Brines/Smoking

[HC Eye Hunter]

1st.. Does anyone have any favorite brines for smoking fish? What I am looking for is more of a sweet brine than a salty one.

2nd.. I built a refrigerator smoker a few years back with the heat source being an internal propane burner. I get plenty of heat for smoking/cooking poultry but can not get the desired cooler temps for smoking fish. Does anyone have any ideas for a seperate heat source to use for fish?

3rd..Are most of you who smoke fish leaving the skin on or off? At what temps and how long do you smoke?

Thaks Much,

HC

[SilverLakeBoy]

1st:
1 gallon water
1 cup pickling or canning salt (Not Table Salt)
1/2 bag Dark Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Garlic Powder
3 teaspoons liquid smoke
3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/3 teaspoon ground allspice

For fish soak covered in refridgerator 18 to 24 hours for turkeys 7 or 8 days.

2nd:
If you can't get your propane burner low enough you may want to try an electric hot plate. or make a vent in the top of your smoker to let heat escape

3rd:
Skin on!
I've done them skinless laying them on a piece of cheese cloth much less hassle leaving the skin on

This brine recipe was given to me from an old man in wisconsin and is by far the best fish and turkey brine I have run across. Especially good for salmon.

[The Grebe]

SilverLakeBoy....you know what? I'm going to try your recipe!

I usually smoke a batch or two of fish every year and they pretty much taste the same.

They are either sweeter, or saltier, not much different in taste. Lately, I've been buying the smoked Salmon pieces from the store (MOREYS) but your recipe sounds interesting, ill let you know in the near future,

[Mike89]

Silverlakeboy, the recipe looks real good, I'm going to try it also. Another way for the fish is dyr cure them with the curring salt. Brown sugar can be added to this too and as you are smoking try adding some good honey bt basting it on to the fish. For your turkeys try a pump and and you can cut your curring time down by several days. Thanks for the recipe!! Mike89

[HC Eye Hunter]

Thanks for the recipe Silver Lake Boy it sounds great. A couple of questions.

Do you mx all the ingredients together cook the brine and then let it cool? Or do the ingredience dilute in a cold state?

At what temp and how long do you smoke fish?

Thanks Again for your help!

HC

[MN]

I have smoked fish a few times and followed these guidline. They are good about turning it into a science and not an experiment. It worked and tasted great.

http://www.3men.com/smokeit.htm

MN

[SilverLakeBoy]

Just got back from vacation:

You do not heat the brine just mix it up in a container I use food grade 5 gallon buckets and put a plate over the bird or fish to keep it submerged if you don't have enough liquid you need to mix some more up.
For smoking it depends totally on the day wind temp etc. cold smoking you want to maintain a temp from 90°F to 100°F for the amount of time needed to achieve desired smoke flavour (I don't care much for cold smoking except for cheeses). For fish like salmon I try and run from 160°F to 180°F and depending on thickness of fish this can take from 2 to 6 hours you can tell when they are done just by feel and look they don't feel raw anymore and start to flake. I add wood chips or pieces about every hour, just enough to keep the smoke rolling.

[SilverLakeBoy]

Mike89: I do use the brine pump on occasion and always when doing my hams. Turkeys if I am pressed for time, but they do have a better flavour when I leave them soak for a week so I usually just run a skewer into them in a few places and get them ready a week before I want to smoke them. We just took one up on vacation with us and there was nothing left but carcass by day two.

[Mike89]

Thanks SilverLakeBoy for the reply, I think I will try the turkey in the brine for a few days now instead of the pump as usual. I truely enjoy the ideas I get from this forum!! Sounds like we both enjoy the outdoor cooking thing!! It is something to be enjoyed year round!! Mike89

PS any tips always appreciated! From anyone!!

[Guest]

3 quarts cool water
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1-1/2 cups pickling salt
3 cloves garlic (halved)
2 tsp whole black peppercorns
4 bay leafs

after the turkey has soaked over night, remove from brine.
rinse and rub thoroughly under a thin stream of cool water.
Pat dry and let it set for 30min (until it feels tacky). You can use a small fan to speed the time up.
If you use a water pan fill it with water, beer (like beer can chicken) or what ever you think sounds good. You can add apples, bay leafs, onion or what ever!

Use Light brown sugar, when it caramelizes it will turn your bird a golden brown. If you use dark brown sugar it will turn to dark.

[The Grebe]

SilverLakeBoy...I tried your recipe, I should say a spin off thereof!

In the past I have always done the boil thing with the ingredients in the water, I liked the idea of mix it and roll.

Hdere is what I did with the half Salmon I got from Festival.... I cut the fish into manageable chunks. I mixed up half of a batch of brine, because I did'nt have alot of fish.

To start, I added a few twists...I put one half Apple Juice and one half water in the kettle...I cut the amount of Brown sugar called for, by half.

Instead of the Vinegar, I used White cooking wine...Instead of liquid smoke, I used Worcestershire.

I used my Brinkman water smoker and I put the chunks on the top rack...I added wet wood chips every once in awhile and left the fish in, without lifting the top, for 2 1/2 hours. Man, this stuff is great!

I'm going to go golf 18 holes and my wife said "Don't expect any of it to be left when you get home!" She is just kidding, but it is really good. Speed smoking!

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

Here's a good sweet one I use on salmon.

1 GAL Water
1/2 Cup pickling salt
1 Cup unsweetened pineapple juice
1 Cup terriyaki sauce (any brand, I use kikkoman)
1 Cup brown sugar
mix above, marinade salmon strips/chunks (not too thick!) for longer than
usual (upt to 2/3 days), rinse w/water, pat dry... let stand to air dry for
an hour, then smoke as desired. (I have also added spices, onion, whatever
to this recipe with good results)

[The Grebe]

Dang it Suzuki!!!! I thought I was done smoking for the season!

Now I have to try your recipe! That sounds to good to pass up! I'll let you know what happens!

[setterguy]

Here is a recipe for a dry brine, I love it.

1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup of pickeling salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cracked bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon of all spice

layer a GLASS (has to be glass) baking dish with brine then stack fillets, make sure last layer has brine on top of it. The fillets are ready to go in about 3-4 hours. When smoking I add Diet 7up to the smoker instead of water, just gives it a little sweeter taste. Also while smoking I use a honey/brown sugar baste that I apply maybe 3-4 times during the whole smoking process. Dang this is making me hungry, I think I am going to go take a few fillets out of the freezer right now.

[The Grebe]

Heck with the Salmon, done that last time...the crew is'nt working today because of the rain...I think I'm going to try to get some Crappies for smoking...they are really good!

I hav'nt been keeping any Northerns... I think I will intentionally seek them out today...they are excellent smoked.

I don't think I will be able to keep up with all the excellent smoking recipes..!

Might wind up burning down my garage in the process!

[The Grebe]

Suzuki and Setterguy...I guess your recipes are going to have to wait for awhile...the few Crappies I've been getting, although nice sized, donot warrant getting the smoker stoked, soooooo, they are going into the pan, but your recipes won't be forgotten!