Smoking fish?

blkcloud · Newbie Joined: 25 Nov 2009 Posts: 32

I have several different types of fish i want to smoke, bass, bluegill, stripe and catfish.. these will be brined... one recipe said smoke at 200 for 2 hours.. another other one said 200 for 10 hours... these are fillets of different thicknesses from 3/8 inch to 1 inch.. any suggestions? I'll be using my beloved UDS.. thanks!

BigOrson · Posted: Mar 03 2011 Post subject:

If it were me, I'd cure them rather than brine them. 50-50 Kosher salt to table sugar, wrap and fridge overnight, then cold smoke (after a rinse) the next day.

pmoyer · Joined: 23 Mar 2011 Posts: 5 Location: San Diego, CA

I would think you would smoke fish at 200 for 2 hours. 10 hours seems like you'd turn the fish into jerky or worse...char.

I've gotten my best results from smoking fish between 1-2 hours at around 200-225.

tkmlinus · Newbie Joined: 10 Jul 2010 Posts: 63 Location: Georgia

I agree with pmoyer's post. I have smoked a good bit of fresh flounder, I brine for about 45 minutes and let it sit on the smoker for 45-60 mins max(at about 225 degrees). I have made some fish jerky with the thinner cuts of fish before by leaving them on for too long(still tastes good, just dry!). A thick fatty fish like salmon needs to brine and cook a little longer, but it depends on how you want it cooked, i typically smoke a thick cut of salmon for 2-3 hours.

I'd suggest to check the fish about 45 minutes in and give it a taste. Be really careful because it is super easy to overdo it, and be lite on the smoke as well because the fish readily soaks the flavor up.