In addition to salted, dried, frozen, and canned, fish can also be processed and preserved naturally using fumigation techniques. Not only kill the bacteria and produce refined fish processed fragrant, fumigation also provides a distinctive brownish color and taste in the fish so it is more inviting to eat.
Fish is one of the many food commodities in Indonesia. In addition to containing essential amino acids required by the human body, fish are also more easily digested and have a relatively cheaper price than other food sources of protein such as beef. Unfortunately, the fish is very susceptible to decay because 1 fish has a protein content of 18-30% with water content of up to 80% so that bacteria decay more easily breed. To anticipate this, fish must be preserved in order to arrive in the hands of consumers in good quality, one of them with curing techniques.
In the process of fumigation, the fish undergoes two phases of processing, namely the drying and absorption of chemical compounds from wood-burning fumes or coconut shells containing water, acetic acid, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, formic acid, phenols and carbon dioxide. The compound serves as a bacterial killer, a brownish colorant, and deodorizing the fish. Fumigation of fish is divided into 4 types: hot fumigation, cold fumigation, electric fumigation, and curing of liquid.
In hot fumes, fish are placed close to the burning smoke of 90 degrees Celsius with fogging time ranging from 3 to 8 hours. High temperature fumes disable the growth of fish decay enzymes and make fish more quickly mature. Because it is cooked, hot fumes fish can be directly eaten. In cold fogging, the fish is placed some distance from the burning smoke so that the smoke temperature is only around 40-50 degrees Celsius with the fuming time reaches 6 weeks. Smoking fumes produce half-baked smoked fish so it needs more cooking before it is served.
Because combustion fumes cause environmental pollution and disrupt the health of the fish smokers, it has been developed an electric fumigation and liquid fumigation that minimizes fire use. Electric fumigation is done by burning sawdust using high-voltage electric fields. Wood wrapped in electric cables were installed in the fogging room and fish were hung with wire on the wood. In the liquid fumigation, a liquid derived from a wood-fired smoke is subjected to condensation and filtration to remove tar and other harmful compounds. Once filtered, the smoke dew is mixed with water and salt into wood vinegar. The fish is then dipped into this antioxidant and antimicrobial solution for several hours.
Especially for hot and cold fumigation, there are 4 things that must be considered for the curing process gives maximum results. First is the fuming temperature. At the beginning of fumigation, you should not directly use a large fire because fish meat still contains a lot of water. The use of a large fire at the beginning of fogging will make the water content evaporate quickly and the fish become too quickly cooked so that fish meat does not have enough time to absorb the chemical compounds present in the smoke. The result, the smell and texture of smoked fish to be not maximal. Also note the humidity around the fogging chamber. Fogging will run optimally if the air humidity ranges between 60-70% and the air temperature in the fogging chamber is at 29 degrees Celsius. If the air humidity exceeds 75%, the fogging will run slowly because the fuming heat is not able to reduce the moisture. Conversely, if less than 60%, fish become quickly cooked.
The third is the type of wood. For cold curing, use sawdust from the hardwood type while in hot fumigation, use wood pieces from teak tree species. You should avoid using wood from trees that have resin like pine trees because it produces smoke that can make the fish feel bitter when consumed. Finally the quality of fish. Fish that have been deteriorated before smoked quality will produce poor quality smoked fish as well so make sure the fish to be smoked is in top condition.
Although today fish can be preserved by cooling and canning, the process of sucking fish is still sustainable until now, even growing rapidly with the changing times. There is no harm in developing this type of preservation of traditional fish in Indonesia which has extensive waters with abundant sea products. How, want to taste the taste of smoked fish tasty and flavorful typical?
good luck !!