# smoked and cured trout



## 10yearquest (Oct 15, 2009)

Any good recipes out there. I want to do some trout and want them to turn out almost like jerky. Should I dry rub the curing salt or use a brine? Whats a good smoke to use with fish?


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

pkred says:
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=18591&p=207144&hilit=smoked+fish#p207144

gumbo's recipe:
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=18844&p=210547&hilit=smoked#p210547


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

I have dozens of smoked fish recipes dating back to 1970. A couple of years ago I put together a one-page compilation of everything:



Smoked Fish - Basic

2 lb - fish fillets, skin on
1 qt - water
1/4 cup - salt
1/4 cup - brown sugar

Prepare fish:
Using a stiff brush, scrub the slime off the skin, and then rinse the fish.
Fillet the fish, leaving the skin on.

Brine:
Mix ingredients with 1 qt of water.
Add additional salt, if necessary, until an egg floats in the brine.
Soak fish at 40°, covered, in brine for 8 - 24 hours, depending on thickness.
Remove from brine and lightly rinse in cold water.
While warming up the smoker, allow fish to drain and then pat dry.

Smoke - method A:
Place fillets in 140° preheated smoker.
Apply 2 hours of smoke, preferably alder or apple.
Cook at 140° until fillets reach desired texture; total smoking time should be 6 - 7 hours.

Smoke - method B:
Place fillets in 110° preheated smoker for 1 hour.
Apply 2 hours of smoke, preferably alder or apple, at 140°.
Cook at 175° until an internal temperature of 140° or the desired texture is reached.


Notes: 
If you use the “float an egg” method it doesn’t matter how long you soak the fish after the initial 8 to 24 hours in the brine (depending on the fillet thickness) it won’t get any saltier.

Remove the rib bones from larger fish. I leave them in small trout, grayling, smelt, and Cisco.

On thicker pieces, stir the fish up some half way through the brining period.

Use no-stick spray on smoker shelves.

Optional: Substitute the brown sugar with honey or maple syrup.

Optional: Add lemon, orange, or apple juice to brine at a rate of 4 tbsp per quart.

Optional: Add white wine, soy sauce, Tabasco or Worcestershire sauce at a rate of 3 tbsp per quart.

Optional: Add spices like onion powder, garlic powder, white pepper, chili powder, or ground bay leaf at a rate of 1/8 tsp per quart of water. Bring brine to a boil and then let brine cool before using.


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## 10yearquest (Oct 15, 2009)

Excellent! Any of you guys use tenderquick or prague powder to cure fish?


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

10yearquest said:


> Excellent! Any of you guys use tenderquick or prague powder to cure fish?


Only for dry-cured salmon and cod, and I screwed up each attempt with TQ.

Morton's Sugar Cure works better than Tenderquick I think. Morton's Sugar Cure is impossible to get over here in Hooterville so I use P & S Seasonings Maple Cure instead. It is really good. Works for sausage too.

I have fish smoking/curing recipes with all manner of spices, flavorings, powders, juices, wine, and meat-processing chemicals. I have had my share of failures too, usually making fish jerky when I didn't want too.  The combinations are endless, like sausage recipes.

Just get after it, experiment, it's easy.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Smoking wood:

I like alder with salmon, trout, grayling, and whitefish. Apple with all the others....except freshwater eel. There is no smoke that will improve the "earthy" flavor or freshwater eel.

Then again, there are no set rules, just experiment.


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