The main method for obtaining smoke aromas is the pyrolysis of wood (mainly hardwood) and the subsequent condensation of smoke in an aqueous medium. An important stage is the separation of tar and resinous substances from the water condensate. During storage at a temperature of 5 … 35 C, the condensate remains relatively stable in composition for several years.
The technological scheme for the preparation of water-based smoking flavors includes the following operations:
- wood pyrolysis;
- sorption of the air-smoke mixture by a water layer;
- water condensate smoke filtration;
- exposure of water smoke condensate for 7–10 days. in special tanks,
- decantation (separation of the solid phase from the liquid by mechanical draining of the solution from the sediment),
- filtration and packaging of the finished flavor (see picture).
Adjusting the parameters of the sorption process allows you to obtain stable quality smoke condensates with different contents and ratios of the main smoking components. The installation for producing smoke flavoring, as a rule, consists of a smoke generator, scrubber or absorber, fan, water pump, cooling system and control panel.
The smoke from the smoke generator is fed to a scrubber or absorber, where the volatile products of wood pyrolysis are absorbed into the water circulating along a predetermined circuit of the installation. Smoke, purified by more than 90% of pyrolysis products, is emitted into the atmosphere. The liquid is pumped into a settling tank, cooled to room temperature and filtered. Installations for the production of a water-based smoking flavoring agent can consist of several scrubbers (absorbers) connected in series. Also, a multistage system for cleaning liquid smoking can be used – several settling tanks with sequential cleaning of smoking liquid in them.
Depending on the technology, there are several types of water-based flavors:
- mixture of individual condensate fractions;
- modified smoke flavorings;
- smoke flavorings enriched with additional substances.
Mixtures of separate fractions of condensates are obtained by distillation of complete condensates with separation of individual fractions and their subsequent mixing. Depending on the proportion of individual fractions and their qualitative composition, the desired effect on the taste, color and aroma of the smoked product can be adjusted.