Experimenting smoking...

[Smudge]

Bonefisher hooked me up with some trout from one of his latest exploits, they've been resting qiuetly in my freezer for a few weeks nicely vacuum sealed waiting for me to come up with something to do with them...

Well, a friend this week suggested I smoke them, after the required "aren't they hard to keep lit?" jokes from the GF I went to work...

Made a brine of 1/2 cup salt, 1/4 cup brown sugar and a tsp of Adobo into about a gal of water. Let the whole fish and fillets soak for about an hour then popped them into the smoker for about 2 1/2 hours. One of the fillets was a little over done but the others are very tasty.

[bigeyeGuy]

looks yummy

What is Adobo

[JiGGZ]

Originally Posted by bigeyeGuy

looks yummy

What is Adobo

Homemade pacific Island all purpose sauce. Works on ANYTHING!!! Soysauce and Vinegar (with A LOT of fresh Garlic) Water to thin it out. This is just the BASIC recipe. every islander MOM and Grandma has a touch or two to add. Lemon, tobasco, onions etc.

[tuna palooza]

Cool Thanks
I was wondering also

[Smudge]

These trout just made their way into a nice cream cheese based fish dip. Very good if I do say so myself!!!

Just waiting for the pork shoulder I put in the smoker at 11 this morning!! The temp at the bone was 165 a few minutes ago so the meat is fully cooked. Gonna let it get to 185-190 then pull it for samachez!!

Best Christmas/B-day gift ever!! Only now my whole block smells like hickory!!

[FishStalker]

Originally Posted by Smudge

These trout just made their way into a nice cream cheese based fish dip. Very good if I do say so myself!!!

Just waiting for the pork shoulder I put in the smoker at 11 this morning!! The temp at the bone was 165 a few minutes ago so the meat is fully cooked. Gonna let it get to 185-190 then pull it for samachez!!

Best Christmas/B-day gift ever!! Only now my whole block smells like hickory!!

So, how'd the pork butt turn out?

FWIW, 165 don't mean shit. Last butt I smoked sat at 165-170 for something like 6 hours while the connective tissue rendered. I started it at 9am and it still wasn't done at midnight. I quickly learned to start a pork butt the night before and let it go while you sleep.

[bigeyeGuy]

Originally Posted by Jigz

Homemade pacific Island all purpose sauce. Works on ANYTHING!!! Soysauce and Vinegar (with A LOT of fresh Garlic) Water to thin it out. This is just the BASIC recipe. every islander MOM and Grandma has a touch or two to add. Lemon, tobasco, onions etc.

Thank you

[Smudge]

Originally Posted by FishStalker

So, how'd the pork butt turn out?

FWIW, 165 don't mean shit. Last butt I smoked sat at 165-170 for something like 6 hours while the connective tissue rendered. I started it at 9am and it still wasn't done at midnight. I quickly learned to start a pork butt the night before and let it go while you sleep.

It is beautiful!! Oh my goodness. I'm starting to wonder how I made it through my first 30 yrs of life without a smoker. I pulled it out at 11:30pm and it just fell off of the bone. Final temp was 185 or so, but I had to go to bed so out it came. Started it fat side down for about 2 hrs then went the rest on the time fat side up. I couldn't do the over night thing because my smoker goes through fuel like crazy. I used about 15lbs of charcoal and 12lbs or so of hickory and mesquite in 12hrs. I have to keep the vents open way more than I would like to, to keep the temp above 200. Open vents, more fuel. All of my wood was pre soaked as well... But the pay off is unreal. I hope I get into some tuna this year. Fuck it, I'm smoking everything I catch!!

[JiGGZ]

ehh heh MATT GOT NEW TOY

[Fresh One]

Originally Posted by Smudge

It is beautiful!! Oh my goodness. I'm starting to wonder how I made it through my first 30 yrs of life without a smoker. I pulled it out at 11:30pm and it just fell off of the bone. Final temp was 185 or so, but I had to go to bed so out it came. Started it fat side down for about 2 hrs then went the rest on the time fat side up. I couldn't do the over night thing because my smoker goes through fuel like crazy. I used about 15lbs of charcoal and 12lbs or so of hickory and mesquite in 12hrs. I have to keep the vents open way more than I would like to, to keep the temp above 200. Open vents, more fuel. All of my wood was pre soaked as well... But the pay off is unreal. I hope I get into some tuna this year. Fuck it, I'm smoking everything I catch!!

Try to smoke some slime. Oh man, it comes out nice. Slab them and leave the skin on and cut the fillets into 3 inch chunks. Really good stuff. One thing about smokers, you will get sick of smoked fish really quick.

[FishStalker]

Originally Posted by Smudge

It is beautiful!! Oh my goodness. I'm starting to wonder how I made it through my first 30 yrs of life without a smoker. I pulled it out at 11:30pm and it just fell off of the bone. Final temp was 185 or so, but I had to go to bed so out it came. Started it fat side down for about 2 hrs then went the rest on the time fat side up. I couldn't do the over night thing because my smoker goes through fuel like crazy. I used about 15lbs of charcoal and 12lbs or so of hickory and mesquite in 12hrs. I have to keep the vents open way more than I would like to, to keep the temp above 200. Open vents, more fuel. All of my wood was pre soaked as well... But the pay off is unreal. I hope I get into some tuna this year. Fuck it, I'm smoking everything I catch!!

What kind of smoker did you get?

This summer, I had to keep all of my vents shut or the temp would shoot way up. It was all I could do to keep it at 225-240.

I use hard wood oak charcoal for this kind of (long) smoking and rarely add additional wood--hard wood lump charcoal tends to burn hotter and last longer than briquets; alot of that has to do with the high ash production of the briquets choking the fire. For fish, I just use briquets and use soaked alder, cherry, apple, etc since the smoke time is usually less than 3 hours.

I smoked ALOT of fish this year--everything from albacore to yellowtail and yellowfin. The folks that I work with ate very well all summer

BTW, it isn't uncommon to go through 20# of charcoal while smoking butts but you certainly used ALOT of smoke wood. You probably didn't need that much since once you get the meat temp above about 140 you aren't going to get anymore smoke flavor in the meat, just up the chimney.

BBQ Galore has a sale right now on their hardwood lump (couple bucks off a 20# bag). I may have to go buy some. Also, keep an eye out for sales at Home Dump during the summer. They frequently have smoking (pun intended) deals on briquets during bbq season. This season I got 2x20# bags of kingsford for something $8. This is the time to stock up if you have someplace to store it that is dry.

FWIW, this is the smoker that I have:

[wheresmypliers]

well what kind of smoker did ya get? and good tip on the cudas....gotta go try it know