Jump to content

Help with a Brine recipe for smoking rainbow trout


Davidpriddy

Recommended Posts

Hi there ... I scored a wonderful vertical Coolabah gas smoker for Christmas and have about 30KG of rainbow trout I caught recently on a trip in NZ fishing the Tongariro. I have experiemented with straight salt and brown sugar applied liberally over the surface of the butterflied trout which was a little to salty for the tastebuds (left it on for 2 hours) .... and also tried the liquid brine soaking method (left on for two hours) and had an ordinary finished product. The fish average 4 pounds a piece. Does anybody have a reasonably bullet proof brining recipe to get me started??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi there ... I scored a wonderful vertical Coolabah gas smoker for Christmas and have about 30KG of rainbow trout I caught recently on a trip in NZ fishing the Tongariro. I have experiemented with straight salt and brown sugar applied liberally over the surface of the butterflied trout which was a little to salty for the tastebuds (left it on for 2 hours) .... and also tried the liquid brine soaking method (left on for two hours) and had an ordinary finished product. The fish average 4 pounds a piece. Does anybody have a reasonably bullet proof brining recipe to get me started??

Hi David this may be of help as we brine or cure alot of fish

Cut the salt out and it only draws all the moisture

Use maple syrup and a sprinkle of garlic powder, pepper and a light dusting of salt, spread over fillets, then sprinkle parsley flakes and leave in the fridge overnight before smoking

If you want to get creative, buy the Maple cure from Bradley and sprinkle the cure in the same ingredients, this will infuse the flavour into the fish giving you a completely different taste brining or curing is only designed for the old age of preserving, if you are going to smoke and eat your fish straight out of the smoker there is no point

With your gas smoker, try and keep the heat down as much as possible for the first couple of hours, this will induce more smoke flavour rather that hot smoking where you can end up with a cokked fish and smokey flavour on top

Hope this helps

Edited by MarkBradleySmoker
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi David this may be of help as we brine or cure alot of fish

Cut the salt out and it only draws all the moisture

Use maple syrup and a sprinkle of garlic powder, pepper and a light dusting of salt, spread over fillets, then sprinkle parsley flakes and leave in the fridge overnight before smoking

If you want to get creative, buy the Maple cure from Bradley and sprinkle the cure in the same ingredients, this will infuse the flavour into the fish giving you a completely different taste brining or curing is only designed for the old age of preserving, if you are going to smoke and eat your fish straight out of the smoker there is no point

With your gas smoker, try and keep the heat down as much as possible for the first couple of hours, this will induce more smoke flavour rather that hot smoking where you can end up with a cokked fish and smokey flavour on top

Hope this helps

Hi there Mark ... thanks so much for the tips with a brine recipe. I'll give them a go on the weekend and let you know how I go. Looks like its going to be raining anyway. So a good time to play with the smoker!!

Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi David this may be of help as we brine or cure alot of fish

Cut the salt out and it only draws all the moisture

Use maple syrup and a sprinkle of garlic powder, pepper and a light dusting of salt, spread over fillets, then sprinkle parsley flakes and leave in the fridge overnight before smoking

If you want to get creative, buy the Maple cure from Bradley and sprinkle the cure in the same ingredients, this will infuse the flavour into the fish giving you a completely different taste brining or curing is only designed for the old age of preserving, if you are going to smoke and eat your fish straight out of the smoker there is no point

With your gas smoker, try and keep the heat down as much as possible for the first couple of hours, this will induce more smoke flavour rather that hot smoking where you can end up with a cokked fish and smokey flavour on top

Hope this helps

Hi Mark ... quick question on the brine recipe you suggested ... you mention the maple syrup, garlic powder, etc etc ... when you take it out the next day to smoke it, do you wash and pat dry, or just put it straight in the smoker with everything still on it??

Cheers

Dave

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Hi Dave

Smoked trout ..... YUM!!!

Congrats on such a successful trip to the Tongariro!! It is a magic river to fish, isn't it? I stayed at the Creel a couple of times when I lived in Auckland & just loved it. Very strong river!

Were all your fish vacuum packed for the trip back to Aussie?

If you want a more 'subtle' smoke flavour, just try one whole fish in the smoker as well. Turn it over after 1/2hr+, so both sides are closer to the heat source. It will take quite a bit longer than fillets, but worth a try. Put a skewer thru the should to ensure it is fully cooked.

The skin just peels off & you flake the flesh from the bone.

Cheers

Roberta

Edited by Roberta
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Hi there ... I scored a wonderful vertical Coolabah gas smoker for Christmas and have about 30KG of rainbow trout I caught recently on a trip in NZ fishing the Tongariro. I have experiemented with straight salt and brown sugar applied liberally over the surface of the butterflied trout which was a little to salty for the tastebuds (left it on for 2 hours) .... and also tried the liquid brine soaking method (left on for two hours) and had an ordinary finished product. The fish average 4 pounds a piece. Does anybody have a reasonably bullet proof brining recipe to get me started??

best way I have found is chill your water in the fridge when cold put it in a plastic garbage can add salt a little at a time until a raw egg will float just with the air end of the egg about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch out of the water then your salt is at the right amount.soak your fish for 3/4 to 1hour in the brine take it out and put in to some chilled water to take the salt of pat dry put it in the smoker will turn out tops

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use the brine that is described in "The 3 men's Fish Smoking Process

You can Google their website which has a mine of information on smoking.

Another source of info is an article entitled "The Art of Smoking fish" that appeared in marine news ,www.marinenews.com.boat I got that through a general search on Google.

A key part of the process is allowing the brined fish to dry by placing in a cool place that has air moving over it. This forms the "pedicle" a coating that greatly enhances the flavour and moisture of the finished product.

Good luck

Cheers

Paikea

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...