IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! => Hardwater Cuisine => Topic started by: WYIfish on Nov 24, 2017, 08:15 PM
-
I have cut up two fat 15 inch rainbows and put them in a marinate of salt, brown sugar, cracked peppercorns, garlic salt, steak spices. I have been stiring them around every couple of hours as they "stew". My problem is I can't recall how long to marinate, I keep thinking over night but that may be a bit long. I keep them in a bowl in the fridge and yes, I did test the smoker since I hadn't used it for a couple of years.
Any suggestion would be welcomed.
WYIfish
-
According to page 21 of the Big Chief Electric Smoker manual for "Easy Cure Brine" the times vary depending on thickness.
Brine chunks 1" thick, 8 to 12 hours or overnight. Brine fillets to 1/2" thick about 4 hours and small whole fish or very thin pieces about 2 to 4 hours."
This manual has a lot of very useful information:
Here is the link from Home Depot:
https://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/c9/c9733eee-bc06-4ad6-9d95-634e1d7c0e1c.pdf
Good Luck All :tipup:
-
What is the approximate weight of the fish? The volume of the water? The type and amount of salt? All will affect any hope of a sane answer.
I used the Luhr Jensen / Smokehouse easy cure brine for years but have dropped it in favor of less-salty brine. Too easy to over salt with that one, IMO.
-
WYIfish, I got your PM and sent a reply. Please let us know how it turns out!
-
you will be able to tell...the fillets will turn opaque..
-
I second Joe's reply, depends on the thickness. Sounds like you're using a dry brine. If they're thick then brine overnight. If they're thin then you would want less brine time.
-
I have been smoking fish for the last 60 years. I have found that using a brine that is so called Saturated Solution of 80 to 90 % is a good rule of thumb. A simple wsy to determine this so called saturated solution, is to add salt to your brine, and stir it in well. Plsce a raw egg into your brine, and if it floats, you have the right amount of salt.
In the Fall, Winter, and Spring, I smoke lots of Steelhead Rainbows tsken from a local stream off Lake Erie. Most fidh on the average run spprox. 4 thru 6 lbs. I chunk the fish, not filleting. If you are first starting out, learn how to make a basic fish brine, and once you find whst you like, stick with it.
I use an approx. 1 1/2 Gal brine consisting of 1/2 gallon generic apple juice, 3 tablespoons ground black pepper, an approx 16 oz box of uniodized table salt ( or Kosher Salt ) approx. 3/4 bag of Dark Brown Sugar, 1 cup regular sugar, 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper, and 1 gal tap water. This 1 1/2 gal brine will do well for any size fish. The most important things to remember is that if you place a sponge into a bucket of water, the sponge can only hold do much water, so as the fish, can only hold so much brine.
Fillets can be soaked in brine fo approx. 4-6 hours snd you sre set to go, while large chunks or whole larger fish will need more time, perhaps overnite thru a second day.
Before you start, cold is the word for brine, and a good safe quality smoking job. I brine in a 5 gal plastic utility pail placed in a refrigerator during warm weather, and in cold winter weather, I sometimes leave outside covered, or in the garage if it is 40 degrees or below. * REMBER * NEVER SCALE YOUR FISH, The skin holds your fish together
After the fish sre brined, take a knife, and run it down the fish piece with the scale pattern , not like the scaling durection. This will remove all brining slime. Quickly rine the fish pieces, don't soak them. I drain them in a collander for 10 minutes, pat dry, and into the cooker they go.
I make gourmet Smoked Trout , and it is all in the flavor, and finish. Use a vinyl glove and rub cooking oil on the skin only to prevent sticking on your racks. Most importantly, Approx two hours before my fish are done, I rub Maple syrup on the entire piece or whole fish. This step gives great color appearance, and that 30.00 per lb Cabelas Gift Box flavor!
* See Pic
Hope this help!
Bear Lake Bob
(https://s33.postimg.cc/ywzv0620b/20171123_164140.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/image/ywzv0620b/)
-
Great post Bob:)
-
:tipup:
Thanks very much.
Another secret if I may. I vacuum seal my smoked fish, and they last for months refrigerated , and are also freezeable.
I love to take a smoked chunk, then skin, and carefully debone it. The tail section from the dorsal to tail juncture is perhaps the easiest part for a beginer to debone. After you have deboned check or bones, then check again ,then again under good light using two forks ( you do not want to serve anyone a bone who isn't expecting one )
Flake the smoked pieces in a bowl, add perhaps a small onion, a 1/4 teaspoon dill , a 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and then add mayo to blend to the desired consistency. Serve this spread on good crackers, and your family or guests will do cartwheels.