Who Smokes?

[Stratosman]

Trout that is.

I have a few trout soaking in brine right now that will be ready for the smoker right quick. My question is how long should I leave them in the smoker? The trout are 10-12" and the smoker is one of those electric brinkman type smokers that you put soaked wood chips on.

I have never used it and would hate to ruin those lovely trout.

[nkambae]

Just an hour or so in the brine for small fish, longer for larger fish. All the brine does is to remove water and hasten the curing process. Too long in the brine and you'll have anchovies(!). Herbs and spices added to the brine can enhance or over power the flavor of that lovely smoked trout.

How long to smoke? How hot is your fire? Over 160 degrees and you have a hot smoke which melts the fat and partially cooks the fish. Less than 160 dgrees and the fat congeals and you have a cold smoke. Hot smokes are faster but don't keep as long and the opposite is true for a cold smoke.

For a hot fire, maybe a 30-60 minutes for the size fish you described. Just 'til the meat flakes easily. For a cold fire, maybe an hour. It depends on how much smoke you have, how close to the fire you are, and whether or not you have a water pan to help keep your meat moist.

You are going to have to experiment with your particular smoker. Be careful though, too long in the smoker and you'll have trout jerky. Too little time and you'll have sushi.

Hope this is somewhat helpful.

[Stratosman]

I sure did,

I think I actually got it right, soaked them in a combonation of water, salt, brown sugar, pepper, garlic salt and cajun seasoning for 4 hours, hung them to dry for 2 hours and put them in the smoker for about four hours over mesquite chips. Between making sure the wood chips didn't start on fire and continually replenishing my beer I was beat. But man we scarfed 'em down, better than store bought in my opinion.

[Fish On]

if you soak the wood chips in water for an hour or so you will get more smoke and no fire

[JP Z]

May want to post this over in the recipes section as they may have more insight. Of course you've probably already laid the trout to the coals but it may be worth it for your next batch.

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Tight Lines,
JP Z