pin boning trout

[tinca]

when is the best time to pin bone trout , before or after youve cured them, in my case it will be dry cured, also is there any difference in curing time of salmon and trout , obversely there will be a size difference, so a cut down there, but would the trout become salty with a 12hour cure, using a base of 1 cup salt to half cup mixed sugar and dill, with a gernerous coat on the fish, but not over the top with the coating, then vacpacked Gaz

[Ryan C]

Gaz,

I've been told a couple of times that the easiest way is to pin bone them after they have been cured since the flesh shrinks exposing more of the bones, however, in my experience this is absolutely not true. I would say take the pin bones out before you cure them to save you hacking about at a bit of firm, cured fish and making a mess of your pretty fillet.

As for the curing times, yes the trout will take a lot less time to cure than the salmon but it will depend on the size of the fillet. I'm afraid I don't know of any rules of thumb or equations to help you but for a Gravadlax cure what I usually do for say a trout that was 2lb before gutting and filleting, would be to give it 8-10 hours (until it is nice and firm) in the fridge, then just rinse it off. I usually put a small weight on top of mine but I think vac-packing would do the same job.
A friend of mine only gives his trout about 2 hours but I would not recommend that since he is a bit crazy and always eats all his fish straight away.
Now maybe I shouldn't recommend this but, I never put a set amount of salt/sugar on the fish, I just lightly cover the top of the fillet in the mix and sprinkle some underneath. Also, I use a 50:50 salt to sugar ratio but this is personal taste and your cure will be fine. I presume you are not going to smoke the trout?

All the best

Ryan

[tinca]

Thanks Mr C

Will stick to pin boning first, Havnt got any trout ,due to the fact i ended up at A&E the night before my fishing trip a touch unwell so will have to wait alittle while now till my next trip out.As a ratio i use 1 cup salt to around half to 3/4 mixed sugar the dill , but that would be over a big filltet or two, then vacpac, my last attempt came out rather good , suprised me , as i dont like cold smoke salmon, yet had a fair bit of it Cheers again Gaz