Kipper History

"A combination of smoke, salt, and drying is one of the earliest recorded methods of food preservation. These procedures, loosely known as "Smoking" or

"Smoke Preservation," are successful because they kill food spoilage bacteria

or render them harmless by altering the chemistry of the food these spoilage

organisms need to grow. Smoked food is prepared with two basic procedures. 

One cooks the product (hotsmoking) and the other does not (cold smoking). 

Cold smoking devices have one basic function: to apply smoke to the product. 

Hot smoking devices have the added function of applying heat. 

Because preservation of fish usually requires moisture removal, systems designed for hot 

or cold smoking fish have the added function of dehydration. 

Air movement in a smokehouse is essential to the application of smoke and heat

and the removal of water from the product. Traditional smokehouses used

natural (gravity) convection to circulate air" 

This basic description is taken from an  archived document from Oregon State University dated 1992.

To the population of the Port  City of Hull in East Yorkshire, UK the reality of the fish smoke process looked like this at the end of their streets.

Hull had the largest deep sea fishing fleet in the British Isles in the late 19th century, peaking
in 1897 but maintaining an active presence well into the 1970's before the Icelandic Cod Wars
and EU quotas sounded the death knell  for that industry and the communities it supported.

Dozens of distinctive smoke house buildings could be seen amongst the rooftops of Hull in
the halcyon days of the fishing industry in response to a huge demand for smoked fish not as
the delicacy it is today but because it was a cheap and plentiful source of protein for poorer
families.

The smoke houses were typically brick or timber, pyramid in shape but flat topped
with multiple louvred vents or directional funnels serving as chimney flues to remove the
waste products of the oak and apple wood chippings or shavings which permeated the rows
of dangling haddock and herring kippers in the preserving and flavouring process.

Thousands of Hull residents were employed in the cold, wet and harsh conditions on the quayside and
traditional industrial areas such as Cod Farm and Gispsyville and contributed their
labour and skills to make the fortunes of family firms and entrepreneurs in the area.

The job demanded high speed and precision work in the gutting and filleting of the fish as it was
landed by the home fishing fleet or arrived overland from Norway and Scotland.  In
addition to the main  workers  other job  descriptions included tenterers (a term also found
in the clothing industry) who were  responsible for hanging up the fish in the multiple kilns, a
cutting manager in quality control and the all important role of the "firer out" to keep the
smoke going in what was a largely overnight operation. There were almost as many different
names for the staple haddock such as dannies, chats, gibbers and jumbo's.

The products of  the many companies involved in fish smoking were distributed via the regional rail network to all parts of the Uk as well as exported on a worldwide basis.

There was a brief revival of the industry after the second world war and the Hull skyline retained a presence of the distinctive smoke houses although these came under increasing threat from obsolescence,dereliction and the demolition and clearance of the traditional locations.

Today only around nine smoke houses survive in the almost ghostly form but I am not aware of any being fit for purpose.

One close to the regenerated Fruit Market in Hull has been renovated as commercial space with the funnels picked out in multi-coloured paint.

The example ,left, loomed up at me at the end of an old inner city housing street just today. I have put below it a much earlier photograph to highlight the changes and pressures at play.


Fish smoking continues but on a much smaller almost cottage industry scale.

I hope that the landmarks of this once huge industry can survive to acknowledge the contribution of a whole community in Hull.