04-04-2023, 04:22 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-04-2023, 04:28 PM by Jig-fisher.)
I thought I would share my 1st attempt at smoking crappie. I have smoked a lot of fish before, such as trout, kokanee and catfish, but never panfish. I had fillets from 17 crappie that I caught on my last ice fishing trip up to Pineview. They had been in the freezer, but were now unthawed, patted dry, and ready for the brine.
I decided that a dry brine would probably work well. I mixed together a 1/4 cup of non-iodized salt, 1/4 cup of white sugar, 1 tsp of garlic powder and 1 tsp of onion powder. I sprinkled this mixture liberally over both sides of the fillets. I then placed the fillets on my wire smoking racks that had been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. I placed the racks over cookie sheets and left them until the pellicle had formed and more moisture had come out of them onto the drip trays.
I put alder chips in the smoker and set the temperature to 190 degrees. When it started to smoke, I loaded the trays and set the timer for 3 hours. I checked them at 2.5 hours and they were a nice golden color and done.
After removing the fillets and letting them rest for a bit, I finally got to take a taste. Wow, I was VERY pleased with the results. They turned out fantastic! These small fillets are perfect for snacking, and a very quick start to finish as well. Now fish tacos really are good, and crappie fit those tortillas almost perfectly, but I think I may have to do this a lot more going forward. Loved it!
I decided that a dry brine would probably work well. I mixed together a 1/4 cup of non-iodized salt, 1/4 cup of white sugar, 1 tsp of garlic powder and 1 tsp of onion powder. I sprinkled this mixture liberally over both sides of the fillets. I then placed the fillets on my wire smoking racks that had been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. I placed the racks over cookie sheets and left them until the pellicle had formed and more moisture had come out of them onto the drip trays.
I put alder chips in the smoker and set the temperature to 190 degrees. When it started to smoke, I loaded the trays and set the timer for 3 hours. I checked them at 2.5 hours and they were a nice golden color and done.
After removing the fillets and letting them rest for a bit, I finally got to take a taste. Wow, I was VERY pleased with the results. They turned out fantastic! These small fillets are perfect for snacking, and a very quick start to finish as well. Now fish tacos really are good, and crappie fit those tortillas almost perfectly, but I think I may have to do this a lot more going forward. Loved it!