smoking game???

[angler903]

I have a charcoal smoker and have tried smoking carp and other fish, not work so well, can't keep it hot enough.

I'd like some pointers on brine I use salt but doesn't do it for me. any ratios and other ingredients to try? I had smoked goose one time and want to try to do it my self along with duck.

[Scenic]

The Morton's Salt company makes a Sugar Cure that I have used many times. It has the salt and sugar already mixed together.

I use three cups of the brine mix to each gallon of water. I then heat the mixture to help desolve everything together. Be sure to fully cool this before placing your meat in the brine. I use a plate turned upside down on top of the meat to hold it down in the brine and most times will soak the meats for about 12-14 hours depending on the thickness.

Jeff

[HC Eye Hunter]

Jeff,

How do you prep your fish for smoking?

and

How long and at what temp do you smoke your fish

[angler903]

Jeff thanks, where do you find that salt/sugar mix? (what chain or stores). Also, interested in an answer for HC eye hunter

[lip_ripper]

I use pickeling salt. Mix enough salt w/ water to float a raw egg. Let soak for about 24 hours. Add brown sugar for taste. Smoke 150 - 165 degrees for 4 to 5 hrs. Kinda depends on the thickness of fish. If you can spread the sides open and hang upside down it works the best. It's kind of a trial and error deal.

[Scenic]

Sorry I missed these posts.

Fish. Depending on the type of fish but most of the time I on larger fish will cut down the back bone beginning just behind the head all the way to the tail. Then I remove the head and you are left with a butterfly style fish. Other times I will slit the belly, remove the head and then cut off steaks (chunks) from the fish. This is a good method for larger fish.

For Crappies and smaller fish I normally just scale, gut and remove the heads. I have smoked fillets but if I do that on smaller fish I will back my salt brine down to about half. If not they tend to absorb to much salt.

Sugar Cure Salt: I order mine through my local grocery store. You want to order the Morton’s Smoked Sugar Cure. I think they all pretty much have access to it so I would just check with the management to order some for you. It is about $5-6.00 per bag but it last a long time. It also comes with some spices that I normally just throw away. If you use this method rinse off your fish and let them air dry before you place them in the smoker.

I like to run my smoker about 150-170 and I normally only use maple wood chips. I will first put just the meat in the pre heated smoker for about an hour. This begins a drying process. Then I will add one large covered pan of dampened wood chips. In the spring of the year I have dampened my wood chips with maple sap. The moisture from the sap is steamed into the meat. Once the chips have been used or done smoking I will remove them immediately to prevent a bitter taste being observed into the meat..

The amount of time in the smoker depends a lot on how thick the fish or is just like cooking any meat. Most of the time I will start checking for doneness about 4 hours after I start. One thing I have learned is to let the fish cool before checking to see if is dry enough. Often times when it is still hot it will appear very moist and you may think it needs to cook more. Then after it cools it seems to be a lot drier.

Jeff