I need help on how to smoke fish

Use a light fruit wood. Do not use Mesquite, etc. they are to strong and over power fish. My favorite is Apple. With Cherry or Pecan being 2nd.

I use a little Cajun season, but then again I believe I sprinkle a little Cajun on my PB&J's!

I use a hardwood smoker and use Oak lump charcoal, so I get a lot of extra flavor from that but a lot more work.

There are 2 methods of smoking fish Hot Smoke at 225 or Cold Smoke (common for Salmon (Lox) ) I don't Cold smoke so can't help with that.

Timing is tough to say, lots of factors: how many pieces, how well your smoker holds, heat, etc. But likely 20-30 minutes. You are going for the same level of flaky that you normal get. But now here's the rub, the key to good smoking is NEVER NEVER open the smoker.

So welcome to the world of smoker accessories, and the first one you need is a wireless temp guage. With 2 probes, one for the smoker and one for the meat. I use this one http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ANCXJR6/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

As for a recipe, I have done trout but its not my favorite way to have trout. Most of what I smoke is Tuna.

A good way to smoke fish is to use a Brine. Google and you will find tons of recipes. Salt and Sugar are the two main ingredients to most brines, but from there you can experiment with anything you like. Apple Juice / Cider is a another good one. My tuna brine uses white wine.

For Salmon I do a dry brine that creates a glaze. I don't eat Salmon but Diane and the boys do and love it.

When you are ready to try to hands at Ribs etc. let me know and I will give you some hints on those as well. All it will cost you is the GPS numbers to a couple of those Honey Holes of yours [sneaky]

I am smoking 4 racks of ribs, some Tuna and Shark tomorrow. Never done Shark but going to experiment with some of the Blacktip the granddaughter caught while she was here. Planning to charbroil some oysters while smoking as a cooks treat.

Assuming you mean Speckled Trout, rather than freshwater trout. I'm not sure if Specks are ideal for smoking since they have such light meat. I'm sure they'll be ok, but smoking fish is more traditional with oily fish. I've tried it with bass and wasn't crazy about it. Mackerel species are great when it comes to the coast. Also, scaling is unnecessary. Best is a simple filet w/ skin on, kiting or butterfly the fish is good if you want more of a 'whole fish' deal.

Smoking takes practice unless you get someone to show you step by step. YouTube as much as you can to learn the different ways to do it.
The first and maybe most important is the brine. Brine and curing before smoking is critical. My basic brine is 4 cups water with 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, and 1/4 cup kosher salt dissolved in it (adjust depending on how much meat or fish you are using). I score the meat and put the fish in a deep glass dish and pour the brine over it so it's completely submerged and put a lid on it. Put in fridge for about 6 hours. I prefer longer on thick filets (doesn't matter much if you leave longer, but up to 12 or overnight is normal for me). Take out, allow to drain and drip off as much as possible. Then put the fish skin down on tin foil or drying rack in fridge for at least 12 hours until the meat is dry and tacky feeling (this is all for more oily fish like salmon). This allows the smoke to stick. My normal way is to put in brine the day before after dinner. Brine over night. In the morning, put in fridge to dry and cure. Come home and smoke it.
When I "smoke" salmon for a normal dinner, I do it fairly hot. You can do this on the grill too with a wood chip box (or pie plate with chips and covered with tin foil) and the fish on the opposite side from the heat. I get the chips smoking, and cook at about 275-300 for 15-30 mins depending on thickness and quantity. Salmon and oily fish are easy to tell when they're done with hot smoking, as the fat comes to the top when done.
For more traditional smoking, you can smoke at 185 - 225 at anywhere from 60 mins to 3 hours depending on size of fish and temps. For a few Spanish mak sized fish, 60 mins at 200 would be plenty. King fish or whole medium-large salmon filet may take 3 hours. This type of smoking also preserves the fish quite well. Allowing it to be stored in a fridge easily for a week.

As mentioned, cold smoking is a completely different ball game. This is for preservation and 'cold cut' style meat, fish, and even cheese. No heat for 24hours+. I've wanted to try it, but it's very hard to do unless you have the right set up. Keeping the smoke going is the hardest part.

Here's a cool link to a great outdoor cooking blog where he smoked Lake Trout:

http://honest-food.net/2014/07/11/smoked-lake-trout-recipe/

Mississippi Man said:

I recently bought a Masterbuilt 40 inch digital electric smoker.It is still in the box but I plan on breaking it out soon.It has a cyclinder that you put wood chips in and insert into the side.This way you can add more chips if needed.It also has a glass door so you can see in without opening it.It also has a temperature control,with a probe.
I have never smoked anything in my life.I need some advise about smoking trout.What temperature and how long for 16 to 24 inch trout.Also do you season them some sort of way , sprinkle with salt & pepper ect. ,any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks MM

Click to expand...

MM, here's a link
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/75712330/Smoked.zip

I recently cut the gills from a half-dozen trout, soaked them overnight in beer, brown sugar, and heavy salt. Next day I hung them from a rack on aluminum hooks and smoked them @ 220F for about 4 hrs.

My wife made fish dip with the meat stripped from the bones. I didn't get even a taste; my kids and grandkids scarfed it all.

I like pecan split or cut to about 1/2 inch thick, soaked overnight, and put about 3 pieces 2" X 4" on the electrical heat element. FIsh are best with only two applications of smoke, but jerky, pork, andouille or tasso take about 3 passes.

Whole hickory nuts or green pecans are good as well, but pile on the smoking materials too densly and the whole shooting match goes up in flames. I've seen the thermometer shoot to 500 degrees when making a batch of jerky, but I rescues the jerky in time.

Enjoy your new smoker. Nothing in the world as good as a venison haunch marinated then smoked for nine hours. Brisket is almost, but not quite, as good.