Need some tips on smoking fish please!


 
S

Seth Boardman

TVWBB Fan
So a while back I tried my first attempt at smoking some salmon. I had really high hopes but it didn't turn out as good as I had hoped it wood. I cured it overnight in brown sugar and salt. I can't remember times and temperatures off the top of my head but I did a lot of reading online on temps and times and was pretty close to what was recommended on average. I enjoy eating fish and don't get it that often but really want to try another smoke! Any tips would be much appreciated. Thanks!
 
Brine fish for 2-4 hours for fillets 1/4-1/2 thick; 4 to 8 hours for fillets 1/2-1 inch thick; 8-12 hours for anything greater than 1 inch thick.
Lightly rinse fish, dry.
Lay fish out on paper and let pellicle form, 2-4 hours. I use a helper fan.
Rub a light coating of brown sugar on fish.
Smoke with alder or apple wood at 165F until desired dryness is achieved.

1611721572277.jpeg
 
Mark gave you good advice. I will add, that the brine you use and how long you brine your fish is important to your finished product. I like to brine overnight, but I cut back on the salt, by as much as half as what is called for. I also will add different spices and such. Depends on my mood at the moment. Lemon juice goes good in the brine, as does garlic or soy sauce. I also like to rinse my fish real well before smoking. Sometimes I will give the fish a very light sprinkling of fresh ground black pepper while the pellicle is forming. Try different things and methods till you hit on what you like.
 
Mark gives solid advice.
I have made it this way every time after my first time, it comes out excellent every time.
I always use a dry brine, you can use fresh or frozen fish this way and the end result is considerably less salty, almost not salty at all.
1 cup, slightly less if you can get just under a cup of salt.....I buy pure salt, no additives I think it is called Pickling salt here in Canada.
It's a chunky salt but that is fine.
4 cups of brown sugar.....mix these together very well.
Get your salmon in a plastic container, not metallic, I go with very wide both ways but not very tall. Cover each piece with lots of brine mix, make sure the fish flesh sides are not touching at all as the brine wont work at those points.
Brine for 2 hours then check on them make sure all surfaces are getting the now wet mix on them. You can mix it all around at this point.
Remove after 4 hours and rinse very well. You will know it is done by picking up the fish pieces, it should be hard and stick straight out and firm like a slice of pizza.
Dry the fish with paper towels, I set it on wire racks on the counter and set an oscillating fan in front of the fish.
I do this for around 2 hours it will form an awesome pellicle.
I sprinkle lightly fresh ground black pepper on them sometimes when they are tacky still.
I used to smoke this at 180 for around 4 hours untiled the corners get a nice golden colour and the fish has a nice crust on it.
Lower smoking temp would be better but all I could do was 180 at my house.
Anything higher than this temp and there is a good chance the fish oils will get too hot and break through the crust of the fish, you need to avoid this if you can it makes the fish great......even at 180 it would happen to me a bit.
When the smoking is almost done I would thin out honey with a bit of hot water and brush this on the fish. Other people have done it with jams or other things that are sweet like pure maple syrup. It's a nice touch to the salty smoky fish. Sometimes when the honey is on I would add the black pepper instead of before the smoke, some people don't really like the taste of the pepper after the smoking.
Follow this, it's all I know and it works great for me....I have yet to try it on charcoal as I just don't see how I can keep the temps low enough to get a good cook on it. Previous cooks have been pellet and it can cook pretty low.

You are 7 hours in before the food goes on, and in my situation it takes about 4 hours to cook. You need to start early!
 
Last edited:
Here’s the link to my recipe, I smoke mine hot but eat it cold as an appetizer on crackers. Super simple, just dissolve all of the dry ingredients into the water, then add the other liquids. I dont let it dry for a pellicle, i just take it straight from the brine to the grill surface. And lately I’m pulling it off earlier, around 145.


Smoked Salmon

The finished product
18DBB2D6-BE35-427B-8E2B-7F8EA1FF2135.jpeg
 
Darryl - swazies said:
Mark gives solid advice.
I have made it this way every time after my first time, it comes out excellent every time.
I always use a dry brine, you can use fresh or frozen fish this way and the end result is considerably less salty, almost not salty at all.
1 cup, slightly less if you can get just under a cup of salt.....I buy pure salt, no additives I think it is called Pickling salt here in Canada.
It's a chunky salt but that is fine.
4 cups of brown sugar.....mix these together very well.
Get your salmon in a plastic container, not metallic, I go with very wide both ways but not very tall. Cover each piece with lots of brine mix, make sure the fish flesh sides are not touching at all as the brine wont work at those points.
Brine for 2 hours then check on them make sure all surfaces are getting the now wet mix on them. You can mix it all around at this point.
Remove after 4 hours and rinse very well. You will know it is done by picking up the fish pieces, it should be hard and stick straight out and firm like a slice of pizza.
Dry the fish with paper towels, I set it on wire racks on the counter and set an oscillating fan in front of the fish.
I do this for around 2 hours it will form an awesome pellicle.
I sprinkle lightly fresh ground black pepper on them sometimes when they are tacky still.
I used to smoke this at 180 for around 4 hours untiled the corners get a nice golden colour and the fish has a nice crust on it.
Lower smoking temp would be better but all I could do was 180 at my house.
Anything higher than this temp and there is a good chance the fish oils will get too hot and break through the crust of the fish, you need to avoid this if you can it makes the fish great......even at 180 it would happen to me a bit.
When the smoking is almost done I would thin out honey with a bit of hot water and brush this on the fish. Other people have done it with jams or other things that are sweet like pure maple syrup. It's a nice touch to the salty smoky fish. Sometimes when the honey is on I would add the black pepper instead of before the smoke, some people don't really like the taste of the pepper after the smoking.
Follow this, it's all I know and it works great for me....I have yet to try it on charcoal as I just don't see how I can keep the temps low enough to get a good cook on it. Previous cooks have been pellet and it can cook pretty low.

You are 7 hours in before the food goes on, and in my situation it takes about 4 hours to cook. You need to start early!
Click to expand...
holy cow that's a lot of info haha
 
BrianCal said:
Here’s the link to my recipe, I smoke mine hot but eat it cold as an appetizer on crackers. Super simple, just dissolve all of the dry ingredients into the water, then add the other liquids. I dont let it dry for a pellicle, i just take it straight from the brine to the grill surface. And lately I’m pulling it off earlier, around 145.


Smoked Salmon

The finished product
View attachment 21877
Click to expand...
That does look pretty good Brian!
 
Darryl - swazies said:
Mark gives solid advice.
I have made it this way every time after my first time, it comes out excellent every time.
I always use a dry brine, you can use fresh or frozen fish this way and the end result is considerably less salty, almost not salty at all.
1 cup, slightly less if you can get just under a cup of salt.....I buy pure salt, no additives I think it is called Pickling salt here in Canada.
It's a chunky salt but that is fine.
4 cups of brown sugar.....mix these together very well.
Get your salmon in a plastic container, not metallic, I go with very wide both ways but not very tall. Cover each piece with lots of brine mix, make sure the fish flesh sides are not touching at all as the brine wont work at those points.
Brine for 2 hours then check on them make sure all surfaces are getting the now wet mix on them. You can mix it all around at this point.
Remove after 4 hours and rinse very well. You will know it is done by picking up the fish pieces, it should be hard and stick straight out and firm like a slice of pizza.
Dry the fish with paper towels, I set it on wire racks on the counter and set an oscillating fan in front of the fish.
I do this for around 2 hours it will form an awesome pellicle.
I sprinkle lightly fresh ground black pepper on them sometimes when they are tacky still.
I used to smoke this at 180 for around 4 hours untiled the corners get a nice golden colour and the fish has a nice crust on it.
Lower smoking temp would be better but all I could do was 180 at my house.
Anything higher than this temp and there is a good chance the fish oils will get too hot and break through the crust of the fish, you need to avoid this if you can it makes the fish great......even at 180 it would happen to me a bit.
When the smoking is almost done I would thin out honey with a bit of hot water and brush this on the fish. Other people have done it with jams or other things that are sweet like pure maple syrup. It's a nice touch to the salty smoky fish. Sometimes when the honey is on I would add the black pepper instead of before the smoke, some people don't really like the taste of the pepper after the smoking.
Follow this, it's all I know and it works great for me....I have yet to try it on charcoal as I just don't see how I can keep the temps low enough to get a good cook on it. Previous cooks have been pellet and it can cook pretty low.

You are 7 hours in before the food goes on, and in my situation it takes about 4 hours to cook. You need to start early!
Click to expand...
The recipe I use is very similar to your.
 
I've done several batches lately, and I found that varying the size of the fish, the brine time, or the temp/cook time can lead to some very different results.

This batch came out amazing. I also smoke it and then refrigerate to eat for breakfast on toast with a little cream cheese and capers (yum).

I use fresh head-end filets with the skin, never the tail as it is too thin and cooks too fast. About 1" thick at it's thickest and perhaps 1.5 to 2 lbs per filet. 4/1 brown sugar to salt ratio overnight for 12 hours. Rinse well and let dry for the pellicle 2-4 hours.

I go Serpentine method with Applewood and Hickory wood splits on top the serpent (perhaps 1/2" to 3/4" wide and 2" long). I use a 2 coal chain on cool days and a stacked 4 coal chain (2x2 stacked) if it is near freezing. I won't bother if it's over 65 degrees outside.

The key for me is to start the fish at about 100-120F and slowly let that temp build to a maximum of 160F. I pull it when the internal probes at 135F. Any higher cook temp or internal temp gives me less moist meat and a harder pellicle. For this cook it was late in the day and about 34F outside. It went about 5 hours.

When it hits 125-130F I brush it with warmed honey and sprinkle it with cracked black pepper, then leave it on another 20-30 minutes until it hits 135F.

KLNiaou.jpg
 
my pleasure..... really happy to share.

I also recommend smoking other fish. I’ve smoked sturgeon, halibut, and oysters. All are catchable near me.
 
There are actually a lot of fish in a lake near me called Chautauqua Lake. However, I have never caught anything bigger than a 12 inch bullhead. And I don't have access to a boat so getting out in the middle where most of the bigger ones are is difficult. But I think it would be really cool to catch your own fish and cook it!
 
KToliver said:
I've done several batches lately, and I found that varying the size of the fish, the brine time, or the temp/cook time can lead to some very different results.

This batch came out amazing. I also smoke it and then refrigerate to eat for breakfast on toast with a little cream cheese and capers (yum).

I use fresh head-end filets with the skin, never the tail as it is too thin and cooks too fast. About 1" thick at it's thickest and perhaps 1.5 to 2 lbs per filet. 4/1 brown sugar to salt ratio overnight for 12 hours. Rinse well and let dry for the pellicle 2-4 hours.

I go Serpentine method with Applewood and Hickory wood splits on top the serpent (perhaps 1/2" to 3/4" wide and 2" long). I use a 2 coal chain on cool days and a stacked 4 coal chain (2x2 stacked) if it is near freezing. I won't bother if it's over 65 degrees outside.

The key for me is to start the fish at about 100-120F and slowly let that temp build to a maximum of 160F. I pull it when the internal probes at 135F. Any higher cook temp or internal temp gives me less moist meat and a harder pellicle. For this cook it was late in the day and about 34F outside. It went about 5 hours.

When it hits 125-130F I brush it with warmed honey and sprinkle it with cracked black pepper, then leave it on another 20-30 minutes until it hits 135F.

KLNiaou.jpg
Click to expand...
This looks much better than mine! Mine seemed a bit hard and was a lot darker
 
KToliver said:
I've done several batches lately, and I found that varying the size of the fish, the brine time, or the temp/cook time can lead to some very different results.

This batch came out amazing. I also smoke it and then refrigerate to eat for breakfast on toast with a little cream cheese and capers (yum).

I use fresh head-end filets with the skin, never the tail as it is too thin and cooks too fast. About 1" thick at it's thickest and perhaps 1.5 to 2 lbs per filet. 4/1 brown sugar to salt ratio overnight for 12 hours. Rinse well and let dry for the pellicle 2-4 hours.

I go Serpentine method with Applewood and Hickory wood splits on top the serpent (perhaps 1/2" to 3/4" wide and 2" long). I use a 2 coal chain on cool days and a stacked 4 coal chain (2x2 stacked) if it is near freezing. I won't bother if it's over 65 degrees outside.

The key for me is to start the fish at about 100-120F and slowly let that temp build to a maximum of 160F. I pull it when the internal probes at 135F. Any higher cook temp or internal temp gives me less moist meat and a harder pellicle. For this cook it was late in the day and about 34F outside. It went about 5 hours.

When it hits 125-130F I brush it with warmed honey and sprinkle it with cracked black pepper, then leave it on another 20-30 minutes until it hits 135F.

KLNiaou.jpg
Click to expand...
That looks AMAZING
 
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