need some advice

[walleyeking#8]

Just purchased a smoker grill and was wondering if any one else does much smoking of wild game and fish? I want to try smoking some northern pike or some other game fish, but am not sure how to prepare it before I smoke it. Any information would be appreciated.

[Kidd]

Try This. I posted this a while back.
http://fishingminnesota.com/ubb/Forum26/HTML/000145.html

[Flashman]

Just a tip on Smoking Northerns, fillet all the skin off of them before smoking. All of the slim is in the skin and gets smoked into the meat; made that mistake only once. Just place the filet on a sheet of tin foil.

Here's how I smoke all my fish. Salt generously, let stand over night, rinse before smoking. On trout or salmon I'll rub some brown sugar on after I rinse off the salt. MMM MMM GOOD!!!

[bigdog]

As stated above, remove the skin on Northerns before smoking. Since the meat does not have much oil it tends to dry out. Fillets can also stick to the grill. What I have done is to butter the fillets or spray them with a cooking oil. I imagine you could also coat them with a cooking oil. Then I wrap them in 1 layer of cheese cloth.
I usually try to keep the temperature lower than I use for Salmon and Trout. For brine I use 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup salt per quart of water. Brine for 12-24 hours, rinse and let dry in the fridge for 12 hours before smoking.

[walleyeking#8]

Thanks for all the helpful tips on smoking fish. I cant wait to give it a try. Was also wondering which way is better to put the fish in or on when you smoke them? Does anyone use a basket? Not to change topics but what is the best brine for making jerky and does anyone use the smoker grill for making jerky? Lot of questions asked, but I guess one doesn't learn if he doesn't ask. Thanks again for the tips.

[Trany]

Generaly speeking, any brine will follow sugar. A mixture with a concentration gradiant higher in sugar will moisten the food, with the inverse being a salty mixture will dry a food. For curing with salt, I enjoy using coarse sea salt. Another tasty method is to prepare grevlax(sp) I perfer a king salmon but have had other salmon made this way.

[BLACKJACK]

walleyeking, do a search on this site under this topic for 'jerky', you'll find lots of recipes/marinades. I've never made it on my smoker but I'm sure you could. Try it while you're smoking something else and let us know how it turns out.