Mushy back meat?

[btn400]

Hi everyone,

I have tried smoking goldeye & lake whitefish. I smoke them vertically, tail hanging down, whole with scales on, in a Masterbuilt electric smoker at around 175 F until the internal temp reaches 160 for 30 min. When they're done, they have a great color on the outside, and the ribs are nice and firm with color and taste. However, the meat along the back is mushy & flavorless. Is there anything I'm doing wrong?

Thanks!

 

[SmokinAl]

Sorry I can’t help you, but there are a lot of guys on here that smoke a bunch of fish. The only thing that comes to mind is maybe you are over cooking it. I smoke salmon to an IT of 140-145. Hopefully someone will come along who can give you a better answer.
Al

 

[PolishDeli]

I'm not familiar with that fish, but here are some thoughts/questions/comments:

Have you been happy with the results of your process but using differnt fish?

Are you brining? Are you using cure#1?

Try doing a fillet or butterfly. That way the meat has a more uniform smoke and temperature exposure.

Try this link. It's for mullets specifically. The site has links for lots of other fish, so you should be able to find something similar to yours.

Smoked Mullet

Mullet is a semi-fat fish with a significant amount of oil under the skin and the smoked mullet tastes great.

www.meatsandsausages.com

Good luck!

 

[Bearcarver]

Hi everyone,

I have tried smoking goldeye & lake whitefish. I smoke them vertically, tail hanging down, whole with scales on, in a Masterbuilt electric smoker at around 175 F until the internal temp reaches 160 for 30 min. When they're done, they have a great color on the outside, and the ribs are nice and firm with color and taste. However, the meat along the back is mushy & flavorless. Is there anything I'm doing wrong?

Thanks!

It could be the quality of the fish itself.
However I smoked all my fish laying flat.

Bear

 

[btn400]

Thanks, everyone. I will try butterflying them.

 

[btn400]

I'm not familiar with that fish, but here are some thoughts/questions/comments:

Have you been happy with the results of your process but using differnt fish?

Are you brining? Are you using cure#1?

Try doing a fillet or butterfly. That way the meat has a more uniform smoke and temperature exposure.

Try this link. It's for mullets specifically. The site has links for lots of other fish, so you should be able to find something similar to yours.

Smoked Mullet

Mullet is a semi-fat fish with a significant amount of oil under the skin and the smoked mullet tastes great.

www.meatsandsausages.com

Good luck!

I wet brined the goldeye, dry brined the whitefish. Thanks for the link!