Smoking Fish
Submitted by dpost80 on Wed, 2009-03-04 10:50
Bought a smoker the other day and tried it out with some YTK... sadly, was not impressed! I was using the Mako Jam flavoured wood chips.
Does anyone smoke fish a bit? Got any advice you could pass on? - e.g. methods, best fish to smoke, best flavours to try... Any tips/hints appreciated.
Cheers
UncutTriggerInWA
Posts: 2692
Date Joined: 05/09/08
Smoking Fish
The first thing to do is get rid of the lower shelf as it often gets ash contaminated. Only use the top shelf.
I used red and white wine sawdust (got it from Bluewater Tackle Mindarie) last weekend and it turned out really well. I found Hickory etc a bit pungent. Very salty brine with brown sugar for a good couple of hours, dry the fish thoroughly and brush with a bit of oil when on the rack. Only cook for the 8 minutes and leave in the smoker for 5 mins at least after taking off the flame.
Herring are fantastic on the smoker. Butterfly them then you can pull the bones out when cooked. Any oily fish is good as are things like pork ribs, chicken wings etc. Salmon is really good in the smoker as well. I recon the fish taste better when they are cold. Great finger food with a beer or two. Just today I brought a dozen fish to work and the guys cleaned them up entirely at morning smoko.
Cheers, Vince
http://vinceholt.spaces.live.com/
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Work Smart - Fish Often
Vince.
Work smart and fish often.
Member and die-hard supporter of the mighty West Coast Eagles.
roberta
Posts: 2773
Date Joined: 08/07/08
Love smoked fish
eel, mackerel, salmon, not a fish lover, Bob can't understand I'll eat anything smoked seriously thinking of getting a smoker, my late Father had one and he smoked the fish and I'd pig out when I was a lot younger.
Vince .. Could you adapt a Webber to a smoker, ours has been converted to gas?
SPEWIE LEWIE (not for much longer)
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Gully
Posts: 963
Date Joined: 04/10/05
webber for smoking
Sure can Roberta,
I do all my smoked fish in ours (heat bead type) and it comes up an absolute treat. We use the hickory soaked in water for as long as possible beforehand and smoked spanish mackeral is something to behold
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UncutTriggerInWA
Posts: 2692
Date Joined: 05/09/08
I guess so Roberta
I have seen some videos of people smoking on their BBQs. Not sure exactly what the setup was. Anything that will retain heat and the smoke should work fine. I bought my stainless steel smoker for about 80 bucks and it's worth every bit of it.
A while back I made a smoker out of a 44 gallon drum. I cut a door in the side and put hinges on it. I ran rio rods through the drum and tied the fish by the tails and hung them from the rods. You can do huge batches that way and it's fun.
Cheers, Vince
http://vinceholt.spaces.live.com/
------------------------------
Work Smart - Fish Often
Vince.
Work smart and fish often.
Member and die-hard supporter of the mighty West Coast Eagles.
wadetolley
Posts: 2258
Date Joined: 27/06/08
Sheoak
we smoke all our chicken and macky, herring ect with sheoak mate! Have tried a few other flavours...but sheoak is by far the best.
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UncutTriggerInWA
Posts: 2692
Date Joined: 05/09/08
I agree
I normally use Sheoke too. I tried the red and white wine this weekend and was pleasantly suprised.
Karri smoked Trout as a great dish. I must try some Karri on the Herring.
Cheers, Vince
http://vinceholt.spaces.live.com/
------------------------------
Work Smart - Fish Often
Vince.
Work smart and fish often.
Member and die-hard supporter of the mighty West Coast Eagles.
carnarvonite
Posts: 8627
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Smoking fish
Have tried it a couple of times but the papers went all soggy and I couldn't get it to light.Might try it in a pipe next time.
No seriously,I do much the same as Vince[UncutTrigger]but stick them into a stong brine then rub them in brown sugar,also do them for the same times as he does
dpost80
Posts: 439
Date Joined: 01/08/07
Fantastic advice
Fantastic advice there!
Thanks everyone.
Andy Mac
Posts: 4779
Date Joined: 03/02/06
Same as Vince but....
Cheers
Cheers
Andy Mac (Fishwrecked Reeltime Editor & Forum Moderator)
Youngest member of the Fishwrecked Old Farts Club
granta
Posts: 53
Date Joined: 01/01/09
yeh me an me old man do it
yeh me an me old man do it like that to,tuna,marline he leaves in smoker overnight to let it soak in.mmmmm,
Faulkner Family
Posts: 17861
Date Joined: 11/03/08
we use our small webber and
we use our small webber and just lay the fish out on racks using soaked hickory chunks , never tried in brine
always comes out nice and makes awsome fish cakes
RUSS & SANDY
"A family that fishes together stays together"
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
dpost80
Posts: 439
Date Joined: 01/08/07
Thanks guys... With the
Thanks guys...
With the "brine" referred to, is that simply water with a whole lot of salt mixed in?.... so you leave the fish in that for a while (how long?), pull them out and whack some brown sugar on the them... ??
cheers
dpost80
Posts: 439
Date Joined: 01/08/07
aaaaahhhhhh.... all my
aaaaahhhhhh.... all my questions answered :)
http://bbq.about.com/cs/fish/a/aa030400a.htm