Rolling some smoke on Rainbow and speckled trout

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KBFlyer

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Mar 7, 2018
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Ontario Canada
Smoke day at my house.
Two rainbow trout and two speckled trout.
Three day process.
Basically taken from Kummok's post from the bradley forum.
1st: let sit in brine\cure over night.
Soak in your own brine recipe for 12 hours at refrigerator temps . For more complete brining throughout, place a stainless steel or wooden grate over the top of the meat to hold it under the brine. Stir fish a few times during the brining process. The following brine recipe is included to get you started, but you are encouraged to experiment with your own salt/sugar, maple, honey, peppers, seasonings to develop your own.
1 gallon cold water
1 quart teriyaki OR soy sauce
1 cup pickling salt
2 Lbs brown sugar
2 Tbsp garlic powder
3 Tbsp cayenne pepper
2nd: After brining remove and let them sit in fridge over night. This is called GLAZING
Place fish in a single layer on drying racks and ensure that the pieces DON’T touch each other. Dry in a cool, shady place until a hard pellicle forms. Fish will have a tough, shiny coat and will be slightly tacky to the touch. This allows the smoke to stick better.
3rd: SMOKING
Apply smoke for as long as you like. I like lots.
100°-120°F for 1-2 hours, then increase to
140° for 2-4 hours, then increase to
175° for 1-2 hours to finish

During the last step I apply a coating of maple syrup to give the fish that candy taste.

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Looks fantastic. I started a batch of catfish a couple year ago. I was reading an article on food poisoning being common on incorrectly brined / smoked fish being super common and it scared me off lol. I need to try again this year. I love smoked catfish.
 
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Great looking trout! The pics are mouthwatering. That color is money! I feel like I have the flavor profile I like, which is sweet and salty. Haven't been able to get that great finish yours has. Impressive. I did maple syrup/honey on some lake trout a few weeks back but I wonder if the fattiness that pushes out kills the outside finish. I wonder if some king and steelies will come out better. I usually do a fan for an hour vs overnight. They may make a difference too. I have a similar setup with the Bradley and Auber. Sure makes it nice for perfect temps and time for smoking fish. Nicely done!
 
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Smoke day at my house.
Two rainbow trout and two speckled trout.
Three day process.
Basically taken from Kummok's post from the bradley forum.
1st: let sit in brine\cure over night.
Soak in your own brine recipe for 12 hours at refrigerator temps . For more complete brining throughout, place a stainless steel or wooden grate over the top of the meat to hold it under the brine. Stir fish a few times during the brining process. The following brine recipe is included to get you started, but you are encouraged to experiment with your own salt/sugar, maple, honey, peppers, seasonings to develop your own.
1 gallon cold water
1 quart teriyaki OR soy sauce
1 cup pickling salt
2 Lbs brown sugar
2 Tbsp garlic powder
3 Tbsp cayenne pepper
2nd: After brining remove and let them sit in fridge over night. This is called GLAZING
Place fish in a single layer on drying racks and ensure that the pieces DON’T touch each other. Dry in a cool, shady place until a hard pellicle forms. Fish will have a tough, shiny coat and will be slightly tacky to the touch. This allows the smoke to stick better.
3rd: SMOKING
Apply smoke for as long as you like. I like lots.
100°-120°F for 1-2 hours, then increase to
140° for 2-4 hours, then increase to
175° for 1-2 hours to finish

During the last step I apply a coating of maple syrup to give the fish that candy taste.

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So I see you brine them hole and then split in half. Have you smoked them hole before? Curious which method you prefer and why. They look great.
 
So I see you brine them hole and then split in half. Have you smoked them hole before? Curious which method you prefer and why. They look great.

Actually what you are looking at is the fish being thawed out. They were in the freezer so they sat in a meat tub in cold water till they thawed out so I could fillet them.

As for doing them whole yes I have done small speckled trout whole. You will want to put a little stick in the fish’s cavity to prop it open — this allows the smoke to permeate the fish better. If you don't mind picking out the bones many do it this way. One thing is if you hang your trout , you will need to leave the throats intact. Just gut them. This helps prevent them from falling off the hanging hooks.
 

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