Quote:
Originally Posted by seahuntr
Good to see you're getting on some fish. If you don't mind - how did you smoke the blue?
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My wife Kate is 1) not a big fan of blues, 2) not a big fan of smoked foods, 3) not too fond of salty foods. These blues passed the "Kate test" with flying colors; my wife loved it. Anyway, I did the following.
- Made a brine solution of water, Kosher salt, soy sauce, brown sugar, and lemon juice.
- I soaked the bluefish fillets in the brine for about an hour and a half
- I rinsed the fillets thoroughly to get rid of as much salt as possible. Part of the idea of brining is to form a seal, a barrier if you will, to prevent the fish from drying out during the smoking process.
- I smoked the fish for about 2 hours and 20 minutes using hickory chips. Any quality smoking wood such as alder or apple will work.
- I brushed the fillets with real maple syrup a little over an hour into the smoking.
- I checked to see if the fillets flaked about 2 hours into it; they were not quite done, but close. The idea for smoked fish (or smoked anything) that you eat right away is to cook it until its done, and not dry it out for long term storage.
The first time I tried smoking, I got bluefish jerky. The second time I tried it, it was on the salty side. This is only my third attempt at smoking, and my best result to date
I've read quite a bit about it, and I tried to mimic what seemed to work for people. Good luck!