Hi guys,
We are netting whitefish tomorrow and I was wondering if anyone has a general time -frame and smoker temp to start from. Going off last years catch fillets are about 1" thick and I am doing them in my vault clone.

Guess it depends on what you want...cooked? Or more dried? I'm no expert on fish tho.

If they are small I like to brine them whole after removing the scales with a hose against the scales. They come off rather easy. Then score the fins off and a few places along the skin to allow the brine to penetrate. If whole I brine 48 hours.

For the larger ones I prefer to gut and steak then out scaled skin on. 24 hour brine on these.

I use my little chief at 165 with 2 pans of alder chips for 4 hours, and then finish in an oven at 230 if they still need more time.

Once finished peel back the skin, pull out the bones, or just pull out the tasty goodness.

If they are small I like to brine them whole after removing the scales with a hose against the scales. They come off rather easy. Then score the fins off and a few places along the skin to allow the brine to penetrate. If whole I brine 48 hours.

For the larger ones I prefer to gut and steak then out scaled skin on. 24 hour brine on these.

I use my little chief at 165 with 2 pans of alder chips for 4 hours, and then finish in an oven at 230 if they still need more time.

Once finished peel back the skin, pull out the bones, or just pull out the tasty goodness.

pretty much what Tim said... cept if i got some big ones and dont steak them, i run a knife along one side the backbone and split them open lenghtwise. sometimes i leave the bone in but latly been taking it out.

whitefish is such an oily fish (its a good thing, best fish for smoking are oily) they can fool ya though... thinking they are mushy when first pulling from smoker and still warm... as they cool they setup... soon as you get them to flake in medium thick area is time to pull.

Thanks for the replys guys,
My father in law does pickrel and jack in his little chief. hands down the best fish i have ever had, but in winter the little chief is pretty useless.Rich are you saying the clone wont dry the fish enough? Cause I was thinking that too.do you guys think a hotplate set up would work better in there for fish?

Thanks for the replys guys,
My father in law does pickrel and jack in his little chief. hands down the best fish i have ever had, but in winter the little chief is pretty useless.Rich are you saying the clone wont dry the fish enough? Cause I was thinking that too.do you guys think a hotplate set up would work better in there for fish?

I'm not saying anything- as I'm not familiar with a vault clone. But... if you want it dried, you need heat and good airflow. Cooked...not so much... less air flow means higher temps- and less moisture removed.

What do you guys use for brine when smoking whitefish?

so is whitefish a name ofa species of fish - or just the colour of the fish you are catching ?

what sort of size, are they an oily fish ?

but basically do what erain says to do and you won't go wrong :thumb:

haven't had the pleasure of smoking whitefish yet but I did do a brine for my smoked trout. It was 1/4 cup of kosher salt, 1/4 cup of santa marie Plum Loco, Plum wine, Galric salt, lemon Pepper and filled with water mixed and made sure the fish were covered. It sounds like a funky combo fo flavor but they didn't last very long at the table. Hope this helps.