More on Smoking........

[Earl W Story]

 I'm sold on the idea of the Electric smoker for it's all around convenience.

Now: #1- Do Y'all prefer to smoke fish bone in or fillet?  

#2 - Soak in salt water or marinate ?

#3 - How long do you smoke the fish? To a certain temp. or appearance of the fish?

Lastly a note of confession: Years ago when I was a knee walking, commode hugging drunk I bought a charcoal smoker and decided to smoke a boned out turkey. I ended up with turkey jerky and never tried again. 

So with that in mind I really don't have any idea what I'm doing but really want to learn how.    

[Allen Morgan]

Earl, are you wanting a "Hot Smoked" fish, a "Warm-Smoked" fish, or a "Cold-Smoked" fish?  What kind of fish are you planning on smoking?

High-fat fish (Salmon, Tuna, etc) can be "Hot-Smoked", in a smoker with the temp around 250 degrees F.  I've done Salmon once like this, and it was excellent.

Fish that are low in fat (almost all freshwater fish), I've always read that they are brined before smoking.  A "Warm-Smoke" is where you hold the temp of your smoker down to around 150 degrees F.  This cooks the fish, but just barely.  The brine helps to preserve it.  A "Cold-Smoke" is where you are burning wood to produce smoke, but the temp of held to around 40 degrees F.  This is best done in the late Fall, Winter, and/or early Spring.  It helps if you have a way to cool the smoke down.  I've heard of plumbing some metal tubing of some sorts to the exhaust of a covered box to burn the wood, and running the tubing underground for a distance to cool the smoke.

Cold-Smoking is mainly used to make Lox, a smoked salmon product that is not cooked, but preserved by both the salt of the brine, and the nitrates/nitrites present in the smoke.

The electric smoker you're purchased can most likely be adapted to smoking fish in all three ways.

[Leo Nguyen]

Allen covered the info pretty well. It all depends on the species of fish you're smoking. I rather go for the gas, although, the electric is the best "set and forget it" system. I like my fire; I like my smoke. I like my fire making smoke. I've done both electric, gas, and coal. I even tried large wood block..not fun monitoring the wood from over heating. Electric doesn't give the taste of smoked wood that I'm looking for. So, I'm stuck with gas, and have not gone back since then.

Catfish/carp/bony fishes: filet them, smoke them in warm-smoked style, while keeping the air as moist as possible to keep the juiciness.

Salmon and trout is definitely, by far, got my vote on cold-smoked style.

Everything else, hot-smoked. I've done snakes, gator, croc, and even salt water fishes (anchovy, sardine, mackerels) are hot-smoked, continually glaze with honey or special sauces..OOOohhhh MERCY!

[Earl W Story]

 I'm planning on smoking Bluegill and Crappie mostly. Some Catfish occasionally. I had some given to me years ago by a coworker. It was firm and not terribly moist, but very flavorful.

I don't care for baked fish at all. And now that fried food is forbidden I'm hoping this will be a healthy method that I can use for food and the entertainment of making something yummy.  

[Leo Nguyen]

Earl, smoked fish is an alternative to frying for sure. But it's more of a cross between baking and heavy flavor infused food. There are so many ways to mimic the "fried" quality of the foods minus the unhealthy aspects of it. Allen a many other chefs here are great in point it out on how to make food without frying.

I'm a health nut myself, loving both the fried, baked, and grilled foods. I find ways to mimic that "fried foods" aspects of foods as well, but there are so many ways to make the light fried foods that prevent your ticker from going south. Don't simply cut out oil completely. If you want to improve your health, of course, exercises is the primary approach. Now, adding the coconut, grape seed, and olive oils into the dietary cooking will not only enhance your foods, it also increase your health. Don't just stop there, make sure to use true nut butters as well.

Here's one of my approach in smoking my food, adding a bit of a fry taste to it as well, using tilapia/gills/cat filets:

Using gas smoker, I set at 235°F-245°F.  Since you don't know what's the fish tissues have as parasitic, pathogenic, or bacterial infection prior to cooking, I go for broke cooking at minimal of 35 minutes. However, I make sure my small chunks (not chips) of wood is smoke is nicely in a dry form. I also add a tray of slightly salted water (1 liter of water to 3 tbsp of sea salt). First 20 minutes, I check in with the filets, setting them at the mid area of the smoker. Too high has too much heat. Too low and you have too much water vapor. The second I see my filets change slightly in color, I glaze my filets with liquid seasoning that I make, such as honey spices, molasses teriyaki spice sauce, OR, for a fried taste, coconut/olive/grapeseed oil seasoned spices. Take the water pan and place it to the top to minimize any more moisture in the air. Allow the filets to cook another 10 to 20 minutes to get the oil in and give that crisp on the outside, moist on the side taste.

[Earl W Story]

WOW! Thanks for the info Leo. My Wife might actually try some if it's got some fried taste and texture to it, 

[Earl W Story]

 I'd kinda like the fish to come out somewhat dried or jerky like. I suppose I'll just have to fish a lot (poor me) and smoke them until I find just the right taste for us. 

My wife says I was just looking for a new toy anyway.

[Leo Nguyen]

Frying is great for the taste bud, but as we get older, alternative dietary approach is required if we want to remain healthy and strong, to live a wonderful old life with minimal complication.

I believe I remember there are 4 to 6 people here I've talked to the past on their excellent lifestyle in maintaining great fitness, while eating well in both the unhealthy and healthy foods. I'm one of those who like to balance things out. Bruce Condello is the other. We challenge each other to gain vitality and health, fit body with key exercises, and of course, great tasting meals. A few can attest to my cooking skills, of course, below par to their culinary masterpieces.

Just let us know if we can help you on your way to obtain yourself a new year of healthy eating, revitalization, and of course, attaining longevity. We'll gladly share recipes and cooking methods with you.

[carl hendrix]

one time I air dried some gill fillets;; just a bit;; then layered in a large baking dish;; poured in a bottle of bbq sauce;; added a touch of tabasco sauce; stired them a bit to make sure they were well covered. put in fridge for about a hour;; then  put on a smoker for - say 30 minutes to a hour;; something like that any way.   came out FANTASTIC!!

[Earl W Story]

 I just drooled all over myself on that one!! 

I have to consider sugar content in whatever I use for sauces or marinades because of my diabetes. I've lost 75% of my right eye to retinopathy. I've got it all under control finally the last 6 months and hope to keep it that way.    

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

 Iced in, and to think two days ago I was out in the wilderness ,radio tuned to college basketball team kicking ass,standing by the grill, cooking a wild hog that got caught trespassing, he wont do that again,  spring just right around the corner, life is good ! I wrapped the backstraps up in bacon and used the indirect method of cooking, close to the end I lathered those straps up with honey bbq sauce and pulled them off when they were tinder, some good eatin!  here is a photo of some previous trespassers, and we have some more to go, 1 boar, 2 sows and 12 piglets , they fit perfect on the grill .  LOFR

[JBplusThuy]

Yer makin' me drool here, LOFR. I haven't had much chance to eat game, but a couple weeks ago at a brewery restaurant in Mountain View (California) I had an elk burger and it was _amazing_! Best burger I've ever had. I bet wild pig is great, too!

So you trap them rather than hunt, or a mix of the two?

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

Wild Pigs are a nuisance , they destroy other wild game and habitat, and they have just moved into our territory so we have declared war on them, we trap them and shoot them on sight to get rid of them,putting them on the grill is just a by product, We would prefer not to have to do it this way but now we have no other choice, they will attack you  so they have to go, Yes they are tasty and the season on them is 365 days a year so yes they are on the menu, We fry a lot of elk steaks too, those are great we like them. LOFR