Smoked fish


 
Chris W.

Chris W.

TVWBB Pro
I'd like some advice on a situation that came up recently. It's pretty common knowledge among my friends at work that I have a smoker. One of my friends has asked me to smoke some fish he has (walleye, I believe). The problem is that I hate fish, and have thus never looked into smoking it.

I don't know what condition the fish is in (whole fish, cut into fillets, etc), but I have no idea where to start with smoking this, or if I even want to. Any advice on smoke wood and temp/time would be appreciated. I'm real nervous about smoking this for him, as this will be my first (and likely only) attempt at fish, and I'd hate if it came out terribly and I ruined his fish. I might just tell him no, but I'd like to at least consider his request.
 
My honest opinion, kindly decline the request. Walleye is definitely not known as a smoking fish, and for your first one, just might not be the best thing to practice on. I'd much rather pass on it than not have it come out as something you would be proud of.
 
you should have him prep the fish the way he wants with whatever seasonings. i would strongly suggest try it before you layout the no on smoked fish. i just about never order fish in restraunts sine it is seldom if ever prepaired or cooked correctly.

as for smoking it it is just like any other meat except for a few things. it cooks waaaay faster than beef pork or fowl. you probably know how long it takes to cook pork as compaired to beef. that is how fish is compaired to pork.

when fish is done it is normally flaky as in when you pull a pice it should come out in flakes. there is no risk to undercooking fish as it can be safely eaten raw.

for keeping fish whole on the grill use aluminum foil with pinhole sized holes to allow the juices to run out. if you allow the juices to collect it turns more into a soggy mess on the bottom. this is a common problem when baking fish in a oven. do not place fish directly on the grill as it will fall apart and create a mess in your cooker.

try a fillet or two before you commit to the whole passel of fish and try it when it is done. properly smoked fish is NOTHING like what you get even in five star restraunts.
 
from what I understand fish should be cold smoked which with some modification, can be done on the wsm. I think chris has info on making an external fire box on the main page.

if your worried about the wsm, I just bought a used one that had been used twice to smoke fish. It smelled nasty, so I loaded it with some old lump and tossed on a few sticks of really old apple and burned the funk out of it in no time.
 
Chris
I suggest that you decline if you have not done it before. I hot smoke fish. I have a home made tool box smoker which I add a handfull of sawdust and put it on top of a camp stove . I rub the fish with a mixture of brown sugar and salt and cook/smoke them for 12 minutes. The fish turns out great. We use the fish for dips, starters or just snack food for drinks. I have been smoking fish this way for 30 years or more. Generally we use whole fillets with the skin side down.
I think that a lot of times how it is cooked will depend on the peoples taste expectations.

I have had a lot of success with cedar planking all types of fish. You definitely need to brine the fish first for about 2 hours, I have had good results by brushing with Djoin mustard after brining and drying the fish. I found that with the light smokiness when planking some fish types needed stronger flavours added as in a rub. I always use fillets when using this method.
You can cold smoke the fish however you generally need to cook it after it has been smoked. Cold smoking is generally a form of preserving.

Regards
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mike R.:
My honest opinion, kindly decline the request. Walleye is definitely not known as a smoking fish, and for your first one, just might not be the best thing to practice on. I'd much rather pass on it than not have it come out as something you would be proud of. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I agree.
Walleye is too low in fat to benefit from a typical salmon-style smoking. Similar to Alaskan cod. The flavor is so mild, the charcoal alone might be too overpowering.

Also, as a rule its a bad idea to cook things you hate.
 
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