Smoking is applied primarily to meat and fish, after brining or pickling, by suspending the food over smouldering hardwoods such as oak and ash. It is often used only to enhance flavour. Smoking also has some dehydrating effect and there may be some preserving action due to the presence of bactericidal chemicals in smoke. Most non-sporing bacteria will be destroyed but moulds and CI. botulinum type E may survive, especially in low salt concentrations. Smoked products should, therefore, be refrigerated at 3°C or below.
Cold smoked food should be treated as raw and hot smoked food should be considered as high-risk food.
Another way of adding a smoke flavour to the food is to spray a liquid, produced by trapping smoke in water, on the to the food. The preserving effects is limited and the food is not dehydrated.
ADD PHOTO OF SMOKED FISH OR MEAT