Fish smoking technique uses smoke flavourings and water vapour permeable bag

Researchers have developed a technique for fish salting and smoking using water vapour permeable bags. This technique, which combines a ‘controlled salting’ with the use of smoke flavourings and packaging, allows a better control of the amount of salt in the final product as well as better food safety by minimising the risk of microbial contamination caused by handling the product.

“In the production process of smoked products, salt is used as a preservative, so the greater the amount of salt used, the longer the product is preserved. However, this can affect the organoleptic properties of the product and, ultimately, the consumer’s health,” explained Ana Fuentes, researcher at the Food Research and Innovation Group (CUINA) of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV).

The technique allows the necessary dose to be precisely calculated depending on the product weight and the type of fish: the bag facilitates the salt absorption and the evaporation of the exudated fluid. This permits better control of the characteristics of the final product, a reduction in the amount of salt used in the preparation process and, therefore, a reduction in brine residue.

Application of this technique could also bring significant competitive advantages to companies in the food industry, as it reduces both the time and costs of the product processing. “With this methodology, the whole process happens in one single stage and in one chamber within the water vapour permeable bags, stored in refrigeration. In this way we simultaneously add salt and give flavour to the fish. We use smoke flavourings to replace traditional smoking,” added Isabel Fernández, CUINA researcher.

In order to prove the advantages of this new technique, different sensory analyses were performed to compare the new smoked fish with other commercial products. “The sensory tests verified that the consumers did not perceive any differences between them,” said researcher Arantxa Rizo.

The results of the research were published in the Journal of Food Engineering.

Source: AlphaGalileo