How long does it take for the fish to dry? How to properly dry fish at home

In this article we will talk about how to properly dry fish at home.
If you are a fishing enthusiast, but your catch no longer fits in the freezer, and your wife is threatening to kick you out of the house for “another batch of that slippery crap,” then it’s time to think about other ways to store your fishing trophies.

One of these methods is drying. This is not a difficult task if you get the hang of it, but dried fish and beer... mmmm... Delicious, in a word.

So, how to properly dry fish at home? Firstly, it is worth understanding the size of the fish. These should not be too large or, on the contrary, too small species. That is, a giant pike weighing ten kilograms or a tiny roach the length of a little finger are not suitable. Try to choose medium-sized specimens, not too fatty, since then we will have to salt our fish. And the thicker and fattier the fish meat, the more salt you will have to use, which can lead to excess and loss of basic taste.

But let's not talk about sad things. So, we have selected a sufficient amount of fish for salting. It can be pilaf, roach, carp, ram, ruff and so on. We remember the main condition - the weight of the fish should not exceed one kilogram.

After careful selection, the fish is gutted and cleaned. In this case, under no circumstances should you peel off the scales, as this will lead to excessively rapid drying and ruin all the results of your work. Large fish are cut from the back, in its most fleshy part - this improves the drying process. Small fish, on the other hand, are usually cleaned from the belly side, which prevents too much drying and preserves flavor. At the same time, try to carefully remove all the insides - intestines and mucus, otherwise this will give the fish a bitter taste later.

Next we will need a lot of coarse salt to draw out excess liquid from the fish. To do this, we need a dark, cool room (or at least a balcony in cool weather), a large tub or pan, and something that can serve as a press - for example, a heavy weight, a couple of dumbbells or a medium-sized boulder. The salting method is completely simple and straightforward: pour a thin layer of salt into a tub, tightly lay a layer of fish on top, then again a thin layer of salt, then again a layer of fish... and so on. The most important thing here is to strictly measure the amount of salt for each layer: it should evenly and tightly cover the layer of fish, but not lie in a heap. Overdo it and your fish will turn out terribly over-salted, so you won’t be able to put it in your mouth. Put less salt than required, and the fish may rot or simply be poorly salted. So you should still trust your instincts and pour “by eye” with caution.

Do not be alarmed when a strange-looking liquid appears a few hours after placing the fish in the pan. This is a kind of fish brine. There is no need to drain it; it will help the fish to salt better and will prevent it from drying out too much during further drying.

For experts in the field of salting fish, we can offer another option using, in addition to salt alone, also various spices - bay leaf, pepper, a little sugar, peppercorns, and so on. Here everything depends on your own imagination, taste and skill of the pickle-maker. For beginners, however, it is recommended that, first, try the simplest option - with regular coarse salt.

The number of days for salting is also selected “by eye”. This depends, again, on your taste preferences, as well as on the microclimate of the place where the salting takes place. But, in general, you can determine the degree of readiness of fish by its appearance– it should be dense, dark gray in color on the back, fairly hard (but not rock-hard!).

If at the same time excess salt is visible on the fish, this means that you still overdid it and oversalted it. However, do not despair - the further procedure will most likely help fix everything.

After the fish has lain under pressure for a couple of days and has been thoroughly salted, the time comes for the next stage - washing and cleaning, as well as drying itself. Prepare a lot of water and a 3% vinegar solution or sunflower oil (it is best if it is unrefined).

Before hanging the fish out to dry, it should be thoroughly washed to remove any remaining salt and mucus. Next, the fish is soaked. In fact, this process is the reverse of salting. Soaking, as a rule, takes the same number of days as salting. This allows you to remove excess salt from the fish and saturate it with liquid so that later it does not lose its taste, turning into a kind of salty pieces of cardboard.

Readiness at this stage is also easy to check - this can be seen by the fact that the fish has surfaced from the bottom. After this, you need to thoroughly wipe each carcass with gauze or a clean kitchen towel and hang it out for final drying.

If the drying place is in the open air, then it is worth protecting the fish from flies. To prevent larvae from appearing in fish meat, treat it with vinegar or oil. In this case, you do not need to lubricate or moisten the fish too thickly with these liquids, just quickly dip it into the solution one time at a time.

To enhance the effect, cover the hanging fish with gauze with holes or make a kind of gauze tent around the drying area. A mosquito net is a good idea, especially if your entire balcony is occupied with drying fish.

Drying fish in air will take you about seven to eight days (depending on the size of the carcasses and their initial fat content). The finished fish has a light gray tint, tastes moderately dry and moderately salty, and has a pleasant, slightly dried aroma.

Some enthusiasts prefer not to wait so long, but to dry it quickly - over the stove. In this case, the fish dries much faster - in just a few days.

Some lovers of bitterness in fish (or simply lazy people who do not want to spend a long time fiddling with small things) prefer not to rip the belly of the fish, but to dry it along with the tripe. This gives the fish more meatiness, but at the same time adds a peculiar bitter taste.

There is also a lot of debate on fishing forums and websites about the method of hanging fish directly during drying. Beer lovers claim that the best way to dry fish is hanging through the eye - this way the special taste and aroma are preserved. At the same time, however, the fish retains excess fat, which may not be to everyone’s taste. Another option is to dry the fish by tying it by the tail: in this case, drying will occur more evenly and the fish will become less fatty and will be stored longer.

Which of the above methods of salting fish to choose is up to you. We wish you good luck and bon appetit!

Any self-respecting fisherman cannot imagine his life without dried fish. It is considered a kind of trophy, because it was not only caught independently, but also fished independently at home? This process requires special skill.

How to dry fish correctly

To prevent flies or other insects from landing? To do this, it is necessary to properly prepare it before this process:

1. It is necessary to salt the fish until it becomes translucent.
2. When soaking a salted product, it is recommended to add 50 to 150 grams of vinegar to the water (this substance repels flies, although it is not always effective).
3. For drying, it is best to take not too much big fish, since it dries out faster, and various insects are not so willing to land on almost ready fish.
4. If you nevertheless decide to take large prey for drying, it is recommended to remove all the intestines from it and remove the gills.

By following this plan, you will slightly increase the chances of stopping flies from landing on your fish, but you will not be able to get rid of them 100% of the time.

After this, the product is hung out in the open air and dried for a week, up to ten days.

How to dry fish at home?

Not every fisherman has a special place for drying fish. Accordingly, not everyone knows how to dry fish at home.

To do this efficiently, you need to stock up on seasonings such as bay leaf, salt and ground black pepper. In addition, you need to prepare thick foil and an oven.

So, how to properly dry fish at home? After preparing all the above things, you need to follow this plan:

1. The fish needs to be washed, dried with a paper napkin, all the intestines removed, and then cuts made on it. After completing these steps, the product is sprinkled with salt and pepper and placed under pressure. Next, the fish must be thoroughly rinsed from salt under running water and dried.
2. After drying all the fish, you need to preheat the oven and place foil on a baking sheet. All the prey is laid out on it; be sure to make sure that the heads are turned in one direction. During the drying process, the oven door needs to be opened slightly by about 50-70 millimeters. The temperature should be no more than 50 degrees. After two hours, the fish heads are covered with foil, and the fish itself continues to dry for three or four hours.
3. Then the product is taken out of the oven, strung on an iron wire or thread, and then hung in the fresh air, in an apartment - this could be a balcony. It dries there for at least two days.

In winter, after removing the fish from the oven, you can hang it on a rope or wire above the stove.

What is a hanging fish dryer and what is it for?

Drying fish on a rope or wire is a fairly simple and traditional method, but it does not prevent flies from damaging the product. But a hanging fish dryer can protect it from this harmful influence.

The hanging dryer is presented in the form of walls made of gauze or mesh. Such “walls” allow air to pass through and do not slow down the drying process of the fish. As a rule, inside such dryers there is a hanging device consisting of slats with guy wires and chains. Hooks for hanging fish are attached to these chains; when purchasing such a dryer, they are included in the kit.

To install a dryer of this type, you simply need to stretch a guy wire on neighboring trees or simply drive in stakes. If fish is dried in an apartment, you can purchase a special frame or build it yourself.

Drying fish in the summer

How to dry fish in summer? This process in the warm season is almost no different from drying it in winter. The only difference is that in summer the product can be taken out onto the balcony or (in a private house) outside. In winter, it is necessary to dry the fish over the stove, having previously completed the above procedure using the oven.

Drying fish is most often practiced in summer, since winter fishing is not as popular as in the warm season.

Drying fish on the balcony

For apartment dwellers, the process of drying river catch is a little more difficult, since there is not much open air. How to dry fish on the balcony? You need to do the following:

1. The fish must be washed thoroughly and the intestines removed. Under no circumstances should you remove the scales, as this will attract flies and cause the prey to dry out too quickly (this may affect its future taste).
2. A shallow but long cut must be made on the back of each fish, approximately from the head to the tail.
3. Next, the product is salted in a vessel. It is best to choose enameled containers and coarse salt. The latter is taken at the rate of 20% of the weight of the entire fish. If desired, you can add bay leaf and black pepper to the salt.
4. The fish is transferred to another container in layers, each layer is carefully covered with salt. You also need to rub the product inside.
5. A weight is placed on top of the fish and the whole thing is placed in a cool place for several days. It is recommended to use a refrigerator.
6. After salting, the fish must be washed and dried.
7. Next, it is hung on the balcony (thread or wire is used). How to dry fish without landing a fly? It is best to treat each with 3% vinegar.

The fish takes about a week to dry.

How to dry fish with intestines?

Whether to dry fish with intestines or not is a matter of taste. It is worth noting that if the product has been dried along with the insides, then its taste may exhibit a certain bitterness, which is not to everyone’s taste.

Drying fish with intestines occurs in the same way as all the above methods, the only difference is that you do not need to remove all the contents of its belly.

On the one hand, removing the entrails of fish is a very difficult matter, but if the fisherman does not want to get a dried product with a bitter aftertaste, then it is better not to shirk this matter.

What is a fish drying box?

How to dry fish without landing a fly? For this purpose, the optimal solution would be to use a fish drying box.

You can buy it or make it yourself. Creating a box yourself will cost about half as much.

The optimal size of the frame of a box for drying fish is 1 * 1.10 meters, depth - 0.5 meters. The most suitable material is wood (its species does not matter).

To create such a box, you need to do the following:

1. Mark the timber and cut it using an electric jigsaw. Then, using a screwdriver, angles and screws, assemble the frame.
2. Stiffening ribs are attached on all sides.
3. A cable is attached to the side walls (the fish is dried on it).
4. Then you need to treat the box with insect repellent.
5. It must be absorbed and dry, and after that the box is opened with varnish. It must be applied in two layers with an interval of 4 hours.
6. At the bottom of the box you need to install special spacing.
7. The base of the door must be sealed with a sealant.

After completing these steps, you will receive a ready-made box for drying fish, where no insects can penetrate.

The reader already knows how to dry fish without a fly landing. Now is the time to talk about how to store it properly.

There are several tips to help preserve dried fish for as long as possible:

• Before putting the fish in a bag for further storage, you need to wipe it thoroughly and put twigs from it in the belly. coniferous tree, in its absence, plain paper will do;
• During the hot season, it is recommended to place nettles on top of dried fish; this will increase its shelf life several times.

Here we told you how to dry fish at home. By fulfilling all the requirements, you will receive high-quality and delicious product. Bon appetit!

Delicious dried fish is easy to prepare yourself. To do this, you need to know how to dry fish at home. A little hassle, a few days of waiting - and you can enjoy the delicacy yourself, as well as safely treat your guests. Pieces of aromatic dried fish are sure to please everyone.

Sun-dried or dried - what's the difference?

Dried fish obtained by drying pre-salted raw materials. These are familiar, ready-to-eat products. Many people call dried fish exactly dried. Therefore, asking the question: how to dry fish correctly? - people usually mean how it should be dried.

Dried fish is obtained both from unsalted raw materials (fresh-dried) and from salted fish. Dried fish is considered a semi-finished product that requires further culinary processing. They usually dry it in the northern regions, storing it in reserve for use in the winter. Dried carcasses can be stored for a long time without losing their nutritional qualities.

Selection and preparation of fish

In principle, you can dry any fish at home, but fish that is not too fatty and small in size is best suited for this purpose. The following species can be successfully used for this purpose: roach, bream, sabrefish, podust, rudd, dace, silver bream, perch, ram, pike perch, roach and others.

The raw materials must first be prepared:

• Wash the fish well, gut it (without peeling off the scales) and rinse thoroughly again.
• If there is a large amount of it, then it is better to sort it by size, since fish of different sizes require different processing times.
• Salt the prepared raw materials.

You may not gut the fish, but in this case finished product it will turn out with a bitterness that bile will give it.

Prepared fish can be salted in two ways: dry - by covering the carcasses with dry salt, or wet - in brine (brine).

Dry salting

This salting method is most often used, as it is very simple. The dishes should be chosen so that the carcasses can easily fit in it (a wide pan or cup). You should pour a thin layer of coarse salt on the bottom, lay a row of fish, cover it with salt so that it is completely covered. The next row should be laid on top in the same way. And so you need to lay out the carcasses in rows, generously sprinkling each of them with resin.

After the last row is laid, you need to put a plate or lid on top that fits freely into the pan and press it down with pressure (for example: a jar of water or a weight).

Place the dishes in the refrigerator for 4-7 days (depending on the size of the carcasses). After the specified time has passed, the fish must be taken out, the salt washed off well, and then soaked in water (4-7 hours), changing it several times. In this case, the number of hours is equal to the number of days of salting.

After this, you can dry the fish. It should be hung in a well-ventilated place. In summer you can dry it outside, and in winter a balcony or kitchen is suitable for this. You can dry it on the veranda or in the summer kitchen. The main thing is that it should not be exposed to direct sunlight. Carcasses can be hung by piercing a wire through the eyes, or you can make hooks from paper clips, with which they are hooked onto the upper lip, and the other side is hung on a stretched cord or fishing line. You can hang the fish by the tails, but in this case the fat and juice will flow out, and it will turn out drier and fresher.

Salt in brine brine

This method is also good for home use. It allows you to get evenly salted fish in a shorter period. To do this you need:

• Prepare a supersaturated saline solution (brine). To do this, dissolve the salt in water, gradually increasing the concentration. The solution is considered ready if a piece of potato or a raw egg. You will need approximately 1 liter of brine per 2 kg of raw materials.
• Place a thin layer of salt on the bottom of a wide container.
• Place the carcasses in a container.
• Pour brine so that it covers the fish completely.
• Cover with a plate or lid and put pressure on top.
• Place the container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days (depending on the size of the fish).
• After the required time has passed, remove the carcasses from the brine and soak in clean water for about 30 minutes, changing the water every 10 minutes.

After this, let the water drain and dry, hanging in the same way as with the dry salting method.

How long does it take to dry fish?

Drying time until done depends on the size of the fish and conditions. On average, this is 4-6 days. Outdoors, blown by the breeze, it dries faster, at home - longer. In winter, in a cool room, this period increases even more. Therefore, after 4-5 days the fish should be tested to see if it is ready. If it is damp on the back, it should be left to dry for another 1-2 days.

It’s very quick and easy to dry fish at home in an electric dryer. Forced ventilation and elevated temperature accelerate the process of dehydration of the semi-finished product. In a standard electric dryer at a temperature of about +55°C, it is dried until ready in only 5-7 hours!

In the northern regions, fish are frozen outside for a month and a half.

1. To prevent insects from landing on the fish during drying in the summer, you can sprinkle it with vinegar or grease it sunflower oil, or you can make a mixture of them in a ratio of 1:3 and lubricate the fish with it.
2. For the same purpose, it can be covered with gauze or small tulle.
3. It is better to hang the finished raw material for drying on the balcony or outside in the late evening, then it will have time to weather and dry before the morning. Flies and wasps will practically not touch it anymore.
4. To speed up drying and protect against insects, open the bellies by inserting matches with cut heads or short sticks into them.
5. During dry salting, some carcasses are poorly salted. They can be easily identified - they float during soaking. Such fish must be dried separately and used for food first.
6. Store dried fish in a cool, dry place, wrapped in parchment paper and cotton fabric, or maybe in a glass jar, closed lid. At the same time, it will not lose its properties within 4-5 months.

They call it one that has been previously salted and then dried at a temperature not exceeding twenty-five degrees under natural conditions. Under this combined influence, the fabrics of the product are greatly changed. Most often, roach, ram, fish, and bream are used for processing.

How to dry fish?

This product is considered one of the most popular snacks for beer and other alcoholic beverages. In addition to knowing how to dry fish, a person must know which one to choose for cooking. A fresh, just caught catch is gutted if it is more than thirty centimeters in size and kept for two hours in a cool place mixed with nettles. The cleaned fish is strung on a thin rope or twine through the eye hole with the backs in one direction. Depending on their size, the twine can fit from two to ten pieces. The ends of the rope are tied in a knot. Bundles of fish are thoroughly washed in running water to remove various impurities and dirt, then each carcass is rubbed with coarse salt, some of the salt must be shoved into the gills and inside the belly if the catch is gutted.

It is strictly forbidden to store it in damp rooms, it easily deteriorates in them, and if it is too dry, the meat will become rough and tasteless. It is best to keep the finished product in a dry place in special fabric bags, perhaps in gauze. Before storing, make sure that the fish is really dry; if it is not dried enough, the delicacy will quickly spoil. Check each batch of product for the presence of a musty odor or mold; by noticing and eliminating the cause in time, you can avoid damage to the entire product. If you know how to dry fish correctly, then you won’t have to worry about its safety, because if properly prepared and dried, it will be stored for a long time.

How to dry fish under pressure?

Gut the freshly caught catch and add a little salt. Then rinse and make small cuts along the entire back. Sprinkle generously with coarse salt, lay out in layers and press down with any suitable weight, put in the cold, for example, in the refrigerator. No matter how many days you kept the fish in salt at a low temperature, you need to soak it in water for so many hours, changing it every two hours. During this procedure, the product is also best kept in the refrigerator. We hang ungutted fish by the tail, and gutted fish can be secured by hooking them through the eyes with a paper clip. We dry it in the heat, without access to direct sunlight, on a covered balcony, but close to the ceiling.

Today, few people, except avid fishermen, know how to dry fish. In fact, this simple thing can be turned into a chic one. Since this product is consumed mainly with alcoholic drinks, the demand for it will be constant.

Drying and drying fish is one of the ways to prepare it for future use...

Its peculiarity lies in the fact that after a certain period of time, pre-salted fish is dried (dried) in a dry and well-ventilated place.

As a result, it becomes suitable for consumption without preliminary heat treatment.
During storage, the moisture and fat content in the carcass of dried fish gradually decreases, it becomes drier, which is why it is also called dried.
Not all types of fish are dried, but only those whose meat, as it were, matures in the process of natural drying, acquiring a specific taste and aroma.
It is best to dry fish of medium fat content. If they are small, then whole or in the form of layers, cut from carcasses along the spine, or pieces (weighing about 100 g) cut across the layer.
The best taste in dried form is distinguished by ram, roach, roach, booster, bream, bream, fisherman, sabrefish, glue, ide, shemaya, blue bream, perch, pike, carp, capelin and some other fish.
As a rule, small fish are salted and dried without gutting. At the same time, the subcutaneous fat and fat from the insides of the fish impregnate the meat during drying, and the fish becomes much tastier.
It is recommended to prepare dried fish in spring or autumn from fatty or medium-fat fish.
It is not recommended to cook dried fish without gutting in the summer, since most herbivores fish feed on greens, which decompose during the drying process and give the fish an unpleasant odor and bitter taste.
The process of drying fish consists of three main stages:
- salting;
- soaking;
- drying.

SALKING

As a rule, when salting fish for drying, two main methods are used:
- wet , or brine;
- dry .
Not very large fish (250-500 g) are salted using the wet method: roach, silver bream, white bream, rudd, fish, sabrefish, asp, perch and small pike.
The fish is not washed, but only wiped with a dry towel.
For salting, use only coarsely ground salt. The purpose of salt is to remove moisture from fish, and not to give it a special taste: it itself has a distinct fishy aroma. Coarse salt dissolves more slowly and absorbs more, sucking moisture out of the fish.
In an enamel bucket, pan or basin, pour a little salt on the bottom. The fish are placed in dense rows: head to tail, back to belly, and even better, back to belly: this way the oppression will work better. Each row is generously salted. So much salt is poured onto the top row so that it covers the entire fish. For a special taste, add a little sugar. Place a wooden circle or an enamel lid from a smaller pan on top, and press it down. Heavy pressure prevents the formation of gas bubbles and cavities in the fish, in which putrefactive bacteria can develop.
4-5 hours after salting, the fish releases the brine on its own. This is the so-called brine.
For the entire salting period, the fish must be placed in as cold a place as possible.
Salt penetrates very slowly into fish meat, and where the fish has not yet had time to salt, the cold protects it from spoilage. At home, you can salt fish in the refrigerator, in the cellar, or on ice. In camping conditions, it must be placed in a hole dug in a cool, shaded place, and covered with branches or a tarpaulin on top to protect it from sunlight.
After 2-3 days (depending on the size of the fish), the back of normally salted fish becomes hard, the meat becomes dark gray, and the caviar becomes yellowish-red; if you pull it by the head and tail, it creaks.
With the brine method, such an amount of salt is dissolved in a bucket of water so that a raw egg placed in the brine floats on the surface.
Fresh fish is immediately strung on string or twine, 5-10 pieces each, and dipped into the prepared brine so that the brine covers it completely. Small fish are salted in 2-3 days. After this period, the fish is removed from the bucket, washed in water for 20-30 minutes and hung out to dry.
If the fish is large and there is a desire to dry it whole, that is, not gutted, then before immersing it in the brine, a salt solution is pumped into the belly of the fish through the mouth with a rubber syringe or syringe.

For camping conditions, there is a variation of the wet method of salting fish: it is sprinkled with salt on some board, the salt is stuffed into the mouth, under the gills and placed in a plastic bag. Then the plastic bag along with the fish is buried in a hole on the bank of a river or near a spring, properly compacting the tubercle: it will act as a natural oppression.
Larger fish - weighing more than a kilogram - are salted using the dry method.
Each fish is cut along the back and flattened. Remove the insides, then wipe with a dry cloth. The inside of the fish is generously sprinkled with salt, but, of course, not so much that it is impossible to take it into your mouth: everything should be in moderation. Fish carcasses are placed in rows in a wooden box so that the bellies are directed upward, and salt is also added on top - on the scales. The box is placed in a hole dug in a cool place and covered with plastic wrap on top.
Depending on the size of the fish, salting lasts from 3 to 7 days. During the salting process, the fish also releases its juice, but it immediately flows out of the box through the cracks. This is the meaning of dry salting fish.
You can also salt small, uneviscerated fish using the dry method. Any clean rag is spread on a wide board or plywood, the fish are placed in rows head to tail and always so that the back of one rests on the belly of the other. The fish are placed in rows on top of each other, sprinkled with salt and wrapped in the same rag. The top of the “package” is covered with another board or plywood, and pressure is placed on it. The brine released from the fish will seep through the fabric and flow onto the ground.

SOAKING

The salted fish is washed with cold running water. If the consistency of its meat is very dense, then the fish is soaked in cold water for 5-10 hours, changing the water 2-3 times. It is believed that fish should be soaked for as many hours as the number of days it was salted.
The amount of salt remaining in the fish after soaking should be between 5 and 7%.
The golden mean of soaking occurs at the moment when salty fish starts to float. This is exactly what is required: the brining will become tender, when held up to the light, the back of the fish will be amber-transparent, and after drying the meat will acquire a reddish color.

DRYING

Before drying the fish, lay it out in rows on paper to dry it slightly, and then string it on twine or a strong cord. If you dry fish in winter, it is best to hang it in the kitchen near a gas or electric stove.
If the fish is dried in the summer, when there is a possibility that it may be spoiled by fly larvae, it is recommended to dip the slightly dried fish in a solution of 3% vinegar. You can also lubricate the fish with sunflower oil or a solution of potassium permanganate. Hang the fish in specially made boxes made of boards and gauze or mesh (see Fig. 3-5).
Place the boxes with the fish in a well-ventilated, non-sunny place and make sure that they are not exposed to rain.

Rice. 3. Drying fish under a gauze canopy

Rice. 4. Fish dryer (dimensions in mm):
/ - wooden body; 2 - mesh; 3 - clamps; 4 - handles;
5- door; 6- rods; 7- door hinges

How to hang a fish to dry: if by the tail, the fat will flow out of the peritoneum through the mouth or gills; if by the head, then the ram, for example, will remain all with fat in the peritoneum.

Rice. 5. Box for drying fish

Typically, fish such as vimba, bluefish, and shemaya are hung head down, and fish such as saberfish, bream, ram, and pike perch are hung head up.
Using a shoe needle, a twine is pulled through the eyes, and to prevent the fish on the bottom from sliding towards each other, the overlap on the head is done twice.
It is better to hang the fish overnight while there are no flies. When the fish dries and the gills become crusty, the flies are no longer dangerous for the fish.
The best temperature for drying fish is 18-20 degrees. C. Depending on the size of the fish, drying lasts from 1 to 4 weeks.
Well-dried fish does not have salt protruding on the surface, its structure is clearly visible in the light. After removing the skin and scales, a layer of aromatic shiny fat is visible, the meat is not dry and elastic-hard. Dried fish, after air drying, must mature for some time (from three weeks to a month). It is better to store it in a fabric bag in a cool, ventilated place, wrapped in parchment or in tin boxes.

RECIPES FOR DRYING FISH

Rybets
The fish is first salted in brine - brine. Salt is placed in water (tuzluk) until it stops dissolving.
The fish are laid with their backs up, filled with brine, and pressed with slight pressure. Salting continues for five days, and in cool weather - up to ten.
After removing the fish from the brine, you should dry it in the shade for two days and only then soak it. After this, you need to hang the fish in the breeze, but in the shade - head down.
In hot weather, each fish must release the internal air with their hands before doing this.

Ram and roach
Cool, dry, windless days of early spring are most favorable for drying ram and roach.
During this period, the fish has not yet spawned, due to which it contains the greatest amount of fat and has the highest weight.
Atmospheric and temperature conditions at this time of year are also most suitable for successful drying.
Depending on the size of the fish, ram and roach are dried for 13 to 30 days.

Carp
The fish is cleaned of scales, the entrails are removed, and the heads and tails are cut off. The prepared fish is salted with dry or wet salting and kept for ten days, then washed, strained and lightly salted with a mixture of salt and two percent saltpeter. Hang in a ventilated place and dry for 2-3 weeks.
The finished fish is packaged in boxes with holes on both sides for ventilation. For the same purpose, sticks (chips) are placed between individual fish. In a dry, ventilated place, such fish can be stored for up to one year.

Bream and white bream
The fish is placed in a wooden barrel or enamel bucket in a salt solution at the rate of 1 glass of salt per 1 liter of water. A circle is placed on top of the fish, and a heavy object (oppression) is placed on it and kept in this position for 2-3 days. The fish is then washed in cold water and hung in the shade in the breeze.
The fish is dried for 10-15 days.

Chekhon
The fish is gutted, the blood near the spine is carefully removed, the gills are removed, and an incision is made from the inside along the ridge without damaging the skin. The scales are not removed. The cut fish is placed in a salt solution (125 g of salt per 1 kg of fish) and pressed down on top with a plate with a small weight.
Small fish are salted for 5-10 hours, large fish - from 12 to 20 hours.
Keep the fish in brine in a cool place.

Mackerel
Dried mackerel is prepared from fish caught in the spring, after spawning. The fish is gutted by pulling out the entrails through the gill covers without cutting the belly. Then it is washed, hung in pairs, passing thin twine or thick thread through the tail, and immersed in brine for 8 hours (25 g of salt per 1 liter). After this, they are washed with cold water and hung on the rods to dry. Drying lasts about two weeks.

Dried smelt and other small fish
The fish is gutted and wiped with linen cloth. Then they add salt together with spices in an enamel bowl (they put a lot of salt). Leave for 1-2 days, then the brine is drained, the fish is dried, strung on a string or wire threaded through the eye sockets, and dried under a roof in the sun in a well-ventilated place or in a non-hot oven on straw.