Food preservation by smoking

Side of salting and drying, smoking belongs to the three older methods of food preservation. It involves subjecting food to the action of gaseous compounds that emerge during the combustion of certain plants.

Smoking has several roles: flavoring, coloring, texture modification and preservation of the product with antimicrobial effect. It mainly applies to meat products for which drying followed by smoking preserves meat and fish through the combined action of antiseptics and dehydration in the smoke.

Smoking can be cold (12-25 ° C) or warm (50-85 ° C). When carried out hot, it is associated with protein denaturation and destruction of microorganisms