 Smoking trout and other meats
and fish - During the
last few years I have tried many different smoking methods and believe that
you must have a go at it yourself. I was surprised to find out, that many
trout fisherman don't like eating the trout they catch. I have been catching
trout for many years now and must admit that there have been times that I have
had more fish in the freezer than I could eat myself. That was until I found
that there are so many ways to cook your catch. Now I rarely have any uncooked
fish in the freezer. A smoker like mine is shown here.
This section of the site is dedicated to sharing my smoking
experiences with you. I would welcome your feedback and any smoking tips you
would like to share with other like-minded individuals. I can promise you that
if you are prepared to put the effort into trying smoking you will be amazed
at the results that are possible.
Smoking food can be achieved by HOT or COLD smoking. Cold
smoking in my opinion is best left to serious processors as it is more
critical and requires more skill, knowledge and equipment. Traditionally,
smoking food was used as a method of extending the storage times, in general
we are smoking food that will be consumed within a day or so or frozen for
later consumption. I would recommend eating your smoked fish within 4/5 days
of processing if kept refrigerated or freezing when cooled.
To begin with you must catch some trout. Size is not an
issue. Personally, I prefer smoking fish of about 2 1/2 lbs. I have smoked
much larger fish and also some of 1 lb. or so. Smaller fish take less time to
smoke and are a little more difficult to prepare, but still well worth the
effort. I would advise you to prepare fresh fish and then freeze the fillets
if you are not brining on the same day. Filleting previously frozen fish is
much more difficult and I would not advise it, unless you have a freezer full.
I have tried smoking whole fish and I would suggest that you give it a go, my
own experience is that you will probably prefer the taste of the fillets and
that it is worth the extra effort. Whole fish take much longer to smoke and
the meat absorbs less 'smoke' flavour.
After smoking, the fish can be frozen and eaten later. That
is if you have smoked plenty. You will be surprised how many people will
devour the finished product. Even those that say they don't like trout will
tuck-in once they have tried it cooked this way.
The equipment needed for hot smoking is not that expensive
and if you are a handy man you could easily create your own. I have a smoker
with a firebox at one end. In my first attempt at smoking I filled the firebox
with charcoal and used hardwood chips that had been soaked in water. This is
NOT how to do it! I was lucky enough to meet a smokerholic while looking for a
temperature gauge for my smoker. He explained that the heat generated by
charcoal is very dry and it burns far to hot. Rather than explain how not to
do it I will give you some sound advice on how to proceed.
Firstly, build a very SMALL charcoal fire in the firebox, a
handful of charcoal is plenty. Get this burning nicely and add you smoking
wood to this. Your smoking wood can be any hardwood; each wood having it's own
flavour. I have used many, my favourite being cherry and apple. The pieces
should be fairly well dried and quite chunky. Small pieces will burn hotter
and faster. The temperature inside the smoker can be accurately increased or
lowered by increasing or reducing the flow of air through the system. Allow
the smoker to reach a constant temperature of about 100 degrees F. A good
quality heat gauge is important to guarantee the results. Once smouldering the
hardwood will give off a good amount of smoke, if the airflow is correct the
heat in the smoker will remain consistent and the wood will not burn fiercely.
Towards the end of the smoking the temperature must be raised to at least 212
degrees F and this can be achieved by opening the firebox vent and allowing
the wood to burn hotter. With some experimentation you will master the
temperature control with ease.
The whole process can be broken down into three steps.
Filleting - Brining - Smoking
Filleting - Beware, filleting knives are extremely
sharp and will cut through you as easily as they do the fish. I have filleted
dozens of fish without any mishaps, a single slip of the knife and it's a trip
to casualty, so don't be in too much of a hurry.
How to prepare your trout for smoking
Trout are best filleted fresh and
preparing the fish can be easy, if you take your time. Your knife must be
extremely sharp or your finished fillet will resemble a lace curtain. With
some experience you should perfectly fillet a fish in just a few minutes.
First gut and clean the trout as you would normally. Hold the trout firmly and
remove the head. Cut off the fins with a pair of kitchen scissors.
Place the fish on its side or with
its back facing upwards; insert knife and slice along the backbone. The blade
will naturally follow down one side of the fishes backbone. Let the blade
follow the bones and lift the first filet as you cut. Turn the fish over and
repeat. Removing the bones from the second fillet is more difficult and care
must be taken not to cut yourself.
If you are smoking the fillets it
is not necessary to remove any remaining bones as they lift out easily when
cooked. If you are preparing a dish with a sauce pluck out the remaining
bones. Take the trouble to remove any bones that are left embedded in the
fish, as this will make your guests remember the meal rather than the
experience. These bones are easily removed with a small pair of regular
pliers.
Small fish - If the knife blade is held at the correct
angle it will glide along the bones quite easily and remove the first fillet.
You can leave the bones on the second fillet until after smoking when they
will easily lift off. I like to prepare a dozen or so fillets and generally
take the time to carefully remove the bones from the second fillet. It does
not improve the taste only the appearance whilst cooking in the smoker.
How to prepare your brine for smoking
Ingredients - Suitable for marinating 5 - 6 lbs. fresh fish fillets, steaks
or whole fish.
- 8 Cups of fresh still bottled spring water.
- 1 Cup of sea-salt.
- 3 Large chopped onions or 1 tablespoon onion powder.
- 5 Large Cloves of crushed garlic or 1 tablespoon (granules / powder).
- 1/2 Cup of white sugar.
- 1/4 Cup brown sugar.
- 1/4 Cup soy sauce.
- 2 oz. Lemon juice.
- 1 Tablespoon dried tarragon.
IMPORTANT - Use a non-metallic container for brining. You
can use previously boiled tap water in place of bottled water if you wish. The
boiling removes the chlorine in tap water that would taint the flavour of the
finished product. The prepared brine MUST be chilled prior to adding the
fillets or whole fish. If you are using fresh onion and / or garlic, ensure
that you add these last, so that the water has cooled considerably.
1. I generally warm up a small amount of the water and add
the sugar and salt. Stir this well to dissolve the solids. I then add the
solution to the remaining water in my container. Add the lemon juice, soy
sauce, crushed garlic, chopped onion and tarragon. Mix well to disolve any
remaining salt and sugar.
Bearing in mind that you need to refrigerate the brine with
the fillets in place, choosing a suitable container can be tricky. I can
remember my first attempt well and finding a suitable container was left to my
wife. Well for a change she came up with an excellent idea (sorry dear). Most
if not all refrigerators come complete with a sizeable plastic vegetable rack
or as in our case the freezer top tray was suitable and fitted perfectly in
the bottom of the fridge. We also found the perfect way to stop the fish
floating and to help cool the brine was to place a couple of plastic
frozen 'ice packs' on top of the fillets, the type used in cool boxes.
2. Place your fish into the cooled solution and ensure that
they remain submerged. Place the container in the fridge stirring
periodically. Your brining time will vary depending on the size and thickness
of your fillets or whether you are brining whole fish or not. I like to leave
mine in the brining solution for a minimum of 6 hours and often I will leave
them overnight. The garlic and onion in the mixture gives of quite an aroma
and will leave you thinking that the resulting fish will be inedible. Once
smoked, you will be as surprised as I was to find that the resulting trout has
no resemblance to the smell of garlic in your kitchen.
3. Pre-heat your smoker to no more than 100 degrees F.
After brining remove the fish and gently rinse under cold running water. Put
the fish on a tea towel and pat dry. The fish must now be placed on a rack and
allowed to air-dry. I use a fan to assist the drying process. You will notice
that as the fish dries a glaze will form on the surface. This is called
the 'pellicle'. Once dry the fish are ready for smoking, this can take 1 1/2 -
2 hrs - less if you have a fan. Keep flies away from the food whilst it is
drying as we don't want to add any germs at this stage.
4. Now it is time to place your fish into the smoker. Place
them as far away from the fire as possible, if you fill your smoker you will
need to swap the pieces half way through the process because the food nearest
the firebox gets more heat. I grease the grill before placing the fish skin
down on the grill to avoid sticking. It is important to note that the long
smoking time is required to 'dry' the fish not to cook it. You need to keep
the temperature between 100 - 120 degrees F for the first hour or so at which
time you can increase the temperature to speed up the smoking process. Try not
to allow the temperature to rise above 180 degrees F except for the last 20
minutes when it is IMPORTANT to ensure that the temperature reaches 100
degrees C. I generally smoke my fillets for about 3 - 4 hours and then bring
up the temperature to 212 degrees F to kill off any bacteria that may be
present. The longer you leave the fish smoking will dictate the amount of
smoke flavour in the finished product. The process is reasonably slow so there
is no need to panic, half an hour or so either way will make little difference
to the taste, the longer you leave the fish smoking the more moisture is
removed. My preference would be to give a little more time smoking than not
enough. The smoke from the wood will prevent the fish drying out excessively,
so don't worry. If you are like me, you will be tempted to pick at the fish
after a couple of hours, and with each mouthful will get know when they have
had enough time.
Keep the smoker out of strong wind; if it is windy place
the smoker where it will get shelter from the wind. Watch the temperature
periodically - Not enough airflow and the wood will cease to smoulder
properly, the temperature will drop and the smoking time will need to be
extended. Too much airflow and the temperature will rise. Remember that the
first few hours smoking are required to dry the food not to cook it. Raising
the temperature to 212 degrees F for the last 20 minutes will kill any
bacteria and ensure that the fish is perfectly cooked.
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