely controlled. The openings should be protected with a cover in order to protect the meat from pests, but to easily regulate the flow of fresh air. The chimney should be located above the firebox opening and made of solid brick or prefabricated elements.
TIPS: How to ideally dry meat
It is necessary to pay attention that there is enough space in the smokehouse for the smoke to develop, as well as enough space for the smoke to rise. One way to make this process go smoothly is good insulation of the building itself.
With thermal insulation, you will achieve that your meat dries equally well in summer and winter, that is, that the smoke rises well in winter, as well as that the contact between the outside cold air and the inside warm air is minimal. This is important because if there is contact between cold and hot air, condensation occurs on the walls of the smokehouse, which has an extremely unfavorable effect on the quality of the meat.
The foundation and hearth of the smokehouse should be made of solid brick in combination with fireclay brick or fireclay mortar. On the upper side, the fireplace should be paved with one row of solid bricks in fireclay mortar, and the floor should be built of fireclay bricks in mortar on a dry sand base.
The door should be insulated from the inside and made of the same material as the inside of the smokehouse. It is best to place the ventilation openings on the sides of the smokehouse, at the height of the firebox. It is mandatory to install metal nets against rodents and cats, as well as a special net against insects.
The meat carrier should be made of metal profile pipes with welded hooks on the underside and placed so that it hangs on a shaft attached to the ceiling of the smokehouse.
As far as the burning is concerned, hardwood is recommended, usually beech, but you won’t go wrong with ash, oak or hornbeam either. It should be noted that soft woods such as linden, poplar and willow are not recommended at all, and it is especially forbidden to use colored and varnished wood scraps, plywood and chipboard, because they emit toxic substances during combustion.
Wood for burning must be healthy, untreated and dry, with as much fresh air as possible during burning, in order to develop quality smoke.
Source: www.agromedia.rs
