Smoked Some Rainbow Trout

[SmokenDevo]

Not much on posting but thought I would share this one with you guys.

Picked up about 4 pounds of Rainbow trout this morning. Much cheaper than salmom.
Still thawing out on the table.

Average size was 17 inches long


Lining up my ingredients for the brine.
brown sugar
A few squirts of rooster brand of sriracha hot chili sauce instead of cayenne pepper
Salt (I used pickling salt instead)
soy sauce
garlic plus, I like this better than garlic powder.
And honey garlic sauce for glazing half way through smoke


Gone for their last over night swim in the brine and into the fridge till tomorrow. Should be in the smoker by noon


Out on my fancy dancy drying table above the kitchen ceiling fan for a few hours before going into the smoker. Two racks of thick pieces and one of the thinner pieces. The thicker pieces took on a nice dark colour.


After 71/2 hours I think they are done. Decided to glaze them with liquid honey instead of the honey/garlic instead. Looking at the pics they look over done but it's because of the honey glaze I believe. Break one open and it's very moist. Adding a few squirts of rooster brand of sriracha hot chili sauce instead of cayenne pepper has giving them a very nice flavour. I like it for sure.

Rack #1 of thick. You can see some boogers forming but we all know they don't hurt anything.


Rack #2 of thick


Rack #3 the thin pieces. As you can see they seem less done but done just the same.


All three waiting to cool off

This has to be the best smoke fish I have ever made. Hope I can replicate it. A Buddie stopped by and he tasted it. Said it was the best he has ever tasted. I went with 4 hours of hickory where as I only two hours of smoke normally . I think that made a big difference. He asked what I put in the brine and I said none-ya. He said WHAT ???
I said none-ya business .
All packed up and ready for the fridge.

[SmokenDevo]

Here is the recipe I used. I have the four rack digital bradley smoker with a PID controller. Very easy with this set up. Set it and forget it.

Smoked Alaskan Salmon

Step 1: PREPARE FISH
Filet salmon. Leave skin on. REMOVE ALL BONES (Very important for excellence!)

Step 2: UNIFORM STRIPS
Cut meat into uniform strips, 3/8 to 1/2” wide and 3-6” long, OR as long as your smoker racks can handle......the key here is to get uniform thickness cuts for uniform brining and smoking. The length is important only as far as your own packaging preferences. The strips will have a tendency to fall or sag through the larger grid racks.........I've switched to frogmatts and now have no problem with meat falling through

Step 3: BRINING
Soak in your own brine recipe for 12 hours at refrigerator temps (I use an Igloo type ice chest with about a gallon of ice thrown in). For more complete brining throughout, place a stainless steel or wooden grate over the top of the meat to hold it under the brine. Stir fish a few times during the brining process. The following brine recipe is included to get you started, but you are encouraged to experiment with your own salt/sugar, maple, honey, peppers, seasonings to develop your own. (My apologies to our metricated friends)
1 gallon cold water
1 quart teriyaki OR soy sauce
1 cup pickling salt
2 Lbs brown sugar
2 Tbsp garlic powder
3 Tbsp cayenne pepper
Step 4: GLAZING
Place fish in a single layer on drying racks and ensure that the pieces DON’T touch each other. Dry in a cool, shady place until a hard pellicle forms. Fish will have a tough, shiny coat and will be slightly tacky to the touch. (Winter time tip! Dry 12-36 hours in a cold place such as an unheated garage, but DON’T allow to freeze) In the summer temps, it can typically take 3-4 hours for the fish to “glaze”. A fan can help speed the drying process. DON’T let the fish spoil from warm temps! Turn the fish over 2-3 times during the Glazing process to ensure more complete glazing. It is during the glazing process that you can sprinkle on certain spices (e.g. cayenne pepper) and/or visual enhancers (e.g. parsley flakes).

Step 5: SMOKING
Smoke using the following Bradley Smoking guideline:
100°-120°F for 1-2 hours, then increase to
140° for 2-4 hours, then increase to
175° for 1-2 hours to finish

Use the longer times given for thicker/higher oil content fish. As a general rule, the higher temp you use or the longer you hot smoke, the more the meat cooks the oils out, HOWEVER, the meat becomes dryer/tougher in the process. I've "accidently" left meat (silver salmon) at the 140-150°F range for up to 8 hours and it still turned out great. I personally believe that you'd have to try REAL hard to make a batch of smoke salmon unpalatable by over smoking/cooking. If you get white “boogers” on the meat, you’re cooking too high/too fast.

[NCPaul]

You might want to edit your title. Welcome to the forum.

[SmokenDevo]

You might want to edit your title. Welcome to the forum.

Thanks for the welcome. I'm not sure why I would want to edit the title, it is a rainbow trout and I did in dead smoke it. So if i'm missing something let me know.

[Ianinfrance]

Hi,

Welcome to the forum.

Here is the recipe I used. I have the four rack digital bradley smoker with a PID controller. Very easy with this set up. Set it and forget it.

Smoked Alaskan Salmon

I wonder if Brican might be seeing "salmon" in the method and thinking that you meant salmon instead of trout.

As for me. I'm delighted to read your recipe. I just make traditional british style cold smoked salmon, and am pretty happy with that too.

[BriCan]

I wonder if Brican might be seeing "salmon" in the method and thinking that you meant salmon instead of trout.

Oy Miister; I have been know to make some [tiny] Boo Boo's it wuz NCPaul. Although by the colour I fort they wuz Salmon

[Ianinfrance]

Booger. booger booger. You're qujite right Brican. Sorry.

[BriCan]

Sow kay

[NCPaul]

Opps. I was mislead by the recipe title and the look of the fish. Here's a link to what he smoked: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_trout I learned something new today at least.

[SmokenDevo]

Not a problem for thinking they where salmon.
Thats why I buy them and also they are half the price of salmon. Most salmon I can buy is farm salmon and i'm not paying those high prices for farm salmon. The best salmon is Wild Copper River Salmon but to do as much as the rainbow trout would have cost me well over 100 dollars.

[GarretT]

Was the rainbow trout farm raised or wild? I've always liked fresh caught rainbow trout over the camp fire but haven't fixed it at home. I usually go for the wild caught sockeye salmon and like the flavor over farm-raised salmon. The wild-caught seems to have more of a salty sea flavor to it.