No salmon how about spec'd trout?


 
P

Paul K

TVWBB Guru
I'm ready for some smoked fish. Salmon is still a little pricey in my area, but I do have quite a bit of speckled (sea)trout in the freezer. Has anyone tried smoking this fish? I'm curious how the trout will do since it has virtually zero fat in it as opposed to salmon. I found Keri's recipe from '03 and it looks good.

Thanks,

Paul
 
I did this recipe a few weeks back and it was awesome! The recipe was posted on the WBBQA.com forum. I kept it in the brine for 12 hours.


my secret not so secret is the brining. it imparts a nice flavor to compliment the trout and helps hold in moisture so you don't end up with trout jerky. I brine for 8-24 hours depending on how much saltiness I want in the batch. Do NOT try to bone the fish first, just split down the back... the bones will come right off after smoking... remember trout is a VERY soft fleshed fish. Less handing is better until smoked... then they are bullet proof.
Anyway... brine them(recipe follows) for 12 hours the first batch then adjust the brine time as you see fit... after brining allow them to air dry for an hour... this lets the brown sugar form a skin which is what helps hold the moisture in the flesh resulting in a moist but firm end result. You might try doing a dozen or so then adjusting your smoke/brine profile until you find what you really like.

Enjoy...

Troutinators General Purpose Trout Brine


3 quarts water
1 quart apple juice
1 cup pickling salt(no iodine)
1 cup brown sugar

smoke until desired texture is reached. for me this is 1 hour of hickory at 180 degrees to cook it and kill bacteria then 8-12 hours of light alder smoke at 150 ... I like mine chewy on the outside and tender inside... start checking(sampling) after 6 hours...

Play with your brine too... sometimes a few dashes of a good hot sauce can add a nice undertone... I added sage to a batch once and thought it was perfect as an appetizer at Thanksgiving... don't be afraid to experiment, the above is a good starting place, not the destination!

Rob
 
Thanks Todd - this looks great. I've done salmon before in an ECB, I know, I know - but I swear, it was trashed years ago. Out here, most people fry their trout, but I wanted to do something different.

Paul
 
Here in the UK we get big, farmed, relatively cheap trout and in my opinion it's better than salmon on the WSM. I use a hybrid of the salmon method on the main site and the basic cure from the Raichlen rum smoked salmon recipe in How to Grill.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top