Product Description

"Home Smoking and Curing" introduces an inspirational method of retaining and enhancing the subtle flavours of fresh fish and game. With clear and simple instructions backed up by diagrams, Keith Erlandson leads you through the basic techniques of smoking food. Whether you're looking to prepare your own smoked salmon and bacon, or create some really impressive dishes for entertaining, "Home Smoking and Curing" will guide you through the processes.With delicious recipes ranging from smoked rabbit pie to smoked oysters and venison, there are dishes for every occasion. In addition it contains: advice on choosing raw ingredients; making the most of meats in season; easy to follow instructions for building your own kiln; and useful information on commercial smokers. First published in 1977 and never out of print, this classic guide has introduced thousands of home cooks to the pleasures of smoking and curing food. Full of well-tested methods and reliable advice, this book offers a wealth of information for amateur chefs and gourmets alike.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7588 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 144 pages

Review
'Full of detailed advice' --Independant on Sunday

From the Publisher
A fully revised edition of this classic guide to smoking fish, meat and game.

About the Author
Keith Erlandson had a varied and fascinating career, working as a gamekeeper, professional gun-dog trainer and journalist, writing for The Field and contributing on a weekly basis to The Shooting Times and The Countryman's Weekly. His passion for smoked foods was inspired by his trips to Norway and Sweden. He brought an innovative dimension to British cuisine in the 1970s by pioneering the smoking of venison and grouse, and in the publication of this now classic book.

Customer Reviews

One step beyond barbecuing - and it works
When Jane Grigson (Sophie's Mum) mentions and recommends someone else's food preparation book as 'excellent', it is as well to check it out. If you appreciate a level of advice such as 'Do not let your ducks catch fire', when discussing how to smoke fowl, and if you are fed up with 'over the top' recipes for smoking pork which include 'Wild Willie's Number One-derful rub', then you should read this book.

Keith Erlandson is a retired gamekeeper, perhaps best known for his well respected books on training gun dogs. In his leaner years, he supplemented his income by curing and smoking fish and game. He therefore has the benefit of first hand practical experience when constructing smokers - which is sometimes lacking in other guides to smoking food. One such recommends using an old 'fridge for smoking, "but be careful not to get it too hot or the food will taint from the burning plastic!"

Recipes cover hot and cold smoking, curing as preparation for smoking, and what to expect! If you have never tasted hot smoked chicken or turkey, or hot smoked fish, such as cod, haddock or sea bream, then this will be an eye opener. The directions work and the results are superb, even pork sausages taste special when hot smoked, and smoked eggs..... The more difficult cold smoking process is also explained in the sort of detail which allows you to start with confidence. Part travelogue, where he returns to his Scandinavian roots, one gets the comforting feeling that he is demystifying what is a very old fashioned and simple skill. If the price of the book bothers you, check out the price of even chemical smoked chicken.

If you only ever buy one book on this subject, buy this one.
I have to admit that I have read this book in an earlier edition, many years ago, and it was this book that gave me a lifelong interest in the subject. The new edition is greatly updated and very modern in style and prose, and has to be one of the easiest to read technical books ever written. The knowledge and enthusiasm of Mr. Erlandson are clear for all on every page and I would suggest that there is not one amongst us who could not successfully Smoke at home if we followed his advice! You will learn about the origins of the process, it's evolution through the centuries, pre-salting, brining, humidity, fuel, timing, storage and even how to cook cold Smoked foods in an excellent recipe section.

Newbie to smoking food
As a newbie to smoking food, I was becoming somewhat disillusioned with the general 'internet' information so much so that my basic grasp on the subject was becoming confused. This book has if nothing else confirmed my belief that it is possible to knock something together in my back garden that will if nothing else give me a project to play with and hopefully not poison my family in the process. This book identifies the basic requirements, and identifies a few ways of achieving them, by identifying the simplistic nature of the solutions achievable by pretty much anybody. Regarding the actual smoking, a wealth of trial and error experimentation is offered in a pleasant read, I do not have access to, or a particular desire to smoke whole salmon, or cod roe, but I now have an understanding of the basics, and the knowledge that I need to get on and have a go to teach myself how to smoke a few sausages, a trout or a joint of bacon. All in all an encouraging start to my latest project from a book written in an informative, yet entusiastic and encouraing manner