Backwater Eddy's ~Smoked catfish~

[Guest]

Backwater Eddy's
Smoked catfish

Smoked catfish is outstanding, my favorite by far! I use the brown sugar cure method with maple sugar, fine tasting stuff Bubba!

I dress the cats by cutting the tails off and bleeding them on the stringer 30 min before I finish them off. Next just remove the belly flap to the anal opening and fins and guts, rinse well. Leave the skin on and stack them in the freezer nice and straight in a double 30gal bag tell you have the amount you wish to smoke.

Remove from the freezer and head for the band saw, buzz then right down the middle evenly splitting the cat. The salt brine mix is a to taste thing , don't go nut's with it too much is just nasty! Make sure they are rinsed well after brining!

The key is smoking, use apple or plum wood, I like apple! The brown sugar cure is were the real taste work's it's way in and finishes the process. Mix the maple flavored brown sugar in a tub with "Coke" to cut it into a syrup that is thick paste not too runny. Drop the brined slabs into the mix and lay in the smoker racks. Just before the smoking is done take a brush and smear a good dose of the mix on the fleshy side of the fish to give it a golden finish.

Weight and thickness of the fish will determine time required in the smoker. I like the 3-7 lb. cats best to keep the size similar in the smoker, more accurate and even.

One last thing, I like to have them vacuum-packed for freezing and storage. They stay fresh and tasty a long time and a 30 second warm up in a microwave stirs up the syrup again for the warm fish lovers.

The hardest thing about this recipe is keeping your friends from eating it all up too fast, best stash a few!

Hope you like this method, it's a catfish delight for sure!

"Backwater Eddy"
-------><>-------
Backwater Guiding Service
#310 SE College Complex
Wahpeton ND 58075
1-701-671-3079
http://msnhomepages.talkcity.com/ResortRd/backwtr1/home.html

[Toad]

Hi Ed!

Thanks for that one. Tried the smokin' catfish thing a few winters ago for the first time, and you're right-- they're the catman's smoked salmon, only better.

Down south of here, on a chain of lakes nearer St. Cloud, some folks still actually consider channel cats trash fish. During ice season, you'd see dozens of cat carcasses discarded all over the ice. But since a few guys found out that they're not just too bad in the fry pan (let alone smoked), you rarely see wasted cats on the ice anymore. In fact, they even attempted a cat tourney this year, though it was subsequently cancelled seeing as we were one of only 15 entrants. Such need be seen as progress where catfishing is concerned, and we're all optimists, right?

We'll have to hook up here at some point, see if I can't talk Hoffman into tagging along. Take care, Ed.

-a friend called Toad

[fish-n-geek]

Sorry to bump a REALLY old thread, but does someone have a "recipe" for the salt brine used to smoke fish like this?

-rus-