Today's Menu - Smoked Fish

roadkill cafe

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• Dec 4, 2012

• #1

Got to craving some smoked fish and being fresh Dolphin (Mahi-Mahi or Dorado, not Flipper) was on sale for $3.99/lb. thought I'd give it a try. Also got a couple nice pieces of Marlin for good measure as it was $7.99/lb. Found a what looked like a good brine recipe and process. Anyone tried this brine/process before? http://www.3men.com/threemen1.htm  Well anyway, here's a couple pics after they came out of the brine and were drying to form the pellicle. In the smoker with some oak in the AMNPS. I'll post the final product while they're cooling off.

Marlin                                                                                         Dolphin

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• roadkill cafe
• Dec 4, 2012

 

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• Dec 4, 2012

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kathrynn

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• Dec 4, 2012

• #2

Waiting....tapping the feet!  

 

roadkill cafe

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• Dec 4, 2012

• #3

Well, here it is. Pulled at 147* IT. Very moist and water was dripping down the window. Pretty salty but may have left in brine a little too long. I'll make some dip with them and all will be good. Vacuum seal until I'm ready. Thanks for looking...

Steve

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• Dec 4, 2012

 

kathrynn

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• Dec 4, 2012

• #4

OMG!  That looks so good!  Wonder if you could do less salt in the brine?  Just learning tho. 

 

roadkill cafe

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• Dec 4, 2012

• #5

Thanks Kat. Yeah, less salt for sure. It was 2 cups salt, 1 cup brown sugar for 1 gal. of water. Maybe next time do a 1:1 ratio of salt to sugar then the other spices.

 

JckDanls 07

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• Dec 4, 2012

• #6

atta boy... looking good.... as for the salt ratio, I'm thinking 1:1 as well ... same as you would poultry or pork ... did you use kosher salt or table salt ?

 

roadkill cafe

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• Dec 4, 2012

• #7

Thanks Keith. Used non-iodized table salt. Didn't have enough kosher. I'll just not add any salt when making the dip.

 

JckDanls 07

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• Dec 4, 2012

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yea.. table salt is the problem as it is almost 1 1/2 the amount of Kosher... so If you were to use 2 cups of kosher the table salt equals out to be 3 cups.. don't know if that makes since...

 

roadkill cafe

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• Dec 5, 2012

• #9

I agree Keith. This should have been a clue that the developer of the recipe didn't make any adjustment, but I didn't pick up on it.

This is from their recipe: Salt for Brining – Some prefer kosher salt for brining but most recently we have used regular table salt (not iodized) which can be purchased inexpensively in large quantities at the Price Club or Smart & Final.

 

go4abliss

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Nov 9, 2012

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• Dec 5, 2012

• #10

This is what I learned from doing fish...if the fish is fresh,its take the salt but if the fish was frozen it needs less salt. That what my freind Carla says. She been smoking for over 30 yr as business (Carla's smokehouse on the Oregon coast)  I perfer a dry rub instead of brine, it works for me

 

go4abliss

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• Dec 5, 2012

• #11

oh, i forgot you might have soak the fish to long in the brine...

 

diggingdogfarm

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• Dec 5, 2012

• #12

Sure looks good!



~Martin

 

roadkill cafe

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• Dec 5, 2012

• #13

GO4ABLISS said:

oh, i forgot you might have soak the fish to long in the brine...

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I think I did. The smaller pieces should have been pulled sooner.

DiggingDogFarm said:

Sure looks good!
~Martin

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Thank you Martin.

 

fpnmf

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• Dec 5, 2012

• #14

Looks tasty!!

 

roadkill cafe

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• Dec 5, 2012

• #15

Thanks Craig. Didn't you mention in a post that you like the "scorching" hot sauces and stuff?

 

smokinhusker

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• Dec 5, 2012

• #16

Looks great! I love smoked fish and yours sure is pretty!

 

roadkill cafe

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• Dec 5, 2012

• #17

SmokinHusker said:

Looks great! I love smoked fish and yours sure is pretty!

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Thanks Alesia! Will probably do some more later this week.

 

dirtsailor2003

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• Dec 5, 2012

• #18

Looks really good, I really like Mahi-Dorado-Dolphin fish!! Back when I was fishing I used to smoke a bunch of the rockfish that we catch here on the West coast and through experimenting I found that the salt needed to be cut back quite a bit in order to end up not to salty. I have smoked the Dorado too and have found the same thing. I usually cut the ratio of salt in half ( I use kosher) from what I'd normally use on salmon. I also really like to take the light meat fish and turn it into jerky. You can get a really good texture out of it. Cut into strips across the grain use whatever concoction you want to brine. Smoke on low heat until you get the texture you want, or if you have one after smoking for a few hours, put in the dehydrator.

 

cfarley

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Marietta OH

• Dec 6, 2012

• #19

What do you make with the smoked fish? Just eat it plain, or mix it up like a lox spread?

 

roadkill cafe

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• Dec 6, 2012

• #20

dirtsailor2003 said:

Looks really good, I really like Mahi-Dorado-Dolphin fish!! Back when I was fishing I used to smoke a bunch of the rockfish that we catch here on the West coast and through experimenting I found that the salt needed to be cut back quite a bit in order to end up not to salty. I have smoked the Dorado too and have found the same thing. I usually cut the ratio of salt in half ( I use kosher) from what I'd normally use on salmon. I also really like to take the light meat fish and turn it into jerky. You can get a really good texture out of it. Cut into strips across the grain use whatever concoction you want to brine. Smoke on low heat until you get the texture you want, or if you have one after smoking for a few hours, put in the dehydrator.

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Thanks DS. I will definitely be making some changes next fish smoke. Will be using Kosher and a 1:1 ratio to sugar, less brine time...especially for the smaller pieces.

cfarley said:

What do you make with the smoked fish? Just eat it plain, or mix it up like a lox spread?

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Make dip, put a little mayo on a cracker and add a small chunk, plain in a meal is good too. I like the dip with come Cuban crackers best though. I like the Cuban crackers because they don't have very much salt and the smoked fish flavor comes through and they're sturdy enough to hold up to scooping the dip without breaking.