Smoking trout

[Thuggin4Life]

So I have a nice pile of trout fillets so I have decided to smoke them and see if they turn out better than smoking a whole trout which i won't be doing anymore. I use the last bit of salt i had, about 1/3 cup and double that amount of brown sugar. then a bit of seasoned salt of the old bay variety to add some spice and more salt. little bit of garlic powder and some applewood steak rub. then a bit of teryaki sauce. added water and soaked the meat for about 18-20 hours in tha garage not the fridge. rinsed with cold water. layed them out on paper towels and covered them and patted dry. Spinkled pepper from the pepper mill then lightly sprinkled brown sugar and patted it into the meat and brushed with some honey i warmed in the microwave for 10 seconds. been sitting out on the counter drying a bit and letting the honey dry and absorb into the meat. About to get the smoker cleaned and warmed up so they will have sat for about 2 hours before the smoke. Gonna smoke them on low changing the chips every 1 1/2 hours until done. I'll post some pics and keep it updated throught the procces. i think i found a new way to smoke trout since i swore i would never smoke trout whole again because of the time consuming proccess to seprate skin and bones just for little strips of smoked meat. Oh and all the fillets except one fish have the skin on gonna see which is better.

 

[mgdguy]

Thanks for the detailed recipe, I'll be interested to see how it turns out!

Yea I just smoked my first little stocker trouts last weekend. I will be butterflying and deboning BEFORE smoking any next time! :doh: :wall:

 

[Thuggin4Life]

No problem. I filled many smokers last year and a few this year smoking trout whole without heads or tails. Mostly using a little chief and then i got the propane smoker for christmas and had to learn all over again. just got the heat figured out. my first batch of trout came out so dry the skin wouldn't peel off and the bones were glued into the meat and they were really dry. ussually the skin peels off and is all oily but it takes awhile to skin and bone a smoker load of trout and sometimes it takes a long time, even longer than a smoker full of salmon fillets so i have decided it isn't worth it. no that i learned that it isn't hard to fillet little trout i will be doing them this way for now on even for just plane old cooking. I think the butterfly method is harder and longer than a quick fillet but to each his own and i bet they will come out better, quicker, and a overall a nicer finished product. one thing i will say about filleting small fish is to be carefull not to cut to hard or you will go through the spine and if you but them in the frezzer for a while fter cleaning it makes them way easier to handle. also i think that an ideal temperature is about 150* something you never know using an electric smoker without a temp guage and just on setting, ON. with the propane smoker it has an adustable flame and a heat guage so it took some fine tuning. I'll keep the udates coming.

 

[Thuggin4Life]

here are some pictures so far

 

[mgdguy]

Lookin good!

 

[Thuggin4Life]

So filleted trout for now on. took way less time than whole trout. i filled a little chief that took over 20 hours to smoke one time. these took less than 4 and i bet if the were whole i would be looking at 8+ do het em done. came out delicious. could have used a touch more salt and i think that the honey doesn't do anything unless glazed on after they are done.

 

[everett464]

Damn, making me hungry.

 

[fishnquest]

Very nice looking fish. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Left Bank]

Great recipe and nice looking smoker!!!! I'll try it after this batch that I'm smoking today.

 

[rippin fish lips]

here is a REALLY REALLY good brine! i used it for my salmon, but it would probably be just as good with trout! im gunna use it this week on the trout i got in my freezer! and ofcourse u dont gotta use the 5 gallon bucket! let me know how it is if u try it!

Granny GutZ Smoked Fish Recipe
(Family Secret)
In a 5 gallon bucket -
1 Gallon warm water
2 Cups salt (I use morton's table salt)
2 Cups Brown Sugar
4 Tablespoons garlic powder
8 Tablespoons onion powder
2 ounce bottle of mapeline
1 1/2 cups Karo Corn Syrup

Mix it all real good. Add trimmed filets. I like to cut fish to skin (not through) in 1 1/2 - 2 inch strips. (brine gets in better, smokes better). This is enough brine for a 5 rack Big Chief Smoker. Let brine 6 to 12 hours. Dry on paper towels for at least an hour. Brush with honey if you like. Pepper heavily with crushed or cracked Black Pepper. Preheat smoker 1 hour. Smoke fish 6 to 12 hours or until completely done.

 

[dinghy]

I always skin my trout for better brine penetration.you are right about the time for smoking. these are a 12 hour smoke for 10-12 inchers.

 

[Thuggin4Life]

hey tose are looking good. Looks a lot like mine used to. i tried the skinning method but i like the oils that are under the skin when you start to seperate the fish from the bones. and the meat is cooked different close to the skin. but either way is good i have done it both ways. try filleting them next time. i just fillets some up last night for the smoker. I just gut em, fillet them, freeze em for a while and then fillet of the rib bones. gonna fire up the smoker tonight.

 

[dinghy]

oh yea, after seeing your fillets the wheels started turning. I like the shorter smoking time and no bones. thanks for the info.

 

[Thuggin4Life]

hey no problem man i have been slowly refining the proccess to make the finished product quicker and better. not too many things better than smoked trout.