Honey on the coals

[bamfam]

Has anyone heard about drizzling honey on the coals when you put salmon on the smoker? Someone was telling me that it gives a glaze immediately. Anyone heard of this and know the procedure? We would really like to try it.

 

[mneeley490]

I've never tried it, but it seems to me that all it would do is burn and produce some nasty black smoke.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Burnt Sugar can add flavor but can be slightly Bitter...Chinese Tea Smoked Duck is frequently done by having smoke generated from a mix of Tea, Brown Sugar and Rice. I have not found any info on Burning Honey forming an instant glaze on fish...Give it a try and report back. But be Careful, Honey like other Sugars is made of Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen. Once the water evaporates, it will Ignite at some point...JJ

 

[bamfam]

I guess my boyfriend had gotten the idea from the Honey Smoked Fish Co here in Colorado where they indicate that they use "honey smoke". We did try it yesterday. We brined our salmon for about 6 hours and then when I put it on the smoker I drizzled honey over the coals. I let the honey smoke for about 30 minutes and then added hickory for the remainder of the cooking. The honey drizzle on the coals sealed the top of the salmon and the inside meat of the fish was VERY moist! The salmon had great flavor also!

 

[smokinhusker]

Glad it worked for you. Since you are new, you get a pass but remember for the future 

What temp did you smoke it at and for how long or did you take it to an internal temp?

I smoke salmon on my MES40 after marinading in Yoshida's for a couple hours, smoke it at 225* to an internal temp of 140* and comes out exceptionally moist.

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Same post on another forum.

Im with JJ....Nasty burnt flavor.

 

[bamfam]

I can take a pic of what is left :) But what is normally expected? We don't have a thermometer on the smoker that I used just a section that says "ideal temp" and I tried to keep it on the low end of that, although when I added the hickory it went up to about 1/4 in the "ideal section". I didn't test internal temp just went off of look and took it off after about 1.5 hours. It was about 95 degrees here yesterday.

 

[frosty]

Sounds like a great idea and big success!  Good luck!

 

[smokinhusker]

Sounds like it worked for you and that's all that counts! Not as hot here...but I'm in the mountains and it's 80 today.

 

[rabbithutch]

Many, many years ago (decades) I used to have one of those square cast aluminum grills that were popular. On at least 3 occasions, I used brown sugar in a tinfoil tray sitting next to hot coals to flavor and finish cooking turkeys. I don't remember the exact procedure but it involved partially cooking the bird in the oven then transferring it to a grill with a burned down fire covering most of the bottom. We might have foiled the bird and poked holes in it - don't remember but it was some of the best turkey I had before I had my first deep fried bird.

Honey is a natural, digested sugar. I don't know if pouring it on the coals would be as effective as putting some in a tray and letting it smoke off. I might try that with a couple of chicken thighs the next time I fire up the mini.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Interesting concept, definately post some pics of each step, if you can, next time. Getting a thermometer, many of us use Maverick 732 that monitor smoker temp and meat internal temp, will make your future smokes easier and most importantly, repeatable. Once you find what works you can make it that way every time...JJ