I NEED HELP WITH SMOKING A TROUT!!!!!


 
F

Frabe

New member
I just got stuck big time behind the 8 Ball and I have to come through. My bro-in-law shows up this morning with a single 8# trout and wants me to smoke it! I've never done fish and I have to leave this afternoon to travel 100 miles to officiate a football game. I won't be home until well after midnight tonight. The fish is not frozen so the clock is running.

I'm not worried about brining it as there is a recipe on here for that. I have an 18.5" WSM. Here are my questions:

1. I'm going to brine about 12 hrs. Sound right for that size fish?

2. At what temp should I smoke and for how long. The recipe on here says 1 hr at 180 then 6-8 hrs at 150. I'm new so I'm not sure about keeping temps that low so I'd like some options for time/temp and telling how it'd done.

3. How much smoke? I have Alder chips. I normally do pork so I use chunks. I'm not very good at chips, especially getting it right on one 8# trout.

4. He thinks it would be great to keep it until Thanksgiving or Christmas. He has a vacuum sealer but has never used it. Can I use the sealer? How long will it keep after being sealed? Should I freeze it after sealing it?

I really don't want to screw this up and don't want to under or over cook it and I'm under a time crunch. Please help me!!!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">1. I'm going to brine about 12 hrs. Sound right for that size fish?

2. At what temp should I smoke and for how long. The recipe on here says 1 hr at 180 then 6-8 hrs at 150. I'm new so I'm not sure about keeping temps that low so I'd like some options for time/temp and telling how it'd done.

3. How much smoke? I have Alder chips. I normally do pork so I use chunks. I'm not very good at chips, especially getting it right on one 8# trout.

4. He thinks it would be great to keep it until Thanksgiving or Christmas. He has a vacuum sealer but has never used it. Can I use the sealer? How long will it keep after being sealed? Should I freeze it after sealing it? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
1. time isn't so much related to weight but thickness ... bearing brined salmon results in mind I think I'd try 6 or 8 hours for this trout

2. can you describe what results you are going for? dry? 'just' cooked? I think you should be fine to go at 225ºF until it's as done as you'd like it ... don't worry about holding such a low temp

3. alder is a good choice ... if you are using Minion method put some unlit in your ring, sprinkle chips through, put the remaining unlit in, sprinkle chips through again ... this will give you a nice thin blue smoke for a good portion of the cook. alternatively do the foil pouch thing with the chips, make a foil ball, poke a couple holes in it. what chunks do you have? apple would be fine too

4. yes freeze it if you intend to keep it that long ... the brine and the smoke might be enough to keep it from spoiling depending on the storage temp you hold it at, but I think the texture will suffer less from freezing than from trying to keep it around that long
 
Seal it in a small amount of water and freeze it now and smoke it another time when you have that time.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jim Lampe:
Seal it in a small amount of water and freeze it now and smoke it another time when you have that time. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Well, now that my panic has subsided I wondered if I can do that. It makes a lot of sense to do so. However, how do I tell when it's done? Appearance? internal temp? Also, he's been gutted, head still on. Should I do more to prepare this fish? Cut the head off? Split him down the backbone too? Any and all advice will be appreciated!!
 
Jim's idea is a good one. As far as your other questions...

You can tell when its done by what consistancy you want it to be. Do you want a lox type finish or something a little more 'done'? Its really up to you.

IMHO temp when smoking fish is not of any great importance. For me its more about consistancy... I like a firmer product, so, I smoke a bit longer.

In this case, if it has already been hog dressed (split from the throat to the anal cavity) I would take the head off, and place it on the rack belly down, opening the belly to sort of 'butterfly' it on the rack. I hope that makes sense.

I usually brine overnite. Also I would remove it from the brine, give it a slight rinse, pat it dry with paper towels and place it in the above mentioned way to sit until it has formed a pelicle. That is when the flesh takes on a kind of shiny, sparkly look to it. Then smoke and enjoy!
 
I too would do it another time, especially if it is going to be eaten at a later date. It'll be a lot more fun to do it if you aren't spazzed about the time crunch. I've done a lot of salmon and I don't fret too much about the temps, I usually let it hover around 250-285 and cook until it is done how I want it. I've done all the way from lox type fish to some very firm stuff, and I think I like it in the middle. Now, I cook until it flakes nicely, but is firm. Fun cooks to do, and you can get some amazing color on that fish. Good luck! Cardogs salmon recipe is a can't miss, and you could do this with your trout if you split it, which is what I would do, much more user friendly to eat that way instead of wrestling a whole fish.
 
I do salmon as well as trout quite often. I like to keep it simple, so I just rub the fish with olive oil and sprinkle it with a bit of salt and fresh dill. I set up my OTG for indirect with coals on one side in a coal basket with alder and a little apple for smoke. I then smoke the fish at about 275 until the internal temperature reaches 140. About half way throught I rotate the fish 180 degrees.
I use a flexible grill basket as it makes it really easy to handle the fish.
Here's a before picture:
DSCF4562.JPG


And after...

DSCF4568.JPG


-Mark.
 
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