thks brian for the bump on that old old old thread.... actually was my first smoke i posted on the forum... i didnot include the brine recibie in that post so here it is... trout,, salmon, whitefish, are your best smoking fish, fish like perch, bluegills, walleye, and northern just do not have the natural fat in the meat needed to keep a moist fish. not saying you cant smoke these fish, just that the finished product will be more desirable.
smoked fish brine
2 3/4 cups pickling salt
10 qts cold water-use good water
1 cup brown sugar
2 tbls garlic salt
soak avg sized pieces 24 hrs, soak in fresh water 1 hour
big thick pieces of fish, may require more time and smaller less. once out of brine set on a rack with a fan blowing across fish til outside of fish dry, a coating will form on it called the "pellicle", is now ready for smoker. i also like to rub some brown sugar on the meat
here are some lakers and whitefish that i smoked in the past with the brine recipie. works great for me and is simple to make and i hope you give it a shot...
cut up, one whitefish into slabs, other into steaks. the lake trout steaked the forward half with the rib sections and filleted the tail sections
the mixings for the brine
pieces were pretty thick so i did a 36 hour soak, need to do to your personal taste.
