05-30-2003, 06:41 PM
[cool]I have smoked a lot of different kinds of fish over the years. Anyone who plays around with it for awhile ends up with 'THE ONE TRUE WAY"...kinda like religion...or fishing in general.
The basic concept of smoking in the olden days was to preserve fish for the long winters. That means that they had to be "cured" against spoilage. That usually meant a lot of salt...more than most people need or like for today's health conscious folks.
An old recipe for brining calls for using Kosher salt or sea salt (no iodine) and stirring salt into the water until it floats an egg. There are more precise recipes but this one has style. Add spices and flavorings to taste...like black pepper, mustard seed, dill, bay leaves and other foo foo if you like. You can also just toss in a small bag of pickling spices to flavor it up.
Brine the fish overnight in the refrigerator and pour off the liquid the next day. Let the fish dry to an air glaze and then smoke to get the preferred degree of smoke infusion and dryness.
Got that? Okay, I don't care about putting up a couple of barrels of smoked fish for my entire extended family to eat for the winter. I do a small batch at a time and usually have it all munched before my buddies come over to eat it all for me. I don't need to worry about a lot of salt, cause it ain't around long enough to spoil and it keeps fine for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator if it lasts that long.
I do the quick and easy...especially with the Little Chief Smokers. I've gone through several of them. They do a fine job. They turn out more of a "hot smoked" product than the old traditional temperature controlled smokehouses, but that's fine with me. I can get a batch of smoked fish by gametime if I start early in the morning.
On all fish except trout, I fillet and skin them. I leave the skin on trout to help hold the fillets together. If you fillet trout and cut out the row of tiny flesh bones along the side, you can let the kids eat it too, without worrying about the bones.
First step is to lay the fillets on a paper towel and pat the top surface dry. Sprinkle on a fair amount of fine sea salt or kosher (no iodine). Next, sprinkle on a generous amount of white granulated sugar. Some brown sugar adds flavor if you want to add or substitute.
If you like spicy, wait until the sugar and salt mixture has been left on the fillets for an hour or so. It draws moisture out of the fish and starts to form a glaze. Now sprinkle on pepper and other spices to your taste. I make a mix of 3 parts black pepper, and 1 part each of red pepper, oregano, cumin, and garlic powder. If you like hotter, add more red pepper.
Spray your smoker grid trays with non-stick spray and arrange the fillets loosely across the wires. Put a pan of moistened chips in the smoker and make sure the burner is working. Sometimes you have to reposition the connections to get it started. Once you have heat and smoke, put the fish in and let er rip.
There are several different wood chips available that will work in your smoker. Some people like apple. Others like mesquite. I prefer the latter for smoking red meats and turkey, but hickory is kinda traditional for fish...at least to my tastes. Experiment to find what you prefer.
The length of time you leave the fish in the smoker will depend on how thick the fillets are and what the "ambient temperature" is around the smoker. In the heat of summer, you will smoke at a higher temperature and the fish will be done faster. During the winter, you can bring the smoker inside and set it up in the fireplace...unless you meet with spousal resistance.
I change the smoking chip pan about once an hour for the first three hours. After that time, the fish has probably picked up about as much flavor as it is going to, and additional chips are wasted. But, the heat continues the cooking and drying process. Check the fish after about three hours. You may want to switch the top rack with the bottom rack to even out the results. Or, you can just put the thicker fillets on the bottom rack to begin with.
When I do really thick fillets, like salmon or catfish, I sometimes take the mostly cooked fish out of the smoker and finish the cooking and drying in the oven...slow baking at about 175 until I get the consistency I want. You can turn out a pretty good smoked catfish jerky with this system. Goes great with cheese and crackers at gametime.
Whew! As usual, I got kinda carried away. But fishing and food are two passions that go together. Hope there was something useful in all that.
TubeDude
[signature]
The basic concept of smoking in the olden days was to preserve fish for the long winters. That means that they had to be "cured" against spoilage. That usually meant a lot of salt...more than most people need or like for today's health conscious folks.
An old recipe for brining calls for using Kosher salt or sea salt (no iodine) and stirring salt into the water until it floats an egg. There are more precise recipes but this one has style. Add spices and flavorings to taste...like black pepper, mustard seed, dill, bay leaves and other foo foo if you like. You can also just toss in a small bag of pickling spices to flavor it up.
Brine the fish overnight in the refrigerator and pour off the liquid the next day. Let the fish dry to an air glaze and then smoke to get the preferred degree of smoke infusion and dryness.
Got that? Okay, I don't care about putting up a couple of barrels of smoked fish for my entire extended family to eat for the winter. I do a small batch at a time and usually have it all munched before my buddies come over to eat it all for me. I don't need to worry about a lot of salt, cause it ain't around long enough to spoil and it keeps fine for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator if it lasts that long.
I do the quick and easy...especially with the Little Chief Smokers. I've gone through several of them. They do a fine job. They turn out more of a "hot smoked" product than the old traditional temperature controlled smokehouses, but that's fine with me. I can get a batch of smoked fish by gametime if I start early in the morning.
On all fish except trout, I fillet and skin them. I leave the skin on trout to help hold the fillets together. If you fillet trout and cut out the row of tiny flesh bones along the side, you can let the kids eat it too, without worrying about the bones.
First step is to lay the fillets on a paper towel and pat the top surface dry. Sprinkle on a fair amount of fine sea salt or kosher (no iodine). Next, sprinkle on a generous amount of white granulated sugar. Some brown sugar adds flavor if you want to add or substitute.
If you like spicy, wait until the sugar and salt mixture has been left on the fillets for an hour or so. It draws moisture out of the fish and starts to form a glaze. Now sprinkle on pepper and other spices to your taste. I make a mix of 3 parts black pepper, and 1 part each of red pepper, oregano, cumin, and garlic powder. If you like hotter, add more red pepper.
Spray your smoker grid trays with non-stick spray and arrange the fillets loosely across the wires. Put a pan of moistened chips in the smoker and make sure the burner is working. Sometimes you have to reposition the connections to get it started. Once you have heat and smoke, put the fish in and let er rip.
There are several different wood chips available that will work in your smoker. Some people like apple. Others like mesquite. I prefer the latter for smoking red meats and turkey, but hickory is kinda traditional for fish...at least to my tastes. Experiment to find what you prefer.
The length of time you leave the fish in the smoker will depend on how thick the fillets are and what the "ambient temperature" is around the smoker. In the heat of summer, you will smoke at a higher temperature and the fish will be done faster. During the winter, you can bring the smoker inside and set it up in the fireplace...unless you meet with spousal resistance.
I change the smoking chip pan about once an hour for the first three hours. After that time, the fish has probably picked up about as much flavor as it is going to, and additional chips are wasted. But, the heat continues the cooking and drying process. Check the fish after about three hours. You may want to switch the top rack with the bottom rack to even out the results. Or, you can just put the thicker fillets on the bottom rack to begin with.
When I do really thick fillets, like salmon or catfish, I sometimes take the mostly cooked fish out of the smoker and finish the cooking and drying in the oven...slow baking at about 175 until I get the consistency I want. You can turn out a pretty good smoked catfish jerky with this system. Goes great with cheese and crackers at gametime.
Whew! As usual, I got kinda carried away. But fishing and food are two passions that go together. Hope there was something useful in all that.
TubeDude
[signature]