smoked fish snack stick experiment

[rdemler]

Last week I was thinking about smoked suckers and the great flavor,but the small bones were a PIA.So I decided to try something differant with them.I could find no other ideas anywhere so I did what I thought was the best way to do them.And here it is.I started by filleting the fish and removing ribs and skins.I brined them the way I always brine fish except that instead of soaking for 12 hrs. I went with 6 hrs.I then patted them dry with towels and let sit over night to let them dry some in the fridge.Then I course ground them.

I mixed in some garlic powder and stuffed in the same casings I use for regular snack sticks.

I let them hang in the smoker for an hour or so to remove anymore moisture at around 125 degrees.

After smoking to an IT of 155 I took them out and was'nt quite happy with the texture so I put them in the oven with the pilot light heat to dry them more over night.In the end they were excellant as far as taste goes but still need to be a little bit dryer for my taste.Here's a pic of the finished product.I will do this again and mess with getting it dryer in the smoker,because eating smoked fish without the mess and bones appeals to me alot.

[Fishawn]

That's some thinking outside the box....... .....

[Mark R]

That...is different, cool!

[erain]

now that is something differnt bigtime... i think just the idea itself is worthy!

i am sure with the proper handling and seasoning they could be very good. maybe even do something like Rudy did with his andoullie, take some of the bonless sections of the back and cut into cubes and mix with the coarse ground???

actually i would think about using the strips of the boneless meat for something like this, and then either pickle or deep fry the rest.

nice job at throwing something new out there to think about!

[Bearcarver]

Great Job, RD !!!---------

Very interesting idea too!!!


For making them drier, I would suggest keeping them smoking longer at lower temps, before bringing them to your finished temp.
Taking them to 160˚ or 165˚IT would dry them out more too.


Bear

[rbranstner]

Definitely worth for creativity.

[Richtee]

Cool idea! Hey...toss them in the fridge wrapped in a paper towel a couple days... you'll be surprised how much moisture will be removed...

[rdemler]

Thanks for lookin,and commenting.I have to go fishin again so I can try this again.I will take it to a higher temp next time in the smoker. RD

[rdemler]

I will try the paper towel thing also Rich.

[Bearcarver]

Cool idea! Hey...toss them in the fridge wrapped in a paper towel a couple days... you'll be surprised how much moisture will be removed...

Yup!!!

That Too!! What Rich Said!!!

I do that with any of that kind of thing that is a little too moist.

Sometimes things are a little too moist when you thaw it out too, and that fixes that too.

Bear

[curious aardvark]

stick them in a dehydrator till preferred texture.

Fish sausage - we talked about it a couple years back - I believe you're the first to make some. Have some :-)

[rdemler]

Thanks!

[curious aardvark]

been thinking about this - brining will make the texture softer (it adds water to the fish).
So maybe skip that part next time.

A dry rub would do a better job as that would extract some of the water while still adding the flavour.
say 50:50 salt:brown sugar.
I'd also throw some coriander in with the garlic powder and maybe some lemon zest too.

[minnbill]

I like C A's Idea here.he beat me to it .I do that with my meat stix all the timeVery point worthy try

[Richtee]

stick them in a dehydrator till preferred texture.

I'd be concerned with that call... the nitrite is already prolly gone after the smoke.

Go with the fridge.