Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Whole smoked trout

Folks,

I just picked up a Bradley 6 rack smoker and want to smoke last springs catch of approx. 22 trout. All are pan sized and not filleted.

Favorite brines, temperature, time? The Bradley website only shows recipes for fillets.

Suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Keep it simple until you have the basics right. Changing your brine constantly for new flavors is a terrible way to ruin a lot of fish without ever getting it right.

A simple hypertonic brine of 1 cup noniodized salt and 2-3 cups brown sugar per gallon of water is all you need for the brine. Boil it first and let cool.

Add your fish (previously frozen is better because the fish will absorb brine more uniformly) and keep cold for 90 minutes. NEVER brine overnight!

If your brine is hypertonic the fish will not soak up too much salt in 90 minutes. If your brine is not hypertonic the fish will be soaking up water for the entire time the fish is in the brine and it will compromise texture.

Remove from brine and place on racks to develop the pellicle. Do not rush or skip this step as it is the single most important step.

Once the pellicle is glassy and firm and uniformly dry put them in the smoker. Keep the heat low to start and do not get too hot. Your thermostat is critical. I shoot for 140 but your thermostat location and moisture in the fish are going to determine how hot the fish actually gets.

About 2 hours for pan-sized trout is what it should take.

On the flavored brines thing...
Good fish does not need a flavored brine. If you want to add variety just make different sauces or toppings and eat them with the fish. It is much more flexible and you are not stuck with another big batch of fish done poorly because of the "new" recipe.

I just brine for 4-10 hours , seems to make little difference . Then I get charcoal and get it going I cut Cherry chunks and put them on the charcoal so it smokes nice. I go about 200 degrees for about 3-4 hours for a 14-16" channel cat. Trout won't be much different. If you start eating a steady diet of smoked oily trout, you can say by by to any arthritis you may have. Give it a week and you will see a big difference.

Please, some time do a test and put half your fish in your usual brine and half in a hypertonic brine for 90 minutes.

You will see a difference...

Thanks, guys. Looking forward to smoking them this weekend.

Keep it simple and do it right, I highly recommend following stinky deers recipe has he's had more than a little experience smoking fish and knows a thing or two about decent eats.

Sitka , I read your post a year or so back and used to brine channels cats for 12-20 hrs. The last time I brined , I did it 4 hours and could not tell any negative difference . This summer , I plan on brining for 2 or 3 hours. Now, catfish might be a bit different than trout, I dont know. I will give it a try this summer.

The fish tech lab in Kodiak have been studying such things for years and they insist on starting with the best and making sure everything is as right and repeatable as possible... they rank brining time and temperature as a top concern for the highest quality fish possible.

I have personally seen a ton of smoked salmon you could not get me to eat on a bet. Common theme in much of it was extended brining.

Sitka, if you are only brining for 90 min. or so, what is the water temp? I have mine in the refrigerator. This could make a difference compared to luke warm or something.

Great info.. thanks.. Never smoked trout!!

Below 40F for the entire time. I boil my brine in a very condensed version and pour it slowly over ice to both cool and dilute it. Since I usually have more than one five-gallon bucket going I lack the luxury of using the fridg.

Many thanks to Sitka Deer.

Finally got around, later than what I wanted, to smoke my trout.

Had 23 pan sized from last spring.

My brine was 2 gallons of water with 2 cups of noniodized salt and 4 cups of brown sugar which was boiled and cooled. The fish was brined for 2 hours.

Due to the wind it took about 7.5 hours to finish at 160 degrees. Used a Bradley digital smoker and apple wood pucks.

After it cooled. I had two trout with smoked gouda and a couple of dark ambers. Best smoked fish I have ever had.

What impresses me most is that as soon as I requested assistance and information on smoking trout, I was given information.

Fellow Campfire members who were willing to share their experiences on a moments notice, I greatly appreciate it. Thank you, Sitka Deer!!!

If I knew how to post pictures, I would!!! I can text/email to those who would help me post them.

Pictures are easy.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...6239/How_to_post_your_photos.#Post696239

Thank you for following the directions and producing good fish!

Your smoked trout, ambers, and gouda reminded me of the Renaissance Fair in Berkley, CA, circa 1977, or so... I had a foster's lager in the BIG can, a piece of smoked fish, and an idea about a good lunch if I could find a proper piece of cheese.

The cheese pimp let me try a bunch of different cheeses and after a large number of varieties I asked if they had cheese curds... looking for simple??? young, dumb, and naive???

"No!"

"Some young cheese like Jack?"

As he turned on his heel and walked away he sniffed "Come back when your taste buds grow up!"

Posting pics of trout for OCSarge. Look delicious!

Halway there


Finished product

Very good job!

I'll bet that you will be smoking trout again!

Yes, I will.

Looks great!

I've used SD's advice re smoked fish and it always turns out. I do like it brined a bit longer than 90 though. I usually let it go about 3-4 hours. Texture seems just a bit better. Maybe my pieces are usually bigger?

Anyway, congrats on turning out some fine looking fish.