Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Smoking fish,

Hello,been a while for a post.

Have a question for the fish smoking crowd. I put my fish in a bowl with 40% salt 60% brown sugar and leave it in for 24-28 hrs. Take it out, rinse it off, air dry for a while and then put in smoker for 12hrs.

Fish looks good enough to eat before I put it in the smoker. After smoking it is hard on the outside and super soft in the middle. Almost mushy.

What am I doing wrong. Not air drying in front of a fan long enough? Or not enough smoke? more heat during smoking to dry it out better?

Anyways I usually keep the fish in longer, 18-24, but even then it is soft. Wife likes it drier and flakier then my results.

It is edible and delicious as done but trying to keep the rest of the family happy.

Thanks in advance. 257Stew

If you're smoking with the skin on, skin it first for a drier finish.

I don't air dry, and run it a little higher temp than I really should, because I use a lot of smoke. I also like to add a bunch of garlic salt and pepper as well.

I don't air dry mine in front of a fan, I pat dry it with a towel after lightly rinsing and let it dry naturally to set up a pelicle (sp?). I try to maintain the inside temps of my smoker at 125�-130� and it usually only takes about 8 hours for 4 full racks to cure.

What kind of fish? Are you cold or hot smoking your fish? What's the inside temp of your smoker? It sounds to me like your temps are too high.

Sockeye and coho. I do not know the temp but will install a gauge asap and watch the next batch. Never thought of to hot. Wife like it hot smoked. I like it hot or cold.

I've got a thermometer between the 1st/2nd rack and another between the 3rd/4th rack and I keep a close eye on them.

I take it you don't use water when your brining your fish?

You are rushing the process a bit. It kind of looks like you are cooking your fish. I think that you are making gravilox which is norwegian smoked fish. This is because of the long time you are keeping it in the brine.

I would let your fish dry after you have set it in the brine. Keep flies and wasps off of it.

You are chemically cooking it with your brine solution.

The secret of smoking fish is to do it without rushing it. This is whether you are cold or hot smoking fish; less is more.

Think of it as almost drying.

Apply smoke to the fish and not try to cook it.

This means that you smoke it for maybe four hours and then let it dry for four to eight hours on a drying rack.

You can run three batches of fish at the same time with a smaller smoke being applied to one batch and the other two batches just drying.

The fish should have a very shiny appearance before you start the smoking process.

I do not use water in my brine. I put the salt/sugar mixture on the fish in a bowl and put it in the fridge. I guess all that salt draws water out of the fish as the bowl is full of liquid after 24 hrs. My Dad use to put the salt/sugar mixture on the fish on a big foil covered sheet and let the water run off of the fish into a bucket. I do not have the room for this so use the bowl method.

I will use the thermometer on the next batch.
So some of the advise I readis'
a) watch the heat keep it to 125-130 deg.
b) put it in the salt/sugar mix for less time and air dry it for a while (until shiny)
c) once dry and shiny place in the smoke for ~8hrs.

I have tried a lot of fish from others. some is flaky and dry some wet and covered in that white shmag(pelicil?) all tasty and each a little different. I was always proud at the dryness and lack of that white stuff on my fish. Just would be nice to not have a hard top 1/2 and mushy soft bottom 1/2.

Keep the tips coming , and as always "Thanks"

Cheers 257Stew

That "white shmag" as you call it is fat and you get that when the your smoker is too hot. It took me a little while to get to the point where I no longer get the fat to form on my salmon and it is so much better now.

With the way your brining it now your drawing out all the liquid from your fish but they are "marinating" in their own juices for quit a while. You might want to give the salt/sugar/water brine a try or find a way for the liquid to drain away from your fish while brining.

What type of smoker are you using? Assuming a hot smoke process, if it's mushy then you aren't cooking it long enough for the inside to firm up. The white stuff is the proteins that cook out from the fish being over heated. One trick is to simply cut the fish into smaller pieces so the fish dries out/ cooks faster.

On my big chief I've dialed my process to dry brining the filets for 3 hours at room temp in a 50# sausage tote. Quick rinse to remove the salt and sugar, pat dry, cut into smaller chunks, put on racks and run a small fan for 2-3 hours to form a pellacle. I put in one tray of dampened hickory chips and alder, put the cardboard box over the smoker to retain some of the heat and plug the smoker into a timer set for 5 hours. I'll rotate the trays around after 1 hour, but other then that set it and forget it.

How was the saltiness?
I did a large batch of trout and salmon last weekend which turned out great. In trying to research I found little consensus on length of time in the brine, time of air drying or even recipes. As mentioned the white stuff is fat or some websites call it "boogers" and is from too rapid of heat increase. I built my smoker with a PID so am able to bump the temp up at 10 degrees per hour and it shuts off once the internal meat temp reaches a programmed point.Seems most web discussions were recommending over 150-165 internal temp. I stopped at 135 simply because it was 3am and I was done.(was first voyage with new 5000 watt element).

Looks like Yard and Pool has the Maverick smoker thermometers that many people on the Bradley forum praise. I would say that would be a good start to determine internal temps.
Alternatively I was not enamored with the way my salmon tail halves turned out and will fillet the whole fish next time. Certainly thinner fillets cook sooner and may have more surface area to take up the smoke flavor.

My go to smoked recipe is similar to yours, only I do 4 parts brown sugar and 1 part kosher salt, plus a few other ingredients.
Cut into candy bar size pieces, layered in glass dishes and set in the fridge over night. In the morning I rinse, pat dry then put on racks to dry, usually about 4 hours.
I smoke in a little chief, running 2 pans of alder chips, and depending on outside temp and humidity, adjust time of cooking.

I've found Humidity makes a big difference. Too humid and the fish is mushy like you said.

I always had a hard time getting the fins to stay lit myself .LOL

Probably not even legal to smoke that stuff in NY.

Never heard of the dry brine technique before. We brine and dry with a fan. Natives use smoke to keep the bugs off while it dries but make dried chewy sticks. Never met anyone yet who doesn't like this squaw candy. My favorite. We do it thicker and more moist so you can make salad sandwiches. Pictured salmon is too hot.

Mix some of that squaw candy with some cream cheese and scallions and serve on crackers. We make that during the holidays and it's always a huge hit.

I put 1/2 cup salt per gallon of water. Let it sit for 12 hrs. Then I smoke it for 4 hrs max. I have somewhat dry fish though. I leep it at 200 degrees. It is not mushy inside but they are smaller 3 lb fish.

Do you use the smoldering wood chips as a heat source or do you have another way of heating it?

Mine is an electric smoker and I use wood chips for the smoke and the electric element for the heat. I also use a water pan.

It only takes about 45 minutes to completely cook the fish. The contributors on here smoke for 4-8 hours, so I must be doing something different. But, it shore am good.

Just guessing, but I think the heating element heats the smoker too much and what I am doing is grilling the fish.

If you want something really, really good, use this method to cook chicken or turkey, or better yet, a ham. A whole chicken or turkey does take more than 45 minutes.

Have been thinking about using charcoal for the heat, and piling wet wood chips on the charcoal for the smoke.

Do I need the water pan, or not?

1234657, what your doing is hot smoking. It cooks the fish while it smokes it. If you smoke it low and for a longer period of time it doesn't really cook it at all, it just removes moisture. The brine and the smoke actually preserves the fish.

Had smoked salmon for brunch today. I do like the dryer jerky style myself, but to each their own. Try a few different styles and figure out what you like best and charge....

Fall Chinook should put a few more in the smoker, always a good time.