floatin cowboys:
Here are two recipes for brines. The first being just a basic brine and seasoning can be add to as you feel fit. This is also a good brine to use and then just bake or grill your fish and serve with a nice tarter sauce, or dill sauce, or an aioli (garlic mayo)
Brine recipe 1)
1 gallon water 1cup kosher salt 1/2 cup sugar 2 sliced lemons 1/4 cup choped garlic Optional; 1/2 chopped dill.
combine all ingredients in a large pot and bring to a simmer to dissolve the salt and sugar. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temp and then chill in fridge then brine fish for 4 to 8 hours, pull out of brine and rinse, pat dry and allow to air dry before smoking. It should get a tacky feeling to it, thats called pellicle and is important for the smoke to adhere to the fish. Remember this is a hot smoked method meaning that your fish will cook in the smoker, just be sure not to over cook it.
The second brine is a good smoke brine and is the one I use with trout and salmon.
Brine 2)
1/3cup brown sugar 2cups soy sauce 1cup water 1/2tsp garlic powder 1/2tsp pepper 1/2tsp onion powder 1/2tsp hotsauce 1cup dry white wine
combine all ingriedents and dissolve sugar over a low heat then cool. Brine fish for 8 hours, rinse and agian allow fish to dry to develop the tacky surface (pellicle) and smoke.
I like to play with my food ;D so I am always trying some different spices to my brines. Always start with a little and taste then adjust as needed. Curry is a fun one to add to the brine, depending on how strong you like it, or ginger. Let your mind wonder. Don't be afraid to try, and mostly, take notes. I can't tell you how many times I made something from the top of my head and din't write it down and couldn't remember it. :P
polepole:
That's what I'm talking about FC!
So ... what can you tell me about wood choices, smoke times, and temperature?
-Allen
floatin cowboys:
Wood choices are pretty broad. If you have a walmart around you can pick up luhr jenson chips for about $3. That is your best bet. For fish Alder chips are nice because they impart a sweetness, also does fruit woods like apple and cherry. But you can use any hard wood. (no evergreens please) So try some and find one that you like.
As for your time and temp that all depends on what type of smoker and the size. I have two, I have a little cheif by Luhr Jensons that I use for small amounts of meat. Those are nice cause you just put the chips in the pan and on the burner and let it smoke. Most of them come with a smoke guide which you should follow and make adjustments from there. My other smoker is one I built to smoke hams and big meats. you can walk in this one, it looks like and old out house from the outside. I did some hams in it last year and it was fun. So just keep with the instruction that come with the little smokers and you chould be ok. But in the rough if you have a temp of 160 and are doing trout it will take about 1 to 2 hours of smoke. Thats a rough guide.
FC
boxofrain:
I'm writin' em down.
polepole:
I've smoked tuna before, but never salmon until last week, and that batch sucked because of too much salt. I borrowed a little chef from my father up here and I have a different setup down in San Jose. The little chef seems a little on the cool side and my smoker down in San Jo runs a bit hot. I've used cherry and apple on the tuna and kind of like the fruit wood. My dad like to use hickory on his salmon, which is a stronger smokier taste. My tuna brine consists of equal parts soy sauce and mirin (sweet sake), with some garlic and ginger thrown in. The hotter smoker tends to dry out normal tuna loins, but throw a batch of tuna bellies on and you have food for kings. The hotter smoker melts down the excess oil in the bellies, which normally are too oily. Too bad I haven't caught a tuna in 2 years. My mouth is watering thinking about it.
Anyway, the salmon season is winding down here, unless I decide to keep a chum or 2. I may just do that to experiment a bit with smoking salmon. I don't want to ruin another batch of silver fillets. That hurt.