Smoking help needed.

[Ian1]

Yes, Yes I can just hear all the puns about calling Quit Line .

Seriosly tho, I have made myself a smoker out of a beer keg. Keg was cut about 2/3 rds of the way up and I have put wire racks in it. I just sit it on my crab cooker with some Hickory saw dust in the bottom and put the lid back on.

My first attempt was a chicken breast and it turned out great so I went and got some Cod fillets out of the freezer. The result with them was not so good. I had them in Brine overnight. When I smoked them a lot of moisture came out and ran to the bottom of the keg and down the sides of the keg. Is moisture coming out normal? They where in there for about 18 mins with Hickory saw dust. The outcome was a bit to salty which I can fix but instead of tasting smoky they tasted more like burnt wood.
Could the problem be the moisture running down and weting the sawdust? If so do I need to create a bit of airflow to help clear the moisture before it condensates inside the lid. I have read that the smoker needs some airflow or the result can be a bitter taste? Is that true?
Maybe I need to try a milder flavored wood?

Help!

Ian

[BGG]

Ian
I never use brine. Just salt your fillets well about 30 minutes prior to cooking.

[JewseeTHAT]

Burnt taste sounds like you had the sawdust burning rather than smouldering. Airflow is necessary to allow the sawdust to smoulder, obviously though it can't be too much air or it will ignite.

Moisture coming out is normal, after the brining, if you do it, which really is unnecessary but if it turns you on continue to do so. Pat them dry after the brining, then leave them in the fridge or under a fan to go tacky dry. Yes they will still release moisture and you don't want too much of that going onto your sawdust or woodchips, for obvious reasons.

Make sure you are picking up your chimney from the bottom of the keg, the smoke needs to circulate before it's vented out.

This will be my last post on this forum, the hijacking of pages to push the advertisers line has gone from the rude to ridiculous and i won't be back.
A shame really, as what was once a decent site has become simply obnoxious to peruse.

[Noelm]

I have never really had as good a finished product from frozen fish as fresh, frsh is best! and indeed you need to have just the right amount of airflow, takes a bit of mucking about, but once mastered for your particular smoker, it will be a breeze, I always brine the Fish first, with a mixture of salt and sugar and stuff, also in a "big" smoker, like a beer keg, I prefer a piece of wood rather than saw dust/chips, but either will work, just keep on trying untill you get it right.

[rusco]

Some fish just doesnt come up good if smoked..Tailor ,mullet,mackrel tuna,salmon and trout are those that would work with mild Hickory smoking. If using wood chips dont forget to soak them for an hour or two. If using sawdust wrap the sawdust in alfoil and moisten the dust with some white wine then put the whole alfoil pack on the fire. Snapper is another good fish to smoke but do it with manuka sawdust and a couple of twigs of rosemary.Everything else as the others said.
rusco

[tunaticer]

You should have a metal tray to catch the drips from the fillets instead of letting it wet the sawdust. The strong flavour is fish juices burning with the sawdust.

Also if i brine some fillets i let them dry overnight in the fridge and then quickly sluice them through a bowl of brown sugar and water then let them dry off prior to smoking. This takes the edge off the saltiness and glazes the fish when smoked.....Delicious.

Jack.

[pescados]

Usually leave mine in brine for about 1 1/2 hours, then leave them to dry outside
under mesh for 1-2 hrs and then smoked the fish.
Haven't had any probs.

[mudrunner]

i use a weber. have 2 actually. a gas and a charcoal job. you can control airflow etc with both. but the gas one has a temp guage, and is easy to control temp.

you must regulate your humidity to create best results. trial and error. if your brine is too salty, dont changethe ammount of salt. just change the time its in the brine. trial and error. use brown sugar in the brine. as with cooking, it takes away the harshness of the salt.

after brining, let your fish dry beforesmoking. it forms a pellicle (crust) and will give a better result...

[major-defect]

I don't worry about brine anymore.I reckon it washes out some of the fish flavour.

[Noelm]

hey Spinner, I never really had much luck with the gas Webber, is yours OK? and your method is pretty well spot on with what I do, secret recipe of Brown sugar, Soy Sauce and piles of salt, leave in brine for a few hours, works very well, dry with paper towel before smoking and your set.

[mudrunner]

g'day noel.

with gas it is hard to keep the heat down, as you know. i only use the gas for smaller cuts of fish, as they lend themselves to cooking quickly anyway.

people seem to think they are trying to cure the fish with smoke, when in reality what we are trying to do is just add smoke flavour. it is the brine that cures the fish. although, smoke does to a degree.

the whole process of smoking fish (for personal use, hehehe) is really for flavour....so what you should concentrate on is just to make the fish TASTE good.

therefore, it is 'salt to taste' and 'smoke to taste'.....

commercial cures use nitrates to 'keep' a product. we dont want to keep them. we wanna eat em!! so concentrate on making the fish taste good.....

dont smoke fish for too long. the more plumes of smoke you produce, the quicker the fish will taste smokey....so you must judge when the fish is "smoked to taste". not by time, but by the ammount of smoke that you run over the fish.

the trick is to cook the fish while it is smoking. so, to get a consistent result the ammount of smoke must be uniform as to the heat and time taken. again it is trial and error. but start with the things you CAN control. like heat and time to cook. and keep a record. measuring the ammount of woodchips or sawdust will increase you chances of a consistent result. you may find that to underestimate the ammount of wood used is a better option. you can always add more smoke, but you cant fix a ruined fish. (although you can make dips from oversmoked fish).

you can also buy liquid smoke at places like lesnies if all else fails....

mackerel are an excellent fish to smoke. go to a decent supermarket and find some smoked mackerel from "springs" smkehouse in south australia. try and replicate their result...truely an excellent product. i can get close. but they really have it down pat...try it, "springs"!!!!

[freddofrog]

Umm...stupid question but what's a keg made out of? Hopefuly not galvinised metal as on heating the zinc becomes very toxic. Just thought I'd mention it.

[flybloke]

Umm...stupid question but what's a keg made out of? Hopefuly not galvinised metal as on heating the zinc becomes very toxic. Just thought I'd mention it.

You Must be an Accountant, Yes??, you never seen a Keg of beer ?
Aluminium ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Ribbing aside

, Hot Smoke or Cold Smoke or even warm smoke, All have there followers.
Its an addiction that, Once your hooked, Your gone forever.
There is an Excellent US site that has plenty of Aussie members that is totally about "smoking meats".
I wont post it here but if anyone wants a link PM me, Those that know "Smoking Meats" ,,,,,,,,,, Forum please refrain from checking if its the same one they already know

[Adam_G]

freddofrog,

Beer kegs are made from stainless steel.

Adam

[flybloke]

HaHa, That what I meant to say, Im sure I got an old Alloy one somewhere?