CAFRE Technologists support fish smoking project
June 12, 2023
Food Technologists at the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE), work with businesses to assist develop new products, improve process efficiency and react to changing market demands.
Ruth Hyndman, a Food Technologist at Loughry Campus has been working with the Lough Neagh Fisherman’s Society (LNFS) to produce smoked pollan and smoked trout fillets for the Northern Ireland market.
The LNFS manages the fish industry on the lough to provide a reasonable livelihood for the fishermen now, and hopefully into the future. Sustainability of the fish species including Eel, Perch, Pollan and Dollaghan (trout) on the Lough is of the utmost importance. The controls which LNFS implements, both in harvesting and production processes, ensure this can be achieved.
In recent times smoked fish has been in great demand by local chefs and consumers. Until now the actual smoking process has taken place in Europe. Through the successful application of an Innovation Voucher provided by Invest NI, the LNFS was able to explore the process of smoking locally and producing a product to satisfy the required taste.
With raw material readily available from the production facilities based in Toomebridge, trials took place in Loughry’s Food Technology Centre, in Cookstown.
The fish fillets were brined and then oak smoked. Trials on brining and smoking times ensured a well-balanced product. Sensory trails by staff at LNFS ensured any suggestions as regards flavour improvement were taken on board for the next trial.
The voucher also enabled laboratory testing of products for shelf-life duration and nutritional content, ensuring that all information for product labelling was accurate and approved.
Paul Quinn from LNFCS comments,
“To be able to explore local smoking of the Pollan and Trout from Lough Neagh was a very exciting prospect for us, as the majority of these fish that are exported to Europe are enjoyed in this way. We felt that it was important to be able to deliver the same products right here in Northern Ireland. With the current artisanal food movement, we wanted local consumers to be able to savour these beautiful fish in the same way as our European neighbours have done for decades.” He added “Being able to avail of the expertise and enthusiasm at CAFRE, only reinforced our belief that we were creating something quite unique. Ruth was always on hand for advice, and in being able to trial different smoking mixtures, we found that it allowed us to fine tune the smoking process best suited to our Pollan and Trout. We are now excited to be able to bring these products forward with a view to marketing them when we finalise a smokehouse for Lough Neagh Fishermen’s Co-operative Society”.
Ruth Hyndman comments,
“The company engaged with the project throughout and provided timely feedback on products developed in production trials. This was vital to the success of the project, enabling deliverables to be met. I am delighted that the company is satisfied with their smoked Pollan and Trout fillets which will be available on the market in the very near future”.
If you are interested in developing a product with CAFRE, Food Technologists at Loughry Campus can work with you. Contact the team by emailing: loughry.foodtechnology@daera-ni.gov.uk or follow us at DiscoverCAFRE on Facebook and Twitter