Smoking Fish

[LandyAndy]

Hi People.
Any of you smoke your catch???
Something I have never done or considered.
Watched "The Hook and The Cook" last weekend.Was very impressed with with the job they did of Aussie Salmon and what looked to be Sweep.Cooking time was short and they seemed to enjoy eating it,must say they got my mouth watering!!!!
They had a basic smoker much like this STAINLESS STEEL FISH/MEAT/VEG SMOKER WILSON BRAND- NEW | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/STAINLESS-STEEL-FISH-MEAT-VEG-SMOKER-WILSON-BRAND-NEW-/220720462585?pt=AU_Accessories_Tackle&hash=item3363f6faf9)

Anyhow,if you do smoke,how about some pics of your gear and recipes/cooking times.Never been into dried fish,eating a fillet freshly smoked really interests me and my taste buds;););)

Thanks
Andrew

[Aussie]

Smoked trout is a food fit for the gods, it's fanbloodytastic. I've have a smoker in the garage it's the next thing on my list to do, bought it several years ago and never got around to using it yet.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

YUMBO!
nothing beats smoked fish straight out of the ocean, and the little tin smokers work fine:cool:.

[TasD90]

Very easy to do with a small stainless steel smoker. Takes about 20 minutes. Tastes much better than normal cooked trout.
Better still, smoke the trout then break it up and put in a blender with dill and creme fresh and horseradish and a few herbs and make SMOKED TROUT PATE. YUM !!

Bon apetite.

[LandyAndy]

I rekon I will buy a small smoker to get into it.
Have always had a want to build a wood fired pizza oven,perhaps a dual purpose unit???
Andrew

[LandyAndy]

Very easy to do with a small stainless steel smoker. Takes about 20 minutes. Tastes much better than normal cooked trout.
Better still, smoke the trout then break it up and put in a blender with dill and creme fresh and horseradish and a few herbs and make SMOKED TROUT PATE. YUM !!

Bon apetite.

Very little chance of trout for me.BUT,I seem to catch some decent herring that I use for bait or the cats get them.An underated fish I guess that should cook really well like this.Dont like them fried/grilled,love the tinned ones in tomatoe sauce or mango/green pepper sauce.
Andrew

[isuzurover]

I have smoked trout before - and used the same method for smoking meat as well. The taste is amazing.

I don't have a proper smoker, I have just used whatever is to hand - either one of the old-style kettle-shaped weber bbqs, or the chimney of a wood fired bbq.

The steps I have used:

+Let the fire burn down so the coals are just ticking over.
+use skewers or a wire rack to hang the fish or meat as far away from the coals as possible (0.5m to 1m is good).
+put some green herbs/leaves on the coals to make the smoke. IME Rosemary, Apple, Rose, Orange/Citrus and Norfolk Is pine all give a good flavour.
+keep fanning the coals and adding more green leaves until done.

[steveG]

Many years ago back in NZ I used to catch quite a few Kahawai (Australian Salmon). They weren't very good for general eating, but one of the old Maori guys at work taught me how to cold smoke them.

I made a smoker from an old electric oven with the element removed and a couple of small vents added in the back of the oven box to allow air in. We'd spread about 25mm of tea tree sawdust/shavings on the bottom of the oven, light it in one area and just leave it smouldering with the fish in for around 6-8hrs. No noticeable heat from the burning sawdust - just enough air to keep it smouldering slowly.
Preparation was to bleed, then gut/head and scale the fish, split them (cant recall if we actually removed the backbone or just split along one side), open out and coat the the flesh side heavily with salt and a bit of brown sugar. Leave overnight and smoke them in a horizontal position the following day. Once smoked they were very soft in texture and had a very rich smoked flavour. Great by itself, with crackers/toast, or in smoked fish pie etc.

As a teenager I'd made one of the common style smoker boxes as a metalwork project at school and we smoked lots of different fish. While they certainly give a smoked flavour its mostly cooked not smoked, and in my opinion they are not a patch on the flavour and texture of fish that have been cold smoked .

Steve

[slug_burner]

I think that cold smoke is also a means to preserve the meat however with hot smoking you more or less have to eat it as you cook/smoke it.

You can also use a mix of pickle and brine in which you soak the fillets and then cook them or freeze. The mix I think you can get from sports stores and contains brown sugar and other stuff which provides an orange yellow colour to the meat.

[LandyAndy]

Onto that.Hot smoked and eat,MMMMMMMMMMMMM.
Thanks
Andrew

[isuzurover]

Onto that.Hot smoked and eat,MMMMMMMMMMMMM.
Thanks
Andrew

The smoking method I have described above gives you something halfway between hot and cold smoked - depending on how far it is from the coals.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Andy,, go to google, search on fish smoker, click on images-:eek::cool:;)

[Disco44]

I rekon I will buy a small smoker to get into it.
Have always had a want to build a wood fired pizza oven,perhaps a dual purpose unit???
Andrew

Those Herrings that you catch down there smoke up well.I caught quite a few down Mandurah way.I think they are called Tommy Ruffs in South Australia.
John

[slug_burner]

Here are images of the Aussie Fish Smoker/Cooker

http://www.southernmetalspinners.com.au/images/smoker-closed-sml.jpg

http://www.southernmetalspinners.com.au/images/smoker-sml.jpg

http://www.southernmetalspinners.com.au/images/smoker_info.gif

obtained from Camping and outdoor cookware, fish smoker, cookers and frypans - Southern Metal Spinners (http://www.southernmetalspinners.com.au/camping-page.html)

[LandyAndy]

Just watched Fishing WA.
They had a flash Bradley Smoker(have a google).
They did muscles in half shells,with bbq sauce onion salt and parsley on one shelf.On the other peeled king prawns on skewers marinated with sweet chilli sauce,garlic powder and parsley.In the smoker for 1.5 hrs at 110degC.
They looked really moist,made me drool too.
Andrew

[LandyAndy]

Those Herrings that you catch down there smoke up well.I caught quite a few down Mandurah way.I think they are called Tommy Ruffs in South Australia.
John

They are fun to catch too,fight well for their size and jump out of the water trying to throw the hooks.Can grow to quite a decent size especially on the south coast.
Andrew

[LandyAndy]

Here you go.
Meat Smokers, BBQ Smokers, Digital Smokers, Electric Smokers & Food Smokers (http://bradleysmoker.com.au/)
Andrew

[Bigbjorn]

I think that cold smoke is also a means to preserve the meat however with hot smoking you more or less have to eat it as you cook/smoke it.

You can also use a mix of pickle and brine in which you soak the fillets and then cook them or freeze. The mix I think you can get from sports stores and contains brown sugar and other stuff which provides an orange yellow colour to the meat.

You are correct. Hot smoking is cooking and cold smoking is preservation. Brine/salt is commonly used in conjunction with cold smoking. Cold smoked and salt cured mutton hams are terrific food.

[Chenz]

I have been smoking fish for years with a very simple method just using my 4 burner hooded BBQ.

You just need a cast iron smoke box that you can pick up for a few bucks from a BBQ store, some smoke woodchips - I prefer Hickory or Mesquite and some sawdust, again hickory mallee or mesquite.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/02/1204.jpg

By using the middle burner on low you keep the heat down and let the slow heat and smoke from the smoke box do the trick.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/02/1205.jpg

Open up your fish - you have to leave the scales on. Put in a steel dish and coat the fish flesh side with common cooking salt and brown sugar. Put in the fridge and leave no more than 4 hours or the salt will draw out too much of the fish moisture and the fish will come dry.



To get the smoke going I put in the chips, pour some metho on them and light. Leave till they burn down about half and then pour on the sawdust. This puts the flame out and starts to smoke up a treat.

Lift up fish and allow to drain juice off for a minute or so and then just put on an old oven rack suspended above the smoke box under the BBQ hood.

Close the hood and check every 20 minutes or so. The bigger the fish the longer it takes. You can tell when it is done as the flesh starts to crack open into flakes.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/02/1206.jpg

Take off the BBQ and put aside to cool. You can eat it straight a way but I prefer to let it go cold, pick the flesh off and then mix into a salad or salsa.
http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/5484/p2060363.jpg

My wife being a KIWI loves smoked snapper. Got a few kgs in Spencer Gulf on the weekend so smoked two tonight.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/02/1207.jpg

Had to hold her back with a stick but as I type this she is picking the side off the smaller one.

Works great on Tailor, Australian Salmon, Trevally, Trout. I have even smoked Tragelin and small Mulloway.

Have a go and try it is not hard to do and the results are finger licking good

[LandyAndy]

Well don Chenz.
You got me drooling,Im hooked;);););)
Will buy a stainless smoker to try at easter,salmon should be running in Albany then.Booked a chalet for a week:cool::cool::cool::cool::cool::cool:
Shame I dont have a hooded bbq and I gave the webber away.
Andrew

[LandyAndy]

Well and truely bitten by the fish smoking bug after watching yet another Fishing WA episode.
Was up in the city today,wanting to buy a portable smoker.
Didnt like what I saw for the coins asked,then I spotted one of these for a similar price.
Weber BBQs (http://www.weberbbq.com.au/ProductPage.php?pc=k121024)

I grabbed one to convert to a smoker,PERFECT.
Will first try it with a butane camping stove I got for an Xmas present and never used.
I think it may be too hot,if it is I will source some metho burners.The only ones I saw today were at BCF,and they were crap.There are better ones on Ebay.
Will let you know how it goes,smoked fish for dinner tommorow nite:cool::cool::cool::wasntme::wasntme:
Andrew

[LandyAndy]

First test run passed with flying colours:cool::cool::cool::cool::cool:
Deb said it was some of the nicest fish she had tasted,I loved it.Even the left overs taken to work for lunch and eaten cold were really good.
Did a couple of Herring fillets and King George fillets coated in our olive oil and italian spices.Also did some of Eans prawns and Whiskery shark from Albany marinated with Masterfoods Honey Soy Garlic marinade and some of them done with Nandos Lemon and Herb Peri Peri Marinade.The Honey Soy were the better of the too,marinades,the King George was the nicest fish,Herring were better than expected.
I will source some metho burners as the gas was too hot as expected.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/02/342.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/02/343.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/02/344.jpg

Andrew

[Bigbjorn]

Well done, Andrew. Now to broaden your horizons by learning to salt cure and cold smoke.

My grandfather used to do this but I was a schoolboy at the time and don't remember much of the process. The mutton hams and silverside were good stuff as was the feral pork. You should be able to find a "lost" sheep or three around Williams to experiment with.

[Aussie]

Good stuff that tucker looks great, i'm keen to have get my smoker out and fire it up now :)

[LandyAndy]

I ordered 3 metho spirit burners last nite,should do the job nicely.
Andrew

[Chops]

I cant believe I didn't see/find this thread. Thanks Chenz.

Andy, that feed looks awesome. I didn't think you could do "normal" type marinades when smoking, but you seem to have proved that wrong.
Your BBQ/Smoker looks nice, but I think I'll get a stainless one as I hope to use it down the beach a fair bit. Need to try and get one by the long weekend for my fishing trip :D

[LandyAndy]

The metho burners are a pain,they get hot then big flames,very hard to manage.They then run out of metho,the cycle continues after a refuel :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:Taste is absoloutely to die for.
Yet to try the same BBQ with heatbeads shut down for smoking,I think the taste will even be better.
ADDICTED to steak,chops n snags in the thing with heatbeads;););););););)
Andrew

[Terry ABBQS]

G'day Fellas,

The easiest way to cold smoke fish prior to grilling, is to 1/2 fill a large can or pot with compressed wood Pellets or sawdust, heat a couple heat beads held in tongs with a small butane can blowtorch or hot air gun if you are near 240v, till they get white hot, drop on sawdust and cover with more sawdust to top of can, put lid on with a few holes in it and place in the bottom of any container that has your fish hanging or on racks.

My favourite Aussie fish smoking Pellets are Tea Tree, Ironbark and Red Gum, you can get pick them up in Belgrave Melbourne or have them mailed. They cost $8/kg for Tea Tree, $6/kg for others. Smoking sawdusts there are $4 per kg !

Better yet, there is a new Aussie cold smoker device called THE SMOKING BARREL You just fill it with Pellets, blow torch it for 1 min, let it burn for another min or so till the flame goes out, it then smolders and creates bbq smoke. You then simply lay it down at the lowest point of your BBQ, 44 gal drum, old fridge, large box etc. The small and medium Smoking Barrels, smolder for 6hrs, the large goes for 4hrs.

Smoke em if u got em!
Terry.

[Chops]

Well, finally picked up the fish smoker, its made by Jarvis Walker, stainless steel with a little metho burner.
Went down toward Seaspray last weekend but had no luck catching anything, so bought a small Barramundi during the week to try it out.
Very nice indeed, will be doing it a whole lot more :D

Leeanne made a fish pie with the flesh, and boy, was it beautiful. Great smoky flavour.

[Chops]

The pics that didn't go up the first time for some reason,, :mad:

Used a salt/sugar brine to soak it in first (half an hour). This seemed to create a hard skin which was very easy to cut/peel off when done. The flesh just flaked off, making the bones easy to remove or eat around if you were to do it. I must admit, I'd have liked to have just eaten straight off the rack.