Ahhh...what a timely post. The brother-in-law and I loaded up on pinks out of Freshwater Bay a week or so back, and they're sitting on the counter waiting for the smoker as I type.
The following is perhaps somewhat basic to you seasoned anglers, but it wasn't too long ago I was in Pat's shoes...perhaps this will help out a few new to the biennial humpy invasion.
While many consider the pink to be inferior eating on the grill compared to silvers/kings, my buddy C-Lou Jon has shown me the light with respect to smoking them...man, what a treat. While there are gazillions of recipes, smoking methods and smokers, here's a simple and cheap way to turn those pinks into fabulous yum yums...
First, if you don't already have one gathering dust in the garage, pick up a Luhr Jensens Little Chief smoker. For the 4-8 lb. pinks that we snag by the boatload in Puget Sound, this smoker works really well...the racks are just the right size for 4 fish (8 fillets.) Eventually I plan on moving up to a
Cookshack or
SmokinTex, but those cost quite a few more pennies...
Now...here's my method, start to finish. I'm a relative rookie at this, but I've tried to learn from the best, and the following has resulted in nuggets that always seem to get munched up quickly.
1. Catch humpy. Don't bonk. Cut gills, let bleed out in the net a bit, toss on ice in cooler.
2. Fillet, leave skin on. Rinse thoroughly, pat dry with paper towel. Place 4 fish (8 filets) in gallon zip lock (that's how many fit in the smoker at one time), expel as much air as possible, and freeze. I don't bother with a vacuum sealer, unless I expect the fish to stay in the freezer a while - if you can smoke within a few weeks, the ziploc works fine. Oh, and for this method - you don't want to smoke the fish fresh, you want them frozen - I'll explain later.
3. On a Saturday morning (for all you working folk - you retirees can start any morning you like), take two packages of fish out (8 fish, 16 fillets.) Toss them in the sink.
4. Make your brine. Settings aside recipes, there appear to be two schools of thought here - wet vs. dry. For me, I don't understand the wet brines. They are more hassle, and one of the purposes of the brining step is to remove water from the fillet - a dry rub does that very well. My basic brine base - 1 part canning/pickling salt, to four parts dark brown sugar.
Do not use table salt! For 16 fillets, I've found 1 cup salt/4 cups brown sugar is just about right. As to what else to add to the brine - be creative, toss in whatever you think will taste good. I always seem to end up with fresh pressed garlic and ground pepper in my mix, but opportunities are endless...experiment and have some fun!
5. When the fish have thawed enough to separate from each other (about 6 hours or so at room temperature), you're ready to start. You want the fish to be slightly flexible, not totally thawed. Remove fillets from bag, and slice through the meat in one inch strips, just down to (but not through) the skin. This is the primary reason I freeze the fish - cutting them partially thawed makes this step far easier and gives much better results.
6. Stack the first layer of fish in a non-metallic container. I use an el-cheapo plastic bin, that fits well on one of my refrigerator shelves. Liberally sprinkle the brine mix over the fillets, covering all of the flesh. Gently tap/rub the mixture into the fish. Stack another layer of fillets on top, and repeat until done.
7. Toss in the fridge overnight. I always let the brine sit for at least 12 hours, but I've gone much longer without problem. Some folks shuffle the fish top to bottom during the brining process as the liquid extracts from the fish - I don't bother.
8. Early the following morning, set up your Little Chief racks on the counter, placing them on a strip of foil. Spray them lightly with PAM.
9. Pull the fish from the fridge/brine. Very gently, rinse the brine mixture off them, and lay them on the racks. Each rack will hold two humpy fillets lengthwise, typically with a little room to spare below them. The spare space comes in handy if your fillet is a little long - take a pair of scissors and snip a small section of the tail off, cutting along one of the slices you made prior to brining.
10. Pat the fillets dry with a paper towel. I also like to crack some fresh ground pepper on top of them at this point, but that's up to you.
11. Leave the fillets on the counter for 2-3 hours. After a whle, you'll start to see them glazing up (called "pellicle") - this is good!
12. Get your smoking chips together, dump them in a bucket, and cover with water. In the 2-3 hours the fish are glazing, the chips will soak up sufficient water. You want them to smother slowly when smoking time comes...never use dry chips. As to the chips themselves - this is another area of personal preference, but many prefer Alder for fish - that's all I use.
13. About 30 minutes prior to the end of the sitting time, turn on the Little Chief to pre-heat it. No need to put the chip pan in.
14. Place the fish in the smoker, along with a full pan of wet chips. Things should smolder for 30-45 minutes, after which you should replace the chips at least once. This is yet another area of personal preference - it's not necessary to keep things smoking throughout the entire process, but how many times you replace the chips will definitely impact flavor. I replace them 4-5 times, but I like a fairly heavy smoke flavor.
15. The Little Chief smokes the little pinks fairly quickly - probably 4-5 hours or so, but eyeball and taste things from time to time. Some folks like their fish moist, other like it almost like jerky. Regardless, rotate the racks from time to time - the fish on top will cook more quickly. There are five shelves, and four racks making this easy.
16. At about 2 hours in, repeat steps 9-11 for the second batch of fish still sitting in the brine mixture. They'll be ready to go in the smoker when batch #1 finished.
While eating the above all by itself is pretty dang good, you can make a smoked salmon shmear pretty easily that's to die for...toss some smoked salmon, cream cheese, sun-dried tomato (along with some of the olive oil they come in) into the Cuisinart and whip. Dice up some red onions very fine, and hand mix them in. Mmmmmm......eat it on a toasted bagle for breakfast, and your day can't possibly get off to a better start.
Hope the above helps a rookie or two - have fun!
