Preparing Fish for Drying and Smoking 1. Dried fish ■ cut off the head

Preparing Fish for Drying or Smoking
   There are different ways to store fish. Two ways to keep fish for future use are canning and freezing. Two other methods are drying and smoking. Today we are going to talk about, step by step, how to prepare dried and smoked fish.
   Begin with fish that are just out of the water. If the fish are small, leave their heads on. Cut off the heads if the fish are longer than twenty centimeters or weigh more than one hundred fifteen grams.
   Now clean the freshly caught fish. Cut off the scales and cut open the stomach. Remove everything inside. Then wash the fish in clean water and rub salt into them. After that, wash them again in clean water.
   Next, put the fish in a container with a solution of three hundred grams of salt and one liter of water. This will remove the blood from the meat. Keep the fish in the saltwater for about thirty minutes. The water should be salty enough so that the fish float to the top. If the fish sink to the bottom of the container, add more salt to the water.
   Then cover the container with a clean piece of wood. Place a heavy stone on the wood to hold it down. Leave the fish there for about six hours.
   After that, remove them from the saltwater and place them on a clean surface. Cover the fish with a clean piece of white cloth and let them dry.
   Fish taste better if they are out of bright sunlight while they are being dried. For best results, put the drying table under a tree. Turn the fish over every other day. Small fish will dry in about three days if the air is dry. Large fish will take a week or ten days to dry.
   After the fish have dried, place them in a basket. Cover them with clean paper or large leaves. Then put the basket in a cool, dry place off the ground.
   In terms of smoking fish, you should make sure as much of the saltwater as possible is removed before you smoke the fish.
   The smoking can be done in a large, round metal container. Remove the top of the drum and cut a small opening on one side at the bottom. Cover the top with a strong wire screen. This is where you put the fish. Build a small fire in the drum by reaching in through the opening at the bottom.
   Wood from fruit trees makes good fuel for your fire. The wood will give the smoked fish good color and taste. Hardwoods such as hickory, oak and ash also burn well.
   It is important to keep the fire small, so it does not burn the fish. You want a lot of smoke but very little flame. One way to get a lot of smoke is to use green wood, not dried wood.
   You should smoke the fish for five days or longer if you plan to store them for a long time. After you finish smoking the fish, remove them and let them cool. Then wrap them in clean paper. Put the fish in baskets and keep them in a cool, dry place off the ground. Dried fish must be kept completely dry until they are eaten.
   So this is what we want you to know about how to dry and smoke fish. In the next program we’ll come to how to can and freeze fish.