Got my brand new Masterbuilt Pro Dual fuel on Friday, and by Saturday evening I had my first 'catch' on the racks.
After the break in and seasoning I ran down to the river and caught 6 really nice suckers. Brought them home, hosed them off, filleted them. This is where I started to experiment. 2 fish (4 fillets) I left the ribs in place. Simply sliced down behind the gill like normal, then turned my knife and pushed down the body of the fish, turning out at the vent. The others I filleted like I normally do panfish. I then rinsed the fillets in a bucket until the water was crystal clear, I find this step to be very satisfying and important. After rinsing and draining the last time I filled the bucket with 2.5 gallons of water. Roughly 2 cups salt, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 2 tbsp onion salt, 1 tbsp garlic salt, and some worchestire sauce. I then let the fillets brine for roughly 2 hours, stirring every now an again between beers. When they were just about down I preheated the smoker to 225F with NO water and NO smoke. Drained the fillets and dried them with paper towel, then placed them on the racks and began to dry them for about 45-30 minutes. After I figured they were sufficiently dry I poured on the smoke and 6 small disks of alder that I had soaking. During the next few hours I few the chip tray and played with the dampeners and chimney to maintain a consistent temp. I had one flare up where the chips caught fire and my temp went from 225-300 FAST. I closed all vents and dampeners and snuffed it out until temp settled and then cut them slowly back open. after about 1 3/4-2 hours of smoke they were ready to come off. Sadly I have no pictures of them sitting on the racks looking triumphant, by this time I was ready to feast and wasted no time. They were amazing but boney, similar to a northern. This was my first attempt with this smoker, and I learned many things. Happy Smoking!
After the break in and seasoning I ran down to the river and caught 6 really nice suckers. Brought them home, hosed them off, filleted them. This is where I started to experiment. 2 fish (4 fillets) I left the ribs in place. Simply sliced down behind the gill like normal, then turned my knife and pushed down the body of the fish, turning out at the vent. The others I filleted like I normally do panfish. I then rinsed the fillets in a bucket until the water was crystal clear, I find this step to be very satisfying and important. After rinsing and draining the last time I filled the bucket with 2.5 gallons of water. Roughly 2 cups salt, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 2 tbsp onion salt, 1 tbsp garlic salt, and some worchestire sauce. I then let the fillets brine for roughly 2 hours, stirring every now an again between beers. When they were just about down I preheated the smoker to 225F with NO water and NO smoke. Drained the fillets and dried them with paper towel, then placed them on the racks and began to dry them for about 45-30 minutes. After I figured they were sufficiently dry I poured on the smoke and 6 small disks of alder that I had soaking. During the next few hours I few the chip tray and played with the dampeners and chimney to maintain a consistent temp. I had one flare up where the chips caught fire and my temp went from 225-300 FAST. I closed all vents and dampeners and snuffed it out until temp settled and then cut them slowly back open. after about 1 3/4-2 hours of smoke they were ready to come off. Sadly I have no pictures of them sitting on the racks looking triumphant, by this time I was ready to feast and wasted no time. They were amazing but boney, similar to a northern. This was my first attempt with this smoker, and I learned many things. Happy Smoking!
