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how many of you smoke your own fish. The local guy here takes 56 percent of your catch and you must wait 2 weeks for it to be smoked. My mother loves smoked fish, and I do too.
My questions are where does one get a smoker? Could they be purchased or could they be built.
What is the complete process involved?
1988 Grady White Sailfish 252
Twin Mercruiser 470's
Raytheon 16 NM Radar
Standard Spectrum VHF
Standard GPS CP 150
Hummingbird 3-D Sounder
Si-Tex CVS 103 (Sounder)
NorthStar Loran
Lee Jr Outriggers
10 Coats of Varnish on all Teak.
Mint Condition!
Have never smoked fish, but I do a lot of pork shoulders and ribs. You can get a Brinmkman Smoker, the one that looks like R2D2 from Star Wars, at just about any hardware store. They are easy and fun to use and shouldn't cost you more than $30 or so.
Yougottagetone! We're talking serious yummy here without much hassle. If you've eaten fresh smoked fish, you know what i'm talking about. There are lots of ways to prepare the meat that will add to the flavor. Once you've marinated and set up the smoker, there's not much to do. And your neighbors will go crazy when they smell it! I bought mine at ~Walmart~ (Brinkmans). Sorry, i hate Wallyworld for most things, but this was the only place i found one - cash and carry. Dunno if they have a website to order on-line, but you might wanna check - and go getcha one. OOooooo i'm hungry now
Smoking your own fish is simple. i take it you know how to clean and prepare your fish? Do you have much room to smoke your fish or do you live in a condo or something awkward like that?
My fishing buddy smokes ours for us, uses an old refridgerator, stripped out, with wire racks in it to lay larger slabs on, or to hang smaller fish from hooks from.
Split your fish, leave the backbone etc in them, marinate or prepare however you like. My mate here steeps his fish in a brine and brown sugar solution for 1/2 an hour, then drains them. me, i'd pop a little more brown sugar on again for a little more nice sweet browny smoked stuff, if you know what I mean.
Once the fish have drained, lay on plain wire grills (NOT plasticised ones!) and pop into your smoker. If you have one of those portable small smoker units, then all instructions will be inside, theyare usually only any good for one or two fish at a time, and that is hot-smoked/semi cooked half the time.
Using the bigger unit, the old fridge, mymaye has a small fire in a fire box just below the smoker, bottom cut out of the fridge, so that the flame is pretty far way from the fish, avoids cooking too quickly, gives the smoke a chance to do its job better.
If you want to get really flash, build your own smoke house, kinda like one of those quaint "long-drop" dunny type sheds you see (a half-moon cut in the door is not a good idea, as it may cause confusion.). you can then light a fire in the bottom of that,or get really REALLY flash, and have your fire-box totally separate from the smoke house, but piped in from the fire box, that will give you "cold-smoked" fish, which is drier, lasts longer, but also takes a lot longer. Purists argue it does a better job, all tastes like fish to me.
Now if you were here in NZ, I'd tell you to come around and chat with denn, he'd sort you out no trouble, but i guess this could be a problem eh....
Those "walmart" things sound like the easiest way to go though. Giving away half your fish to a smoko?That's bad!
I know it sounds expensive, but Cookshack makes an amazing smoker for about $400. I've had one for about a year now and I've smoked about 500-600 lbs in it. Rave reviews about fish, cheese, shoulders, brisket, whatever. I recommend them for sure. They have a forum on their website.
I smoke King Mackeral all the time. I've smoked mullet, Wahoo, and even Grunt! Yummy...
Here's how to do it simply, and cheaply (unless you drink expensive beer).
Take your fish and marinate the meat in soy sauce for about 2-3 hours. The soy sauce acts like a magnet for the smoke.
Light a pan of charcoal in a brinkman smoker. When the charcoal is mostly gray, fill the water pan, place the fish on the racks, and add a pack of hickory chunks (wet wood wrapped in aluminum foil) to the coals. Dont use chips - they burn up too fast and make the fish bitter.
Cover and forget about them for an hour while drinking lots of cold beer.
After a six pack, or one hour, open the brinkman and remove the fish. Refrigerate overnight to let the smoke flavor settle and mellow. If you try eating the meat right after smoking, it will still be a little strong on the surface (bitter to some).
For oily fish (I use king Mackerel), take some of the smoked meat, and mix with mayo, more soy, and seasonings. Smash the mixture up (don't use a food processor-use fingers)and mix well. Put it on crackers and your tongue may slap the roof of your mouth hard enough to make you dizzy! For seasonings, I use Cavenders Greek Seasonings
As far as keeping a Brinkman lit, there is an easy sollution. I smoke pork shoulders which go for about 20-22 hours. I added an electric heating elemnt to mine and have found that it doesn't change the flavor one iota. It allows me to set it up and forget about it, just concentrate on drinking beer. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
Ummmmmmmmm that all sounds so mouth-watering good!
Perhapes tomorrow I will purchase (or build( a smoker. Homedepot has a electric smoker that holds up to 50 lbs of food, is easy to use, and costs only 53 or 58 bucks. What worries me is the possibility of the fish loosing flavor becuase it is an electric smoker.
Ok now lets hare some recipies.
Some friends of mine found a piece with Ling all over it, so this weekend I intend to catch some and smoke some this weekend. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]
1988 Grady White Sailfish 252
Twin Mercruiser 470's
Raytheon 16 NM Radar
Standard Spectrum VHF
Standard GPS CP 150
Hummingbird 3-D Sounder
Si-Tex CVS 103 (Sounder)
NorthStar Loran
Lee Jr Outriggers
10 Coats of Varnish on all Teak.
Mint Condition!
I do a lot of smoked meats and fish and there is no better eating.I favor the short Brinkman electric smoker,uses lava gravel and a heating element similar to those sold for starting charcoal(replacements can be bought at Menards,Home Depot etc. when needed for about $25.)Simply soak your wood chunks in water for about 30 mins.,place on lava gravel,put pan with about 2-3qts water in it on the lowest support,place wire grill on top support (spray with PAM first to speed cleanup),put fish (marinated in any number of delicious solutions or not at all)on grill,place cover on smoker, plug in heating element and in 30mins to 1 hr you are done! The electric smoker costs about $75.Good eating!
I'd recommend a charcoal unit over electric for flavor plus, the fact that there is a water tray to keep the (whatever you smoke) meat moist rather than making fish Jerky...matter of preference...
Equal parts Sake, Soy, Dark molasses makes a great marinade...
Smoking Fish? 
