Smoke Fish advice

[Runamuck]

G,day

I am looking for a guide to smoke some freshly caught Spanish mackerel fillets. I have a home made kipper type box smoker.

I am a little unsure about brine, soaking times, cooking times etc.

Thanks!!

[trout head]

Here you go mate , I have smoked 100s kg of Span Macs , 1/ use coarse salt , spinkle enough salt to have a nice even coating you want the salt to be about this far apart . . . . . or about 100 gram a fillet as shown , you will soon work it out , 2/ place in tub and leave over night , I smoke with a temp of about 85 to 90 c , should take about a hour , check you fish every 10 min , this is a guide only , depends on size of fillet , how much control of Smoker you have , But after 1 or 2 goes you will have it worked out , Pm me if you need more info .

Ian

[Runamuck]

Here you go mate , I have smoked 100s kg of Span Macs , 1/ use coarse salt , spinkle enough salt to have a nice even coating you want the salt to be about this far apart . . . . . or about 100 gram a fillet as shown , you will soon work it out , 2/ place in tub and leave over night , I smoke with a temp of about 85 to 90 c , should take about a hour , check you fish every 10 min , this is a guide only , depends on size of fillet , how much control of Smoker you have , But after 1 or 2 goes you will have it worked out , Pm me if you need more info .

Ian

Thanks Ian for the awsome response and pics. You now have thrown me with your method because i thought that i had to make a brine of salt and sugar etc.

Do i have to wash the salt off before smoking? Im thinking yes?

[Moffy]

Runamuck,

Haven't ever done it the way Trout Head does - looks like he gets pretty awesome results though - will have to give it a try. (what sort of smoker do you use trout head - a small metho burner one - or do you do it in a grill BBQ or something else??)

The way that i've done it previously using the "kipper" box smokers (small metho burner etc) - think this is what you are chasing - is to cut the fish into smaller pieces and soak it in a brine mix for at least 30 mins in the fridge - longer is better - but not always practical when you are keen for a feed at the end of a day on the water - for my brine - i mix up a salt water solution - about the same as you'd make to cook prawns or crabs and then bung in a fair bit of sugar (handfull or two or more if a lot of fish) - no idea on exact measurements - i just throw it all in and give the fish a soak - cant see how too much sugar will hurt - too much salt though.......
Then dry it all off on paper towel and then into the smoker for 10-15-20 mins - depends on how much fish in the smoker and the size of your pieces - don't want to dry them out - bit of trial and error needed - especially given yours is home made - secret seems to be to not overload on the sawdust - too much makes the flavour too strong (e.g if you've covered the entire floor of the smoker so you can't see through the dust - probably way too much.)

hope this helps.

Cheers,

Moffy.

[Runamuck]

Moffy you are correct on both accounts.

Trout Head looks as though he is pretty switched on to it and yes i have a home made kipper box which i was given just recently.

[trout head]

Sugar , what it does is add a bit of sweetness , if you are going to use it , use brown sugar , I do not use sugar , The secret is in the cure , If you take note of the fillet in the photo that I have cut , you will the colour of the fillet is a nice clear colour , Not white like a pan fryed one , that tells the the cure is right , Hence the dry salting , and no you do not have to wash the salt off , there will not be any to wash off , To leave the fish over night lets the salt do its thing , just drain water off and smoke , ---- What to add ---- You can add a little bit of Chilli or Garlic powder to your salt , or after it is cooked , if you have one of those home crovac machines , you can make a chilli or garlic oil , or what ever , brush it on to the fillets crovac , leave a day , da da , Tastes real good , I have smoked most fish that we have in Q/L , The 2 stand outs are Span Mac and croul trout , hope this helps .
Ian PS it is a $ 25,000 smoke house .

[Runamuck]

Sugar , what it does is add a bit of sweetness , if you are going to use it , use brown sugar , I do not use sugar , The secret is in the cure , If you take note of the fillet in the photo that I have cut , you will the colour of the fillet is a nice clear colour , Not white like a pan fryed one , that tells the the cure is right , Hence the dry salting , and no you do not have to wash the salt off , there will not be any to wash off , To leave the fish over night lets the salt do its thing , just drain water off and smoke , ---- What to add ---- You can add a little bit of Chilli or Garlic powder to your salt , or after it is cooked , if you have one of those home crovac machines , you can make a chilli or garlic oil , or what ever , brush it on to the fillets crovac , leave a day , da da , Tastes real good , I have smoked most fish that we have in Q/L , The 2 stand outs are Span Mac and croul trout , hope this helps .
Ian

Thanks again Ian.

I am going to give your method ago. I will add the salt to fillets this morning and smoke tomorrow.
Today and tonight....wil that be too long?

Adam

[trout head]

Na , you will be good, it may take you acouble of gos to get the salt right , but if you take note of the fillets in the photo that is salted , you will have a good idear of how much . Ian

[Runamuck]

Na , you will be good, it may take you acouble of gos to get the salt right , but if you take note of the fillets in the photo that is salted , you will have a good idear of how much . Ian

Ok....I will let you know how it goes.

Thanks again!

[tunaticer]

I use a slightly diff technique for hotbox smoking (kipper box).
Firstly, for macks I fillet and skin and remove any bloodline then cut to serving size portions.
Salt it reasonably well overnight in the fridge.
In the morning, wash the fillets in brine then paper towel dry.
Make a mix of 50-50 brown sugar and salt and rub that on the fillet and leave for ten mins whilst getting the smoker ready.
Load the sawdust and start the smoker getting it to operating temp. Then quickly open it and drop the racks of fillets in.
For a standard size portion serve for two people I find it takes about 10-12 minutes in my hotbox, could vary greatly depending on size and temps.
Brown sugar adds a glaze to the fillet without being overly sweet.
Sawdust type is important, hickory, apple, and pear tree dusts are good. My favorite is mangrove driftwood well dried found on the foreshores.
Avoid any of the eucalypts, pines and mango, these all leave a chemical tasting taint to the product.

Cold smoking is by far better, lots more time consuming and quite tricky to set up correctly.

Hot smoking, works best with oilier types of fish.

[sid_fishes]

i,m hungry now ...
ian mate you are not making it any god damned easier ok ha ha

[Runamuck]

The fish has been soaking overnight....today is it!...

[Runamuck]

Na , you will be good, it may take you acouble of gos to get the salt right , but if you take note of the fillets in the photo that is salted , you will have a good idear of how much . Ian

One more quick question,

The wood shavings....Have them wet or dry?

[trout head]

Use them dry , That is how I do it.

[Noelm]

if I think of it I will get my "secret" brine recipe at home tonight and post it tomorrow, it is a mixture of sugar and soy souce and stuff, it comes out fantastic, I have one of those store bought box smokers and they work great, a small metho burner under it and some saw daust/wood shavings inside, close the lid and your done! but for larger amounts of fish, an old Weber BBQ is about as good as you can get I reckon.