Smoked Dolphin/Mahi

[Abelman]

I could have sworn I had posted this years ago but it seems I did not. I was looking at a smoked fish question and was going to reference this as lean/non-fatty whitefish can be difficult to smoke. Anyway, here it is. I have some in the freezer as it were to put on the smoker before the snow hits.

I also figure MarkR might have an interest since this is kind of his back yard.

These are my notes from 2007:

Smoked Dolphin

Sept/2007

Tried first brine/smoke of fish. Got a 1-lb fillet, no skin of Mahi from King Soopers. Made a basic brine, 2 quarts of water, ½ cup of K. salt and 1/3 cup of brown sugar. Added approx 1 tablespoon of liquid crab boil and a tablespoon of Thai Dragon powder. Heated it up to absorb everything. Cooled down and put Mahi in the brine/refrigerator for 2.5 hours. Took out, rinsed off in cold water, patted dry with paper towels and set on a rack with foil underneath but also put a decent amount of red peppers on both side. The same ones used for pizza . Will leave in frig for at least 12 hours for pellicle to form. Did this the day/night before.

Started smoking in the morning. Temp outside +/- 70 degrees. Charcoal and apple wood at 250 degrees. Actually used internal thermo and got the fish to 142. Took 1.5 hours and it’s damn good. Look at pictures under Mahi smoke. Gave some to Billy and he was WOW, that’s great!





Give it a shot with lean white fish, it works great for us when we can get good fish. As you can see from the second pic, I cheated and had to try a bite

P.S. Here's a pic of the finished fish:

[Mark R]

That looks good Pete!
Mahi is actually fairly oily, I smoke them a lot. Bout 30lb every other month for a restaurant, they freeze it and use it for fish dip. My process is a bit different but looks like ya got a good result!!! Really makes a big difference if ya can get them skin on.

[Sam3]

Wow, just wow.
I would love to try smoked mahi someday.

[Abelman]

Thanks, I never thought of dolphin as an oily fish but I guess it makes sense since they smoke so well.

Bonita/Little Tunney are what I think of as oily. Fun to catch but not to eat.

For a red meat fish, I love bluefish from the NE but the FL stuff, not so much. If done right, it's an excellent fish. If not, good fertilizer.

I have two skin on tails in the freezer that will get smoked in the next month or so.

Thanks for the heads up.

[Mark R]

Thanks, I never thought of dolphin as an oily fish but I guess it makes sense since they smoke so well.

Bonita/Little Tunney are what I think of as oily. Fun to catch but not to eat.

For a red meat fish, I love bluefish from the NE but the FL stuff, not so much. If done right, it's an excellent fish. If not, good fertilizer.

I have two skin on tails in the freezer that will get smoked in the next month or so.

Thanks for the heads up.

Bonita/Little Tunney are grimey, but can be good if brined well and smoked. Butt yea down here, not the same as Virginia or North.

A lot of the "oil" is in the skin or just below the skin and gets cut off in skinning. The skin barrier to heat and the oil really help keep it moist, great for smoking - not so much for frying or broiling. Most Mahi is fried or broiled.

[Slanted88]

Bull Dolphin is a hard pull on the line... Bonita is a blast to hook...bad bloody...have folks I know that eat em...nope...oily fish, mullet...acquired taste...

[SMOKE FREAK]

Cant catch any of these fish here in Kansas