looks yummy. May I ask if you are happy with the Flounder in general, or not ? Would you consider it a good choice for a main dish ? I really like fish... especially from the smoker.
So far Yes. It was 1/2 the price of Salmon, so cheap enough for me to experiment with. $12.49 for 3 pounds (14 pcs in my bag)
I just wrecked the first 3, which aren't entirely wrecked. Just a bit too dry to use as they are.
My goal is to get the smoky Yum. Then finish Sous Vide.
My wife hates fish, she had a tragic introduction at 7 YO. So she doesn't tolerate much "fish smell" in the house.
Sous Vide (new to me) is great! By the time you smell it, it smells wonderful and you are enjoying it. So it's perfect for our home.
I used Bear's Recipe for my last Salmon batch and OH!
So GOOD! I added a pinch of Dill and a very light dampening of Lemon Juice and Vacuum bagged.
Yesterday and the day before I had Salmon for my dinner. (The Mrs. is again dieting.) Rice with Butter and Honey.
But the Bear's Recipe Salmon was SO good Sous Vide to 170°!
I have it up my sleeve to make a batch of Bear's Brine, jar it, and use it in my small batches. Bear thought I probably could.
Craig pointed me to another brine to try as well. One he and his wife enjoy.
I just have a very hard time pouring excess brine down the drain, so I'd like to jar it, then dole it out for my small batch ways. If possible...
I had to back up to my old tried and true dry brine, cut the time in brine, then cold smoked over night to get the flesh to stay soft. I did a finger touch taste test and liked what I tasted so far.
The dry brine mixture I like is a 1 to 4. 1 part salt, 4 parts Brown Sugar. For my small batch I did 1/2 cup sugar/ 1/8 cup (2 TBS) Sea Salt. I try and get a less salty taste, and work with my Dr. orders. It was plenty for my small batch.
But these Flounder pieces are thin and delicate. Not 'manly' portions at all. I would suggest probably two fillets per plate. (They average ~ 3.48 Oz. each, in my example.)
Or maybe a single for those less crazy about fish.
I have to buy my fish. So I tend to rely on the flash frozen packaged fish. It seems very good to me. And more consistent over slabs of "fresh" fillet. I believe Fresh takes well to liquid brining, and frozen like I tend to buy takes better to dry brining, but my jury is still out. Every day is a new day to experiment.
The 'Plastic Fish', as I laughingly refer to vacuum packaged frozen individual portioned meats, is very convenient to me. Drag it home, keep in our deep freezer, use at my leisure.
As you can probably tell, I'm very much a 'Mad Scientist' with this stuff.
SMF was like throwing gasoline on my Smokin Ways....
