Smoked trout part II

[fish face]

Okay, I smoked my trout using nothing but brown sugar and salt as my brine. Good, but salty (and I need to stay away from salt anyway). I tried it again but reducing the salt by half, but still too salty. After reading different posts, I noticed that salt is very important to a brine and someone wrote about smoking the fish without a brine. Has anybody heard of this and how did the fish taste?

 

[halibuthitman]

A basic dry rub of white suger brown sugar and salt completely coating the fish for 4 hours, is just about the best brine for trout, try rinsing your fish Aggressively, that should help with the salt issue-

 

[chrisohm]

Add some ground ginger and a pinch of cayenne pepper.....

 

[n8r1]

x2 on rinsing. Try rinsing each piece under cold tap water before you put them on a rack to dry. That will reduce the salty flavor.

 

[rogerdodger]

Okay, I smoked my trout using nothing but brown sugar and salt as my brine. Good, but salty (and I need to stay away from salt anyway). I tried it again but reducing the salt by half, but still too salty. After reading different posts, I noticed that salt is very important to a brine and someone wrote about smoking the fish without a brine. Has anybody heard of this and how did the fish taste?

how much salt are you using in your brine? per quart of water for example...roger

 

[fish face]

In a gallon of water I used 1 1/3 of canning salt and 2/3 of brown sugar. Then the second time (still using a gallon of water) I reduced it in half, brining for about 12 hours. I caught the fish in Detroit reservoir so they were not very big. However, during the process I did not rinse the fish so that might be the ticket. Thanks.

 

[eugene1]

fish face, the other option is just brine them for less time with your regular brine. I brine mine for 1 hour with a solution similar to your first one.

Best,

 

[TTFishon]

I only use about a 1/4 C of salt per gallon in my brines and my fish turn out excellent. I also use agave nectar, brown sugar, white sugar, black pepper to taste and if you like lemon, grate some lemon rind into your brine. Good luck!!!

 

[GraphiteZen]

1 cup kosher salt, 1 cup brown sugar, half cup of white sugar, one gallon of water. Brine for 48 hours with the fridge turned to very cold. Remove and let sit exposed to air for 1 hour. Then smoke slowly (about 6 or 7 hours) at ~120 degrees over charcoal and dry chips. Thank me later.

 

[rogerdodger]

In a gallon of water I used 1 1/3 of canning salt and 2/3 of brown sugar. Then the second time (still using a gallon of water) I reduced it in half, brining for about 12 hours. I caught the fish in Detroit reservoir so they were not very big. However, during the process I did not rinse the fish so that might be the ticket. Thanks.

as noted by others, time and brine salt content go together.

I brine whole trout/kokanee for maybe 2 hours and use 2 quarts water with 1/2 c salt plus the sugars and seasonings...rinse is good idea.

(for salmon pieces that are thicker, I use same brine salt content but soak for 4 hours...)..cheers, roger

 

[pdxstruve]

Great thread. I always squeeze in a tangerine and chop up a larger shallot for the brine. happy smoking to you all.

 

[trouthunter]

Try 1/2 cup salt 1/2 cup brown sugar and a gallon of apple cider let soak for three days in fridge then light rinse and smoke.

 

[eugene1]

Since the thread isn't so old to be considered a zombie thread, I will say that I add lemon juice to my brine. I use the concentrated stuff in the green bottle "Real Lemon" or whatever it's called. Tangerine could be interesting too, never tried that. Shallots though? I never tried or heard of that, perhaps I'm missing out?

Take care,

Great thread. I always squeeze in a tangerine and chop up a larger shallot for the brine. happy smoking to you all.

 

[pdxstruve]

I always toss the shallots in man. nice sharp onion flavor. i take them out of the brine and smoke them up with the fish. tatses amazing when you toss the shallots in with the fish with some cream cheese for a spread.

 

[mikeee2362]

I'm a dry briner. 1 part non Iodized salt to 3 parts dark brown sugar. Coat strips of filets as you add them to a a large ziplock bag the fish will create the liquid, so no need to add water. Force all the air out of the bag and seal. Let it soak about 8 hours, after 8 hours all you are going to need to do is lightly rinse off the fish. If you want you can soak it as long as 24 hours but if you go over 10 hours I would back soak it about an hour in ice water or it will be too salty. Dry the fish off and and place it on your smoker racks. I like to sprinkle parts of the batch with different kinds of seasonings like cracked pepper on some and garlic powder on some. Let them dry for an hour or two to form a pelicle or a sticky skin. You can speed this part up by putting a fan on it. I put mine in my dehydrator on low for about 20 minutes and it forms the pelicle perfectly. I smoke mine as low as my smoker will go, about 145 for about 5-6 hours depending on the weather outside. I like mine a little on the dryer side. kind of like soft jerky. But you can adjust your time to give you the consistency you like. I will also brush some REAL maple syrup on part of the batch a couple times in the last hour. MMMM fish candy!

 

[rogerdodger]

excellent process, you have it dialed in!

 

[GraphiteZen]

Omg that looks good.

 

[radiation]

That looks and sounds so good. I got a smoker for my birthday this year and of course I haven't caught a single salmon or steelhead to try out. I've done a lot of McKenzie trout in it, but I usually just smoke them without brining.

 

[fish face]

That looks and sounds so good. I got a smoker for my birthday this year and of course I haven't caught a single salmon or steelhead to try out. I've done a lot of McKenzie trout in it, but I usually just smoke them without brining.

Smoking TROUT without a brine. Never thought of that. How is that?