Pork and fish on the same WSM?


 
Frankie C

Frankie C

TVWBB Member
I have read articles by Harry Soo and others that said that once you cook fish in your WSM its life as a pork cooker is basically over. You will never get the fish smell out of the cooker.

I very much want to smoke some fish but I’m not quite ready to give up the cooker for pork.

Does anyone have some experience with pork and fish on the same smoker?

If I have to build a dedicated fish cooker it’s not the end of the word because I eat fish a lot.

Thanks in advance
 
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Frankie, before I got my WSM I smoked fish (both trout and salmon), pork, beef and chicken on a Brinkman with no problems BUT I always smoked the fish last. After the smoke I always let the charcoal burn itself out and then thoroughly cleaned the grates and water pan. Now that I've got my WSM I use the Brinkman exclusively for fish.
 
Frankie C said:
I have read articles by Harry Soo and others that said that once you cook fish in your WSM is life as a pork cooker is basically over. You will never get the fish smell out of the cooker.
Click to expand...

Why? Did they give a reason?
Fresh fish doesn't smell fishy, wash the grates and empty/wash the water pan and carry on!

Tim
 
Frankie,

Harry does indeed discourage any foreign meats or fish in the WSM, if the WSM is used for competition. People that do not compete in pro bbq probably wouldn't notice the difference. In the pro bbq world, every little nuance can either help or hurt you. Harry also discourages cooking hot dogs (foreign meat) in the WSM. This is also the reason behind Harry's extensive seasoning procedure.

Loads of large sums of money at stake in the pro bbq world. Last year one of our local pro bbq competitors won Grand Champion and drove away with a new $50k car as his prize. Every little nuance counts !!!

If you don't cook in the pro bbq world, then everything is ok.

Hope that helps.

Bob
 
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Yepp same here...Not a huge fish fan but i smoke big batches for my father/grands/friends all the time. And when i smoke some meat formyself i cant even find any last tiny bit of that fish in my meat. And belive me im a picky eater. For comps i would do as Harry ofc,Why risk it after all dem $$$. For normal use DOESENT MATTER.
 
You can certainly try it and if you notice the fish in subsequent cooks, worry about it then. You are not going to ruin your smoker. A wsm is porcelain enamel and in a worse case scenario, you can use oven cleaner to take your wsm right back to the original finish. I can imagine some residual from fish, but I can't think of anything in the wsm that will permanently absorb anything. The only place some residual will be is in the coating that you get from cooking and that can be removed.
 
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