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Made my first attempt at smoking fish today. Got overwhelmed w/ the different brines, rubs and theories on how to prepare fish for smoking so I took the easy way out and bought a commercial brine at sportsmans. Followed the directions soaking the fish for 30 min in a simple saltwater brine then putting it in the commercial brine and let it soak about 12 hours. From there I followed directions getting the smoker to temp (around 160-180F) and putting the fish on there for 30 minutes then put the wood on. Used the tree trimmings from last fall from the in-laws apple tree. Kept checking the temp about every 15-20 minutes. about half way through the temp dropped. Decided the briquets I was using for heat had burned too low so added a bunch more. This did the job and let me finish. About a total of 5 hrs smoking. Never did get the internal temp up to 160 F so put the in the oven at 200 for about 45 minutes and the temp came right up.
Final result was amazing. My 6 yr old niece (who said she didn't want any initially) offered to take the plate for me, with 1/4 of a kokanee left! Guess it was good. Smoked 3 kokes and 1 steelhead. Should be good for bit.
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forgot to upload the pic of the finished product.
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Looks good! There are a lot of theories out there on how to smoke fish. Just find what works for you and enjoy! Once I went to dry rubs everything changed. Now I smoke fish all the time cuz it's no hassle. I use a commercial brine (and doctor it up) for my jerky cuz that's what I like. What brand did you get?
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Could you give more info on the dry rub way. Same every thing else, how long do you let it set before you put it in the smoker, etc Thanks
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Wow - those look great, nice job on your first try. What kind of smoker are you rocking? Is it one of those charcoal Brinkmans? I've used charcoal but came back to the electric Little Chief. I had too much problem getting an even temp with charcoal and felt it cooked a little hot. The Little Chief takes awhile (especially smoking ducks in the winter) but it is somewhat consistent. The best smoker I ever had was one of those small, old retro refrigerators. Me & a buddy processed and smoked fish & game when we were kids. We drilled holes in top of the fridge, bought an old electric skillet at the thrift store and smoked the H E double toothpicks out of all kinds of meat. I wish my wife would think it was cool to let me have another fridge smoker in the backyard.
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I was using one of the charcoal brinkmans. As for running too hot I actually had just the opposite problem. I couldn't get it hotter! Maybe it was d/t the rain cooling the cover or something. As for the commercial brine I used it was the Hi-Country Fish Mix. It wasn't too much hassle other than having to wait for it to marinate. Other than that it was extremely simple.
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