Smokin!

[gljjr]

Nick,

Congrats on your smoked fish! I hope to be doing another batch soon myself.

The SalmonU recipe is basically the same thing I do. Except I don't bother measuring anything. I just place the fish in glass caserole dishes flesh side up. Coat the top with non-iodized salt and then cover that with brown sugar. Add another layer of fish on top of that and repeat until the top of the caserole is reached. Cover it and put it in the fridge over night. In the morning I drain the brine off and pat the flesh dry. Then I place it in the smoker and away we go. Simple and good

I've found the biggest mistake to make is to use metal or plastic when brining the fish. The flavor gets transfered into the fish and it can ruin a good batch! Now the only thing I will use is glass caserole dishes or bowls. No more plastic, metal, or clay during brining for me! Also, using iodized salt makes the meat taste metallic as well.

[Wefings]

Here is what is going in my Bradley tonight . About 5 Lbs of Tripletail fillets with the following cure . Finely diced Jalapenos and Poblanos from our garden, a little fresh ground black pepper, a light dusting of Morton's Tender Quick [ helps with texture and moving flavors into the meat] and a sprinkle of Kikkoman Memmi [ thats noodle soup base for Udon, sort of soy like but a little sweeter ] In the brine/cure for about 12 hours , and then about 5 or 6 hours low and slow on the Bradley with whatever wood I decide to use . Probably Alder or Maple .
After that, a load of Spanish Mackerel and Mullet next .............
Marc

[Pat Anderson]

Nick and all - I love the electric Brinkman, but it really has too high a temperature (around 250 degrees F) for traditional curing and smoking of fish to preserve them - it does a fine a job of smoke-cooking the fish (as well as brisket, ribs, butt, etc.), but what you end up with is smoke flavored cooked fish. Traditional curing and smoking use a salt brine plus low temperature smoking, more on the order of a dehydrator than an oven! Even the Little Chief, which is about 100 degrees F cooler than an electric Brinkman, is still on the HIGH end of the temperature range for traditional smoking. The smoke cooked fish taste great of course!

[Sea Wolf]

Pat-

You're absolutely right about the temperature difference between smoking and cooking! Great post, but now you've got me wondering.............

Cooking kills bacteria (and molds, etc.) with heat. Cold smoking wouldn't get the temperature up high enough to sterilize the meat, which is a great growth medium for bacteria and spoilage. So it must be the smoke that cures the meat and kills the bacteria. OK, so far so good.

But we then eat the smoked fish with the tasty smoke residue in it. However, we know that many kinds of smoke and combustion residues are carcinogenic. So does a lot of smoked food/fish pose a health risk?

Who knows?

From a pragmatic point of view, a lot of folks are eating smoked foods. But a lot of folks also smoke cigaretts, etc.

Of course, we all take in a lot of smoke from stoves, fireplaces, cars, industrial sources, and steaming spouses. The risk is there, but must be moderate.......

Joe.

[gljjr]

One thing I ALWAYS do is freeze the fish before smoking it. That will kill most of the bad stuff. But I also do the higher heat "Smoke Cooking" that Pat describes as I try to keep the heat at about 150 in the smoker.

[Chuckpacific]

Does anyone have a good marinade for smoked albacore?

[C-Hawk]

I have smoked albacore with the following;
water, light brown sugar, olive oil, white wine, salt, pepper and dill or other spices.
I sometimes smoke the loins whole or halved, then break them up to make smokey tuna salad.

I have sometimes just used the light brown sugar on smaller pieces to make squaw candy- good also on salmon.

I use charbroil smokers with charcoal and mesquite, a water steamer with orange juice and various wood chips.