Smoked Trout - First for me!

[WALLE]

Went fishing yesterday with the family and brought home a mess of medium to small rainbows.

Nothing beats a day on top of the mountain.



After filleting them and removing the rib and side bones, I thunked up an idea, so here goes my first attempt at smoking fish. Smoked three of them - two with the skin on, one without.



I first used a bit of soy and brown sugar, then a shake of ancho garlic salt.
I then desolved 1/4 cup of kosher salt into 1 C water. I only used about 5 T of this to just cover the fish.



This sat in the fridge overnight, then drained this morning, a very quick rinse, and back in the fridge for the pellicle to form.



Then into the smoker using oak and maple.



Smoked for 1 hour at 150, then up to 180 for another half hour for the skinless fillets. I was really surprised the difference that made. Another half hour and they were all ready.



I think they turned out great!! and here was my afternoon snack. Club cracker, sharp cheddar, roasted chilie, smoked trout chompers!



Notes to self:
1. Brine more fillets next time!
2. After rinsing hit with the pepper garlic, or mad hunky...
3. Spray rack with oil!
4. Do this again - SOON!

Thanks for checking out my little fish smoke project!

Tracey

[Fishawn]

Hell Yeah! .... Love me some smoked trout..... Nicely done Tracey

[lynsey123]

Looks great

[SmokinOutBack]

Now that just hits home for me, smoked fresh trout. Grew up catching trout in northeast PA. Love the post!

[L20A]

Looks great. I smoke alot of fish but not much trout. I almost always smoke saltwater fish (that is what we get here). I always leave the skin on which helps keep the moisture in the filet and if anything does stick it is not the meat. I apply oil to the racks as well as the skin side if the fish. Yours look to be done just right. After I smoke the fish my wife makes smoked fish spread with her fantastic recipe (available to anyone who wants it).

[nickelmore]

No fish here.......

Looks great! Smoked fish is on my bucket list......I need to find different friends that can actually catch fish.

I was actually thinking about going to the market and buying some soon.

[MossyMO]

Have a trout in the freezer for trying this that I caught early July, I need to get to trying this. Yours looks great WALLE!

L20A
Would like to hear your wife's fish spread recipe?

[L20A]

Have a trout in the freezer for trying this that I caught early July, I need to get to trying this. Yours looks great WALLE!

L20A
Would like to hear your wife's fish spread recipe?

I will post it tomorrow after I get home. I'm on duty at the Fire Dept today until 8 AM.

[BBQ Engineer]

Hey Tracey,

Had smoked trout one time at a nice little italian restaurant in Eureka Springs...Kinda funny getting that from an italian place, but it was one of the house favorites since the owner had a trout farm or something. It was awesome. In fact, Mrs. Engineer and I went back again to enjoy it the next year, it was that good and memorable.

Yours looks awesome! I'd definitely hit those apps...club cracker, cheese, green chile and smoked trout...that's a piece of heaven right there! I'd definitely trade you some for a few of those.

[WALLE]

Hey thanks everyone! This was one of those fun, tasty new projects that I'll definitely be doing again.

Here's what happened to the rest of it - hard to beat fried trout.
Soaked it in milk, then shook it in a mixture of pancake mix, flour, and corn meal - roughly 1/3 each - then seasoned it with S&P, ancho garlic salt, Greek seasoning, onion and garlic powder. Corn meal gives it a nice crunch.



Some of them almost look like salmon.... gotta love that cold mountain water!



Thanks for checking out my fish post.
Tracey

[Bassman]

And somebody snatched a few of those fillets to try. That's definitely some good smoked trout, Tracey. I think you should go catch some more of those.

[L20A]

Here is the smoked fish spread recipe.

SMOKED FISH SPREAD

FROM BARBARA & LARRY WILSON


1 ½ pounds of smoked fish
1 ¼ cups mayonnaise
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped sweet pickle
1 tablespoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons instant minced onion
2 teaspoons finely chopped celery
1 clove garlic, minced
1 dash Worcestershire


Remove skin and bones from fish. Flake fish well. Combine all ingredients, mix well and chill at least one hour, preferably more.



PS: This is a basic fish spread and adjusting the recipe to your taste may be required.

Things that we have added to the recipe that have been good are:
Cajun seasoning (my favorite)
More garlic
Fresh herbs, finely chopped (chives, basil, rosemary, dill, etc)
Fresh onion instead of dried or instant kind
Dijon mustard
Tabasco sauce, or other hot sauce, to taste
Salt & pepper to taste

This recipe does well when you multiply it for larger amounts.
Use larger filets of fish when possible as they are usually more moist.

[MossyMO]

L20A
Thanks to you and your wife for sharing, sounds great and I will have to give it a try.

[L20A]

L20A
Thanks to you and your wife for sharing, sounds great and I will have to give it a try.

If you can, try & smoke fish that have a good oil content, like Mackerel, King Mackerel, Amberjack (my favorite fish for smoking), Salmon, Dolphin (Mahi), etc. Also, the thicker the filets the better & more moist they will be, which makes the spread better, too. Leave the skin on when smoking or grilling. The only thing that I do to my fish before smoking is rinse & let dry, sprinkle a good amount (alot) of salt & maybe some ground pepper for heat & into the smoker they go. For filets that are 3/4" to 1" thick it takes about 4-6 hours in my cracker smoker. I have no temp gauge but you can do the finger poke method to tell when they are done, just like steak.

[curious aardvark]

Great looking fish

Not a huge fan ofd trout - but do like it smoked

And yep always leave the skin on - it peels off real easy once cooked. Can't fault anything you did so have some smokey trouty

And a super quick smoked fish pate recipe.

You'll need: ]
cream cheese
lemon juice (and zest of you want)
smoked fish
salt and pepper

Equal amounts of smoked fish and cream cheese.
use food processor to blend all the cream cheese and half the fish.
Add salt and pepper and lemon juice&zest(optional) again to taste.
Then remove from food processor and flake and fold in the rest of the fish.
Taste and maybe add more lemon juice.

Optional extras: horseradish condiment, garlic, mustard, worcestershire sauce.

That's it.
:-)