Hot Smoking Fish

[crustyo44]

Hi,
Can I pick the brains of members that have expierience with hot smoked farmed salmon and mackeral. A friend of mine would like hot smoked salmon for Xmas.
My experience with hot smoking is only with taylor and sea mullet.
Before having a go at salmon I thought that it is better to get some experience with mackeral due to the price difference.
Secondly, I now own a new smoke oven and I am still learning about all its do's and don't.
All help is greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Jan.

[Richierich]

I did some mackerel a couple of summers ago. Filleted them, gave them a light coat of salt, I think I left this on for just under an hour, then placed in the hot smoker till they were "cooked", around 30 minutes, I wasn't generating massive amounts of heat at the time. Can't recall where the method came from though

Ate it straight away with some poached eggs and brown toast.

As for salmon, it's clearly gonna take longer. Dunno if you need to salt overnight as you would for cold smoking....

[crustyo44]

Hi Richierich,
Thanks for your answer. I only have expierience with hot smoked taylor and seamullet. I used to open them up across the aback and brine them for 40 minutes in a salt.brown sugar cure.
Heavy smoke them for approx 2 hours, increased the heat to cook them for a further 30 minutes.
They turned out allright.
The salmon will be filleted and cured and hot smoked. I thought that some members might have a closely guarded recipe they like to part with, otherwise You tube and trial and error and commensense will have to do.
Best Regards,
Jan.

[wheels]

The only experience I've had with a large fish like salmon was with a large trout. The gory details are here:

http://www.localfoodheroes.co.uk/weblog ... =my_weblog

His friends, used to quick hot-smoked trout done in stove top boxes, could only say one thing - " more please!".

HTH

Phil

[crustyo44]

Hi Phil,
Gory details, my foot!!!!!!! The trout looks good, filleting good and the final result exellent.
Hell, you make me hungry already and it's only 8.30 am here.
I will certainly try the curing ingredient quantities.
Thank You,
Jan.

[wheels]

Jan

Thanks for the compliments, but you need new glasses - the filleting was not very good - look closely and you can see chunks missing where I cut through the 'rib cage'. My arms are weak and I find big fish a bit of a problem nowadays.

Phil

[crustyo44]

Phil,
Four eyes or no four eyes, I never wasted any smoked fish including the backbone. Mine had always fish pieces left on it. I used to cure and smoke the backbones as well, boil them in water and than cook pasta in it. beautiful flavour, flake the fish of the backbones and used that with the other flaked fish to make a cold pasta salad with other goodies as well of course.
So who cares with a few filleting stuff ups.
Best Regards,
Jan.

[wheels]

What a great idea. What are also superb is whole mackerel smoked without filleting. I've never done them myself but have had ones commercially smoked. They're a lot more subtle in taste than the smoked fillets.

Phil

[grisell]

I have hot smoked some herring (the Baltic herring is smaller than the salt water variety). I think you English speaking guys call them kippers(?). There are different ways of doing this. You can salt them in a brine, or dry - or you can smoke them unsalted and add the salt afterwards. I prefer the last method. They should be gutted, but with the heads, roe and milt left on. Time and temperature isn't as critical as with cold smoked fish. You will notice when they are ready (i.e. cooked). They don't last for very long, though. A few days in the refrigerator maybe. They don't freeze well.

[grisell]

Oh, and back to the subject! I assume that hot smoked salmon is made the same way. However, in this case I should salt it first.

[grisell]

And the best way to serve hot smoked fish IMO is directly from the smoker, still hot. Lemon, black pepper and maybe sour cream or Sauce Verte on the side. Boiled new potatoes and spinach if available. Beer and aquavit or vodka. Maybe a semi-dry Riesling, slightly chilled... Strawberries and whipped cream or vanilla ice cream afterwards... Or a good cake... Coffee, Calvados and a Havanna 2...

(Sorry, I got carried away there for a while. )

[grisell]

Hi Richierich,
Thanks for your answer. I only have expierience with hot smoked taylor and seamullet. I used to open them up across the aback and brine them for 40 minutes in a salt.brown sugar cure.
Heavy smoke them for approx 2 hours, increased the heat to cook them for a further 30 minutes.
They turned out allright.
The salmon will be filleted and cured and hot smoked. I thought that some members might have a closely guarded recipe they like to part with, otherwise You tube and trial and error and commensense will have to do.
Best Regards,
Jan.

I'd advice you to skip the sugar. And use high quality sea salt.

[crustyo44]

Whole hot smoked mackeral are superb. From memory in the old country they were steamed and smoked and all the market stands always sold out.
I prefer the fish straight out of the smoker as Andre suggests but I read somewhere on the net that if you vacuumpack and freeze them for awhile, the flavour becomes more intense.
I definitely will try that too
Hell, I am getting hungry again and it's only Monday 8.40 am and wordt of all I am on a diet.
Regards,
Jan.

[Greyham]

Ahhhh the smoking of fish a winderful experience......
I catch many hundreds of mackeral each year for the sole purpose of smoking..........the best method for dry curing is as follows.

1.Sprinkle each fillet with a castor sugar flesh side upwards..and leave for twenty minutes..rinse off and pat dry. (The sugar helps draw out residual water.
2. sprinkle each fillet with sea salt (without anti-caking agents) and leave for 40 minutes. rinse off and leave in fridge over night.
3. Remove from fridge and leave to bloom for 6 hours prior to hot or cold smoking..
4. smoke over oak, maple or hickory for desired effect.

The colour will not be darl brown like supermarket crap but pale.
The taste will be smoky, lightly sweet and salty.
This is the best recipe you will not find any where else i promise you

Also try cold smoking mackeral and later lightly grilling.......beautiful

[crustyo44]

Hi Greyham,
Thank you for your dry cure recipe. I will certainly try it on some seamullet and tailor.
Matter of fact I will have a go at it when I come out of hospital to recuperate for a couple of days.
A man has to be kept busy with important things in live such as smoking fish etc.
Regards,
Jan.