I just recently got a small smoker a couple of months ago and I am trying to learn how to (successfully) smoke fish. All I have done so far is sunfish and trout, both with different levels of success. This winter I am planning to get some white fish and give it a try, and since I have never eaten whitefish before I would like to ask the forum if there is any special smoking recipe/process for whitefish that you would like to share. Thanks so much in advance!
Smoked whitefish in the Midwest is one of my favorites.
Here, I can turn out great smoked salmon or trout, but all my attempts at making something good out of mountain whitefish have failed. I just don't like them Fun to catch though
Dad used a wet brine & apple wood, but alas, I don't recall much more than that other than they were tasty & didn't dry out.
This recipe seems vaguely familiar:
1 gallon water, 1 Cup pickling salt, 1 Cup of Brown sugar, 1/8 Cup Tender quick. We brine 18-24 hours depending on size. Longer for bigger pieces, shorter for smaller pieces. We smoke with apple wood @ 225* for about 3 1/2-4 hours. Sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. The smoking we do is for trout and salmon pieces. Get yourself a digital thermometer. You want to smoke it just shy of where you want it to come out. 140-155* depending on the size and how you like your fish. Let it come up 5-10* on it;s own by killing the heat source. Another good indication is when the fish starts "milking on the sides". We give it another 20-45 minuets after it starts to "milk".
Whifefish are delicious! Well, according to those who've tried it. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to weed some of those buggers out of the rivers, even though they fight decent and love to hit nymphs
I don't recall Dad freezing fish before smoking them. with the availability of vacuum sealing technology today, freezing anything is much-improved. I know that when we did freeze fish, they were frozen in blocks of ice, typically inside of a milk carton. All that being said, I don't have a definitive answer to your "one more question," however.
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