SMOKING TROUT - During the last few years I have tried many different smoking methods and believe that you must have a go at it yourself. I was surprised to find out, that many trout fisherman don't like eating the trout they catch. I have been catching trout for many years now and must admit that there have been times that I have had more fish in the freezer than I could eat myself. That was until I found that there are so many ways to cook your catch. Now I rarely have any uncooked fish in the freezer. A smoker like mine is shown here.

This section of the site is dedicated to sharing my smoking experiences with you. I would welcome your feedback and any smoking tips you would like to share with other like-minded individuals. I can promise you that if you are prepared to put the effort into trying smoking you will be amazed at the results that are possible.

Smoking food can be achieved by HOT or COLD smoking. Cold smoking in my opinion is best left to serious processors as it is more critical and requires more skill, knowledge and equipment. Traditionally, smoking food was used as a method of extending the storage times, in general we are smoking food that will be consumed within a day or so or frozen for later consumption. I would recommend eating your smoked fish within 4/5 days of processing if kept refrigerated or freezing when cooled.

To begin with you must catch some trout. Size is not an issue. Personally, I prefer smoking fish of about 2 1/2 lbs. I have smoked much larger fish and also some of 1 lb. or so. Smaller fish take less time to smoke and are a little more difficult to prepare, but still well worth the effort. I would advise you to prepare fresh fish and then freeze the fillets if you are not brining on the same day. Filleting previously frozen fish is much more difficult and I would not advise it, unless you have a freezer full. I have tried smoking whole fish and I would suggest that you give it a go, my own experience is that you will probably prefer the taste of the fillets and that it is worth the extra effort. Whole fish take much longer to smoke and the meat absorbs less 'smoke' flavour.

After smoking, the fish can be frozen and eaten later. That is if you have smoked plenty. You will be surprised how many people will devour the finished product. Even those that say they don't like trout will tuck-in once they have tried it cooked this way.

The equipment needed for hot smoking is not that expensive and if you are a handy man you could easily create your own. I have a smoker with a firebox at one end. In my first attempt at smoking I filled the firebox with charcoal and used hardwood chips that had been soaked in water. This is NOT how to do it! I was lucky enough to meet a smokerholic while looking for a temperature gauge for my smoker. He explained that the heat generated by charcoal is very dry and it burns far to hot. Rather than explain how not to do it I will give you some sound advice on how to proceed.

Firstly, build a very SMALL charcoal fire in the firebox, a handful of charcoal is plenty. Get this burning nicely and add you smoking wood to this. Your smoking wood can be any hardwood; each wood having it's own flavour. I have used many, my favourite being cherry and apple. The pieces should be fairly well dried and quite chunky. Small pieces will burn hotter and faster. The temperature inside the smoker can be accurately increased or lowered by increasing or reducing the flow of air through the system. Allow the smoker to reach a constant temperature of about 100 degrees F. A good quality heat gauge is important to guarantee the results. Once smouldering the hardwood will give off a good amount of smoke, if the airflow is correct the heat in the smoker will remain consistent and the wood will not burn fiercely. Towards the end of the smoking the temperature must be raised to at least 100 degrees C and this can be achieved by opening the firebox vent and allowing the wood to burn hotter. With some experimentation you will master the temperature control with ease.

The whole process can be broken down into three steps. Filleting - Brining - Smoking

Filleting - Beware, filleting knives are extremely sharp and will cut through you as easily as they do the fish. I have filleted dozens of fish without any mishaps, a single slip of the knife and it's a trip to casualty, so don't be in too much of a hurry.

How to prepare your trout for smoking

Trout are best filleted fresh and preparing the fish can be easy, if you take your time. Your knife must be extremely sharp or your finished fillet will resemble a lace curtain. With some experience you should perfectly fillet a fish in just a few minutes. First gut and clean the trout as you would normally. Hold the trout firmly and remove the head. Cut off the fins with a pair of kitchen scissors.

Place the fish on its side or with its back facing upwards; insert knife and slice along the backbone. The blade will naturally follow down one side of the fishes backbone. Let the blade follow the bones and lift the first filet as you cut. Turn the fish over and repeat. Removing the bones from the second fillet is more difficult and care must be taken not to cut yourself.

If you are smoking the fillets it is not necessary to remove any remaining bones as they lift out easily when cooked. If you are preparing a dish with a sauce pluck out the remaining bones. Take the trouble to remove any bones that are left embedded in the fish, as this will make your guests remember the meal rather than the experience. These bones are easily removed with a small pair of regular pliers.

Small fish - If the knife blade is held at the correct angle it will glide along the bones quite easily and remove the first fillet. You can leave the bones on the second fillet until after smoking when they will easily lift off. I like to prepare a dozen or so fillets and generally take the time to carefully remove the bones from the second fillet. It does not improve the taste only the appearance whilst cooking in the smoker.

How to prepare your brine for smoking

Ingredients - Suitable for marinating 5 - 6 lbs. fresh fish fillets, steaks or whole fish.

• 8 Cups of fresh still bottled spring water.
• 1 Cup of sea-salt.
• 3 Large chopped onions or 1 tablespoon onion powder.
• 5 Large Cloves of crushed garlic or 1 tablespoon (granules / powder).
• 1/2 Cup of white sugar.
• 1/4 Cup brown sugar.
• 1/4 Cup soy sauce.
• 2 oz. Lemon juice.
• 1 Tablespoon dried tarragon.

IMPORTANT - Use a non-metallic container for brining. You can use previously boiled tap water in place of bottled water if you wish. The boiling removes the chlorine in tap water that would taint the flavour of the finished product. The prepared brine MUST be chilled prior to adding the fillets or whole fish. If you are using fresh onion and / or garlic, ensure that you add these last, so that the water has cooled considerably.

1. I generally warm up a small amount of the water and add the sugar and salt. Stir this well to dissolve the solids. I then add the solution to the remaining water in my container. Add the lemon juice, soy sauce, crushed garlic, chopped onion and tarragon. Mix well to disolve any remaining salt and sugar.

Bearing in mind that you need to refrigerate the brine with the fillets in place, choosing a suitable container can be tricky. I can remember my first attempt well and finding a suitable container was left to my wife. Well for a change she came up with an excellent idea (sorry dear). Most if not all refrigerators come complete with a sizeable plastic vegetable rack or as in our case the freezer top tray was suitable and fitted perfectly in the bottom of the fridge. We also found the perfect way to stop the fish floating and to help cool the brine was to place a couple of plastic frozen 'ice packs' on top of the fillets, the type used in cool boxes.

2. Place your fish into the cooled solution and ensure that they remain submerged. Place the container in the fridge stirring periodically. Your brining time will vary depending on the size and thickness of your fillets or whether you are brining whole fish or not. I like to leave mine in the brining solution for a minimum of 6 hours and often I will leave them overnight. The garlic and onion in the mixture gives of quite an aroma and will leave you thinking that the resulting fish will be inedible. Once smoked, you will be as surprised as I was to find that the resulting trout has no resemblance to the smell of garlic in you kitchen.

3. Pre-heat your smoker to no more than 100 degrees F. After brining remove the fish and gently rinse under cold running water. Put the fish on a tea towel and pat dry. The fish must now be placed on a rack and allowed to air-dry. I use a fan to assist the drying process. You will notice that as the fish dries a glaze will form on the surface. This is called the 'pellicle'. Once dry the fish are ready for smoking, this can take 1 1/2 - 2 hrs - less if you have a fan. Keep flies away from the food whilst it is drying as we don't want to add any germs at this stage.

4. Now it is time to place your fish into the smoker. Place them as far away from the fire as possible, if you fill your smoker you will need to swap the pieces half way through the process because the food nearest the firebox gets more heat. I grease the grill before placing the fish skin down on the grill to avoid sticking. It is important to note that the long smoking time is required to 'dry' the fish not to cook it. You need to keep the temperature between 100 - 120 degrees F for the first hour or so at which time you can increase the temperature to speed up the smoking process. Try not to allow the temperature to rise above 180 degrees F except for the last 20 minutes when it is IMPORTANT to ensure that the temperature reaches 100 degrees C. I generally smoke my fillets for about 3 - 4 hours and then bring up the temperature to 100 degrees C to kill off any bacteria that may be present. The longer you leave the fish smoking will dictate the amount of smoke flavour in the finished product. The process is reasonably slow so there is no need to panic, half an hour or so either way will make little difference to the taste, the longer you leave the fish smoking the more moisture is removed. My preference would be to give a little more time smoking than not enough. The smoke from the wood will prevent the fish drying out excessively, so don't worry. If you are like me, you will be tempted to pick at the fish after a couple of hours, and with each mouthful will get know when they have had enough time.

Keep the smoker out of strong wind; if it is windy place the smoker where it will get shelter from the wind. Watch the temperature periodically - Not enough airflow and the wood will cease to smoulder properly, the temperature will drop and the smoking time will need to be extended. Too much airflow and the temperature will rise. Remember that the first few hours smoking are required to dry the food not to cook it. Raising the temperature to 100 degrees C for the last 20 minutes will kill any bacteria and ensure that the fish is perfectly cooked.