Smoking catfish

[fast_randy]

I smoked my catfish yesterday. I'm posting here and not the Idaho site because: 1: I need Tube Dude. 2: I caught them in Utah. But I will post on the Idaho site after.
For brine I used 2/3 soy sauce 1/3 Pepsi. With 1/4 cup Brown sugar and some lemon juice. Over night in a gallon zip lock. 
Pat, what have you found best for brine? But more importantly, how long to smoke them? I use a charcoal smoker and keep adding more coals constantly keeping the temperature between 125 & 150 degree. This time I used Mesquite also soaked over night in water.

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The last picture is done. The others before smoking.

[fast_randy]

The taste test: It is so good! Some of the edges are more like fish jerky. But still great tasting jerky. Lol, I tend to smoke things too long. I didn't add any extra salt, but it still tastes plenty salty from the Soy Sauce. I would like to try 50/50; 1/2 soy sauce 1/2 Pepsi.

[TubeDude]

I'm  sure your smokitties will turn out fine.  There ain't no absolutes when it comes to smoking.  Anybody with a smoker is gonna tinker around until they find the ingredients and the system that turns out a product they like best.

I have been smoking fish and other stuff for several decades.  And I have been privileged to have sampled smoked goodies from quite a few other smoky fans.  I don't claim to know all the answers but I do know most of the questions.

When smoking catfish there are a couple of considerations.  First, the flesh is dense and more oily than many other fishes.  Some kind of brining always helps the texture and flavor.  And it picks up the smoky flavor nicely.  But it does take a bit more time in the smoker to be all that it can be.  The temperature and length of time are something you have to experiment with...under different conditions of outside temperature, wind and humidity.  I prefer long smoking times at lower temps...under 200.  And while I like trout and salmon just barely done past the uncooked stage...moist and yummy...I often leave my kitty chunks on the heat until they lose more moisture and are getting toward the jerky stage.  But that's just me.  And sometimes I shorten the time and then blend the lesser smoked catfish flesh into some cream cheese to make a killer chip dip.

There are a bajillion recipes for exotic brine mixtures...for presoaking fish before smoking.  I sometimes like those for troutkind.  But for catfish I prefer to use a salt/sugar dry rub and leave them in the refrigerator overnight.  The salt and sugar sucks a lot of liquid out of the fillets...which I pour off in the morning and then give the fillets a good fresh water rinse to remove excess saltiness before smoking.

I am attaching a writeup I put together a while back that shows my process.   But feel free to add or alter any of the ingredients or procedures to suit your own tastes.  Just be sure to avoid using any substance not approved by the narco squad.  Oh yeah, I wouldn't recommend WD-40 either.

[Therapist]

Randy, my only question is which end do you light ??? Seriously, TD's smoked kitties are fantastic, but as he said, you will find a recipe that works for you. Hope you are able to keep experimenting till you find your purrrrrfect recipe for smoking kitties !!! ( Ok, so the jokes are BAD)!!

[TubeDude]

Randy, my only question is which end do you light ???  Seriously,  TD's smoked kitties are fantastic, but as he said,  you will find a recipe that works for you.  Hope you are able to keep experimenting till you find your purrrrrfect recipe for smoking kitties !!!  ( Ok, so the jokes are BAD)!!

Ha!  Everybody knows that the hardest part of smoking catfish is finding papers big enough to roll them in.

Maybe someday Randy will learn that it's tough to get a straight answer out of this Utah crowd.