Smoked fish is a tasty way to enjoy your catch. There is an art to smoking fish correctly, but once done, smoked fish can have many uses. Handy Randy is a master at smoking our catch. Normally we smoke trout and salmon. Randy loves to share his smokey catch with others. 

Smoked fish has been a way to store fresh fish for a long period of time. Early peoples didn’t have freezers and fridges, so salting, drying, jerking, or smoking their food was a common way to fill the pantry. Jerky Marinade 

Cut up meat to ¼ inch thick or a so and about an inch wide.  The length can vary.  Make enough marinade to just cover the jerky meat.  If you need more marinade to cover the meat just do the math and make more. 

Jerky Brine 

• 1 cup water (heat in the microwave, so the salt dissolves more easily)
• 1/8 cup salt 
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon of granulated garlic
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
• ½ teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

Let the marinade cool and then marinate for 12 hours.  Start marinating at night and then smoke the meat the next morning.  Spray the smoker grill with Pam, place the meat on the grill and sprinkle course ground black pepper on top of the jerky meat.  Randy smokes the jerky at 120 degrees to 140 degrees for 7 to 8 hours.  This may vary depending on your smoker.

Smoked Fish

We marinade the fish with the skins on.  We marinate them in a bucket and this time leave an additional two inches for more marinade.  Place a plate on top of the fish so they do not float above the marinade level.   We usually marinate them in the garage when the weather is cool because of limited space in the fridge.  Generally, these fish are frozen because Randy likes to do more than just the limit amount, so he saves up a few limits before he smokes them.  You can also throw them in the bucket frozen and let them thaw while they marinate.  Marinate for 12 or so hours.

The marinade is the same as the jerky marinade with two exceptions.  Randy adds 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and does not use the course ground pepper.

The temperature for smoking is the same but the time is less, around 3 hours.  The time also depends on the size of the fish.  So, there is some guessing involved.  Temperature can vary depending on if you are using wood, pellets, charcoal, or other fuel.  An electric smoker is more consistent.

After the fish are smoked, remove the skin and bones.  The fish can be made into a tasty spread or eaten with crackers.  There are a lot of great recipes that use smoked fish. Catch the ones that hook your taste buds. 

Yumyumyumyum!

Montana Grant