Smoked Fish ???

[Old_Coot]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Ok fishing friends,[/size][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]My buddy just bought a nice smoker and has been telling me about all the great meats he is smoking these days. Every time we talk about it, I keep wondering some things regarding smoking fish. I just have 3 questions for yall:[/size][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]1.. What kind of fish taste best smoked?[/size][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]2.. Of the local (Utah) fish, are there some kinds that are just plain better baked or fried?[/size][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]3.. What are some of your favorite ways to prepare and smoke fish?[/size][/font]
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[IdahoNative]

I have never been one to like eating Macinaw. I even had a friend of mine smoke one for me and it was still nasty. So unless you like Macs don't waste your time with this one.

[One_eyed_jack]

The best fish so far that I have tasted smoked is Walley, SMB and perch. Perch are fantastic and do not take long to smoke. Runners up are cuts and bows. The way I do it is to rinse the fillets, let them soak in 7up for a couple hours at least then rinse, marinade in a brine for a very long time (12-24 hours) sometimes I will freeze them for a day or so them time the defrost with when to start the smoker (6-8am since this can be an all day process) rinse them before putting them on the tray and wait for them to cure. The brine I get is a brine made by lilchef at fred meyers, I have yet to experiment on this one.

If I am doing the white meat fish, I usually skin them so I pill put some foil on the racks so they do not fall through. I poke holes through the foil so the smoke can move about. You can do little trout 8" ers whole and they almost make some of the best tasting trout. Typically the brine and smoke process makes the bones much softer and easier to umm digest.

I also use alder and sometimes a bit of cherry mixed in for fish. i think that wood gives it the best taste.

By the way I also smoke pork chops, ham, bacon, steaks, just about any meat you want to taste really good.

Oh yeah last but not least they are awesome to snack on since they do not really require refridgeration, I would keep them cool till I took them though. Just think snacking on trout while fishing for them...
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[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Salmon is my favorite fish smoked. Big trout over 5 pounds (red flesh trout like rainbows and cutthroat) are also good. My experience is that white fleshed fish are not as good smoked. I have a friend that is perhaps the best fish smoker I know. His recipe is so simple and so good it's unbelievable. [/size][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]He puts down a layer of rock salt, lays a fillet of salmon on it, covers it with rock salt, another fillet and more rock salt. Nothing else! After "soaking" fillets in rock salt for a minimum of 24 hrs, rinse the fillet of all salt. This will take a while. Dry the fillets, you may need a fan, until you can see a "coating" on the fish ( I forget what it's called). Then smoke to desired doneness. It's killer![/size][/font]
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[tubeN2]

Don't forget the old trick for any fish that are more musty tasting, there is a fix for that before you smoke them. Soak them in milk overnite. This is especially good for Cats and Macks. It helps to get that stronger tast out of the flesh and meat. From there you can prepare them any way that you like, even filleted or steaked and smoke them.

If you are going to smoke them just be sure you don't inhale. ha ha
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Hey, Coot, doncha know smoking may be hazardous to your health? It dang sure is for the fish. They never survive it. Oh yeah, to get the rest of the prerequisite jokes out of the way...you have to be careful that you light the right end, when you smoke fish. (dumb)

I have been smoking all kinds of fish...fresh water and salt...for years and years. I have built smoking sheds and made smokers out of old refrigerators, etc. I have tried many commercial spices and marinade preparations, and have experimented on my own. I have also tried just about every kind of wood I suspected would work...trying to stay away from pine and other resinous woods.

Smoked fish is like some other things in life. It's all good...some better than others. But, you do not have to have a culinary degree or a fancy smoker to turn out decent smoked fish. It all "boils" down to several basic elements as to whether you should smoke a fish or save it for the grill, frypan or oven. And, that is usually a matter of personal preference. Ain't no absolute right or wrong.

The next part of the process is whether or not to presoak...in a brine and/or spice solution. This hails back to the days before refrigeration, when meats were smoked as a means of preserving...not just to make nice snacks for watching football on the weekend afternoons. (I suspact the Patriots were the favorite team with the pilgrims.) Salt helps cure the fish, and the spices helped cover the taste of any that started to go bad before it was eaten. Not too glorious, but that's what spices were about in the old days.

Next, you find a balance between the thickness of the fish, the smoking temperature and how "done" you want the final product. "Slow smoking" is the traditional method...maintaining a fairly low temperature and smoke infusion over several days. This does the best job of totally smoke flavoring every last morsel, and gives you a well cured product that will last longer in cool storage...especially if you have brined it well too.

In our fast paced and impatient society, we all want our pleasures right now. And, for most anglers, who enjoy smoked fish..and who have family and friends to "help" them eat it up...a small batch does not last long enough to go bad anyway. So, it can be "hot smoked" for a shorter period of time and still turn out a good product.

Like BLM, I do not think there is a better candidate for the smoker than a fresh caught salmon...or steelhead. The rich, red oily flesh takes up the flavoring of the smoking process and becomes food for the gods. And, as BLM also indicated, larger trout are a close substitute. But, even smaller trout...and especially kokanee...are excellent when properly prepared and smoked. It is a great way to make use of the red kokes of fall, when they are not in their prime for other cooking methods.

As a rule of thumb, I prefer to smoke the more oily fleshed fish...like trout and catfish. I do enjoy smoked walleye, striper, wiper, bass and even perch and whities. But, their more delicate white flesh is so good in so many other recipes that it seems a shame to subject it to the smoker.

I tend to lean toward the instant gratification school, when it comes to smoking. I picked up my favorite recipe from an old fishing guide on the Klamath River, in California. Many of his steelhead and salmon customers liked to be able to take some smoked fish home with them, after a couple of days of fishing. So, he would often smoke the first day's catch, with an accelerated method. I picked it up and have used it for years.

Instead of soaking in brine overnight, I salt and season the fish and let them set for a couple of hours before hitting the smoke. Then, I smoke them over fairly high heat, for only three or four hours...finishing them in an oven if they need more cooking or drying.

I start by putting the fillets or chunks on the racks of my smoker (pre-sprayed with a nonstick oil). I dry them on both sides with a paper towel, positioning the racks on paper towels over newspaper. There will be some "drippings" as the "rub" draws out moisture from the setting fish. My first step is sprinkling on some fine "kosher" or sea salt (non iodized). I don't like my smoked fish too salty, and I don't usually have to worry about having it around too long for spoilage, so I do not over salt.

Next, I sprinkle on my own blend of "super spice"...a combination of black pepper, cayenne, garlic powder, oregano and cumin. I like flavor and heat. I then rub the salt and spice mixture together evenly over the first side, and turn the fish over to similarly treat the second side.

(EDITED IN: Sprinkle on some sugar for a sweeter product. Use maple syrup or brown sugar for extra flavor)

I let the salty-seasoned fish set for an hour or two, during which time the salt draws moisture out of the fish and forms a glaze out of what does not drip onto the paper towels. When there is a glaze, the fish is ready for the smoker.

I preheat my smoker and make sure the hot plate is working. I failed to do that a couple of times and had to work with the electrical to make sure all the connections were good. Delayed but did not ruin my batch of smoked fish.

Oh yeah, the amount of time in the smoker will be influenced by what kind of smoker you use (insulated or not) and where you set it up...and if you do it outdoors, what is the weather like? Obviously, your fish will cook faster on a hot summer day, when you set the smoker in direct sunlight, with no wind. On a cold winter day, with the wind blowing on your smoker, you won't do very well very fast. I have even set up my smoker in a well ventilated fireplace, inside...when I was on good terms with the "house warden". Just make sure that the flue is open and the smoke goes up the chimney. Otherwise you will be "enjoying" the aroma of smoked fish in your house for a long time.

If you have one of the small smokers that heat the wood chips in a small pan, it will usually take about an hour to go through a pan completely. I change the pan about three times. That puts about all the smoke flaver in the fish that it is going to take. The heat keeps on cooking and drying the fish, however...and it will be slightly hotter in the smoker if you do add more chips to complete larger fish chunks.

If your smoking trays are stacked vertically in the smoker, rotate the top to the bottom at about the two hour mark...to get more even smoking and cooking. Or, leave them as they are, for a varied product. The pieces closest to the heat will come out harder and dryer...like fish jerky.

When I do catfish, I often remove the fish from the smoker after about three or four hours and put the pieces on aluminum foil...on a cookie sheet...and pop them in the oven at about 160 for another hour or so. Keep checking on the fish until it is the desired degree of texture. I like to get it just a couple of notches away from jerky. Then, I thin slice it and serve with cheese and crackers.

When it comes to woods, you can start an argument among dedicated smokologists very easy. Ain't no right or wrong. Strictly personal preference. As has been mentioned, apple, aspen, cherry, hickory and others all work. Hickory is traditional for fish, but the others can turn out a good product too. Mesquite and other stronger tasting smoke is best left to beef, pork and chicken...but can make some good catfish jerky.

That's my humble and succinct contribution to your question Mr. Coot.
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[fisherman]

Hey Old Coot,
I like smoked trout or kokanne salmon the best, Channel cats aren't too bad either.
I think walleye, bass, perch, crappie, are way too good eating to smoke them.
Here's a recipe I made up last year for trout or kokanee:

1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup salt(non iodized)
3-4 cups water
1/4 cup hoisan sauce
1/2 cup white wine cooking vineagar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
" " onion powder
" " jerkspice
" " dill weed
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 chopped pickled jalapenos
3-4 tablespoons tabasco, franks, crystal, etc.
Smoke with cherry wood

I use a little chief smoker. I fillet the fish and skin the fillets, whole fish I skin, cut off the head and tail. Mix up the brine in cold water and mix thoughly until the sugar and salt dissolve. Soak in brine for 48 hours in fridge. Remove, rinse off with cold water, drain in collander, pat dry with towels. Place on clean, oiled racks to air dry for 20-30 minutes. Place biggest thickest fillets or whole fish on the bottom and top, thinnest or smallest in the middle. Put in preheated smoker, add a heaping pan of wood chips, towards the end of the drying cycle, add one more heaping pan of chips to complete smoking until it is as dry as you like it. I like mine alittle on the dry side.
Make sure you have some time to check them so they don't get too dry. They dry faster on a hot/warm day. Also try to get all the fillets or fish around the same size so they are all done about the same moistness.

For the catfish I use the basic brine: 1 cup salt, 1 cup sugar, 4 cups water/beer. I use only about 1/2 cup salt thought. And I smoke with 1/2 apple 1/2 alder wood.

I know you like to cook old coot so I hope you enjoy these recipes. It sounds spicey, but it really isn't, the sugar compliments the spices well.

I enjoy treating friends and family that appreciate good smoked fish. Enjoy!
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[Fishcrazy]

OLD COOT-I have always thought White fish were the best fish to smoke,they have a oiley meat.I have smoked trout,but they seemed to dry.Back on the Great Lakes White fish go for $9 a pound smoked,if you can get it!White fish are easy to get,and the limit is 10.
Mike
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[polokid]

I definitely would have to say that Salmon is my favorite. but trout is good too if smoked. I found a love for smoked perch this year after catching them from Jordanelle. Candy i say, just like candy!!!! We simply used those pre made brines you can buy from Fred Meyers, and they were delicious. We also used alder wood in the smoking process.
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[Fish-Dog]

Personly I don't think you can beat Kokanee for smoking. I brine them for about 4 to 6 hours in a cup of brown sugar, a cup of salt, and a gallon of water, rinse, in cold water, dry for an hour on a rack and then smoke for 6 to 12 hours depending on size. I like to use apple wood for chips.

Smoked salmon & cream cheese on a plain bagel, it doesn't get any better.

fdg
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[RipNLips]

Hey BLM (and anybody else that's interested). The glaze you get on the fish when air drying after brine curing or dry curing is called a "pellicle". The pellicle has several purposes - it keeps ash and other contaminants out, it seals in the remaining moisture, and I think most importantly, it prevents the fats in the fish from rising to the surface and spoiling. Fats in contact with air oxidize (spoil). Therefore, getting a good pellicle on the fish before smoking is very important. The pellicle also provides a smooth even surface that smoke loves to adhere to, giving your smoked fish a more uniform smoky flavor and color. A little (or a lot) of sugar added to the mandatory salt used in the curing process will produce a thicker, shinier pellicle, and like the salt, the sugar will also draw moisture from the fish during the curing process.
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[FlyFishingMoose]

Thanks for the info I've got a nice fat albino soaking in brine today and will be firing up the smoker tonight we'll have to see how it works and tastes.
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[ALAN]

Hey Old Coot-- I've been useing a propane water smoker for several years now. Don't know what I did without it. As everyone has said, salmon is the best. When I was i Washington state last Sept. I bought 50lbs of Albacore Tuna off of a tuna boat. It smokes fantastic. Where I get most of my smoking recipies from is from a cabelas water smoker cook book. If I remember right they are about 10 bucks. It has great recipies and marinades for damn near anything you want to cook. It gives you enough options that you can have fun trying different ones. Al
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