smoked fish and smoked fish dip report

General Cooking your catch
1

Had a run of blues offshore last week and decided to keep some to smoke.

Here is the process I followed -

Filet + Debone (and I took skin off, but some leave skin). Brine filets in:

1 qt water,
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup soy sauce
aromatics (whole peppercorns, pepper flakes, mustard seeds, bay leaves, coriander, whatever)

I brined for about 36 hrs. Rinse, pat dry, and place in front of a fan for an hr or so to get a pellicle.

Smoked with applewood, heavy smoke for 1hr at 170 then light smoke for an hr+ at 200 to finish. Finished too hot because I was going for temp and not texture… the filets were too small to get an accurate temp on.

Flavor was good to me, if not a bit too smokey.

Since I had overcooked the filets a bit, I decided to make some smoked fish dip. Found this recipe -

~8oz smoked fish
2 seeded jalapenos
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp old bay
salt + pepper
1/2 block of cream cheese
1/4 cup mayo, or more if needed for texture.

Hit it with the immersion blender and let it rest a day or so.

garnish with green onions if you want!

Turned out pretty good. Best was on a toasted everything bagel. mmm

Anyone else have a smoked fish process or dip recipe they want to share? I will definitely be doing this again -

2

Matt that sheet was good! You said you over smoked it but I thought it was perfect. I liked the dried corners and everything. It was like sweet fish bacon.

26 Seahunt
Angler’s Dream

3
quote:
Originally posted by JordanOnaYak

It was like sweet fish bacon.

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dammit boy…sounds too good to be true…

The Morris Island Lighthouse www.savethelight.org

4

Thanks for sharing! I gotta get a smoker…

1994 Hewes Redfisher 18, 2004 Yamaha 150 VMAX
Malibu X-Factor Kayak

5

What did you need the police for:question: Just kidding, but I had to look that one up:slightly_smiling_face:

6

Nice, thanks for the recipe - I’ll be looking forward to smoking some fish this summer!

36 hours is a long time to brine - did you have to swap out the water or anything?

7

M, that looks very similar to the approach I use now after much trial and error.

I typically scale and bone but leave skin on, brine in similar (sometimes with a bit of brown sugar, I’ve found other liquids like wine don’t really “show up” in the finished product anyway) for 4-8hrs. I have found that brining time depends very much on meat thickness, and I’m usually dealing with fillets 1/2-3/4", so more than 8-12hrs at that concentration can impart too much salt. Pat dry and pellicle in front of fan is a super-pro-tip.

Put on hot charcoal smoke for an hour and feed with heavy chips/chunks between 30-90 minutes, light smoke and extra pecan/hickory/oak/apple/cherry/grapevine chunks to keep the heat going nice and easy for a couple more hours. I try to over-smoke all my oily fish, especially if it’s going in a dip. imparts a ridiculous amount of flavor into the cream cheese over time, a couple days later it is even better. my favorite additions are Worcestershire, lime, garlic, chives, and a little bit of good hot sauce.

also, since I am messing with a cheap old brinkmann, I try to put just enough water in the bath to cook off after the coals start to cool, I feel like it helps get the final moisture content out of them for longer storage and deep smoke. peel skin off and enjoy with cold beer as is, fish jerky/bacon makes excellent boat snacks… and your favorite dog will love you forever if he/she gets the skin!

making me hungry, man!

8
quote:
Originally posted by CarlWinslow

Nice, thanks for the recipe - I’ll be looking forward to smoking some fish this summer!

36 hours is a long time to brine - did you have to swap out the water or anything?

Didnt need to swap- it is salty/concentrated enough that its keeping the bugs out, esp at *fridge temp.

quote:
Originally posted by barbawang

M, that looks very similar to the approach I use now after much trial and error.

I typically scale and bone but leave skin on, brine in similar (sometimes with a bit of brown sugar, I’ve found other liquids like wine don’t really “show up” in the finished product anyway) for 4-8hrs. I have found that brining time depends very much on meat thickness, and I’m usually dealing with fillets 1/2-3/4", so more than 8-12hrs at that concentration can impart too much salt. Pat dry and pellicle in front of fan is a super-pro-tip.

Put on hot charcoal smoke for an hour and feed with heavy chips/chunks between 30-90 minutes, light smoke and extra pecan/hickory/oak/apple/cherry/grapevine chunks to keep the heat going nice and easy for a couple more hours. I try to over-smoke all my oily fish, especially if it’s going in a dip. imparts a ridiculous amount of flavor into the cream cheese over time, a couple days later it is even better. my favorite additions are Worcestershire, lime, garlic, chives, and a little bit of good hot sauce.

also, since I am messing with a cheap old brinkmann, I try to put just enough water in the bath to cook off after the coals start to cool, I feel like it helps get the final moisture content out of them for longer storage and deep smoke. peel skin off and enjoy with cold beer as is, fish jerky/bacon m

9

Try smoking redfish heads. I know there will be haters/trolls attacking this but I don’t care. My buddy and I started saving Redfish heads (yes I eat fish I catch). We kept noticing the large amount of meat on each side of the head so he had the bright idea to smoke six heads. When they are done they pull apart pretty easy. You will be shocked at how much meat you can gather. Use that meat as you would for your favorite dips and enjoy.

10

I’m going to try this with some Mahi, sounds like it will be good!!

“Kleenex, The Official Sponsor of Fishb8”

11

This was taught to me by a guide in FL keys:

  1. Mild white fish are not the best for this. Spanish, King, Bluefish are excellent.
  2. Cut into filets.
  3. Make a brining solution with as much salt as will dissolve in room temp water.
  4. Brine the fish 1-4 hrs in fridge.
  5. Remove fish and rinse thoroughly.
  6. Have your smoker at a very low temp.
  7. Brush grill with oil to reduce sticking.
  8. Good wood addition are pecan and cherry. Mesquite may cause bitterness.
  9. Smoke until you reach desired texture. Depending upon the temp and the thickness of fish, this may be 45 minutes to 4 hours. Lower smoke temps result in moister fish and more smoke flavor. Higher smoke temps result in longer storage life.

For a great spread/dip, put in food processor:
Fish (without bone or skin), decent quality mayo, Kosher salt, hot sauce if desired. Process until you have a thick paste. Add sweet and/or dill pickle cubes and/or capers. Blend a bit longer. Serve on saltines. Preferred beverage is Southern Sweet Tea or US lager. If you prefer a wine, Pinot Grigio is a good choice.

ericpret

12

Mhebbard… Used your recipe today with some left over wahoo I had I didn’t want to freeze… Smoked it on my traeger and followed your recipe. That was fantastic. As good or better than some of the fosh dips I’ve had in the keys or Alaska. Gonna be my new go to