01-23-2007, 04:32 PM
In my experience smoking fish it is all in the curing. I fillet all the fish I plan on smoking leaving the skin on. I cure the fillets in a simple brine.
1 cup salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup molasses
1 cup lemon juice
1 gallon water
(mix all ingredients in a pan and heat till disolved, then cool brine in fridge)
I place all the fillets in a bowl (glass or plastic) cover with brine and place a glass plate over the top of the fillets to keep them down in the brine, and place in fridge.
To me this is the important part. When the fillets take in enough salt (are cured) the texture of the flesh changes from soft and slimy to a little firmer and leathery feeling, immediately take them out of the brine, let the brine drain off and srinkle the meat side with lemon pepper. It can take from 12 to 24 hrs for them to cure depending on a lot of things, temperature, type of fish...
Then I smoke the fillets in my Little Chief smoker 3 or 4 pans of cold smoke. Then finish by placing the fillets in the oven on a cookie sheet at 200 degrees until I get the dryness I like. LBD
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1 cup salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup molasses
1 cup lemon juice
1 gallon water
(mix all ingredients in a pan and heat till disolved, then cool brine in fridge)
I place all the fillets in a bowl (glass or plastic) cover with brine and place a glass plate over the top of the fillets to keep them down in the brine, and place in fridge.
To me this is the important part. When the fillets take in enough salt (are cured) the texture of the flesh changes from soft and slimy to a little firmer and leathery feeling, immediately take them out of the brine, let the brine drain off and srinkle the meat side with lemon pepper. It can take from 12 to 24 hrs for them to cure depending on a lot of things, temperature, type of fish...
Then I smoke the fillets in my Little Chief smoker 3 or 4 pans of cold smoke. Then finish by placing the fillets in the oven on a cookie sheet at 200 degrees until I get the dryness I like. LBD
[signature]