Smoked Fish And Now A Pipe

[troutface]

Took Friday off to visit one of my favorite high country lakes and was rewarded with some fat rainbows and cutthroats. Kept a couple cutts and smoked them over alder yesterday. Alder smoke and fish are a magic pairing. Some sweet onion, capers and a nice white wine make a simple, but wonderful meal.

 

[Derby]

Great pictures. Thanks.

 

[Grangerous]

Oh maaaan! That’s livin

 

[The Amish Tyrant]

One of my favorite breakfasts (and I'm not a breakfast person) is a bagel with cream cheese topped with gravlax or smoked salmon, seasoned tomatoes, sweet/vidalia onion sliced thinly, and capers. The flavor combination is amazing and I could eat it regularly when I typically don't repeat many meals in a month if it can be helped. I hope you enjoyed the meal.

Any tips on smoking a salmon (aside from lighting the tail first)? I've got a smaller smoker that I play with (corn, steak, and bologna were suprisingly good) and am wanting to try salmon.

 

[mso489]

That is one pretty plate of food; I can almost taste it.

 

[kcghost]

Food over an open is just a great way to eat. Of course, I would release the fish and cook up a steak instead.

 

[AroEnglish]

What a way to relax!

 

[STP]

Bliss ?

 

[agnosticpipe]

Looks great! Lovely views and fish. (although, for me the onion to fish ratio is a little off) ?

 

[wolflarsen]

Any tips on smoking a salmon (aside from lighting the tail first)? I've got a smaller smoker that I play with (corn, steak, and bologna were suprisingly good) and am wanting to try salmon.

Smoke fish at cooler temps than beef/pork/chicken. Around 160 F works great for salmon. You can get fancy with brines or dry rubs if you want to but a simple dark brown sugar and kosher salt mix in a 4:1 or 5:1 ratio is delicious. Cover fish fillets with sugar/salt mix. Refrigerate overnight. The dry sugar/salt mix should be mostly turned into liquid by morning. Do not rinse with water, just brush off any clumps of sugar/salt. Smoke over alder, cherry, or hickory. Catch another salmon and repeat.

 

[The Amish Tyrant]

Smoke fish at cooler temps than beef/pork/chicken. Around 160 F works great for salmon. You can get fancy with brines or dry rubs if you want to but a simple dark brown sugar and kosher salt mix in a 4:1 or 5:1 ratio is delicious. Cover fish fillets with sugar/salt mix. Refrigerate overnight. The dry sugar/salt mix should be mostly turned into liquid by morning. Do not rinse with water, just brush off any clumps of sugar/salt. Smoke over alder, cherry, or hickory. Catch another salmon and repeat.

Heard, thank you.

I've been debating trying to smoke salmon for the holidays. This helps.

 

[troutface]

Smoke fish at cooler temps than beef/pork/chicken. Around 160 F works great for salmon. You can get fancy with brines or dry rubs if you want to but a simple dark brown sugar and kosher salt mix in a 4:1 or 5:1 ratio is delicious. Cover fish fillets with sugar/salt mix. Refrigerate overnight. The dry sugar/salt mix should be mostly turned into liquid by morning. Do not rinse with water, just brush off any clumps of sugar/salt. Smoke over alder, cherry, or hickory. Catch another salmon and repeat.

Since I'm smoking whole fish rather than fillets, I prefer a simple brine. I use a ratio of 1 cup kosher salt to 1 gallon water and brine for 24 hours. I try to keep the temps low (170 or so) to give the smoke time to penetrate the skin before the flesh gets overdone. I'll mix in a bit of cherry with the alder, but found straight cherry to be too sweet on fish.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Did you keep the cheeks?

 

[troutface]

Did you keep the cheeks?

No, I assumed a fish needed to be of some size to make it worth it. I will check next time though.

 

[Inspired Idler]

This is what I hope to be doing in retirement. Thanks for the photos.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

No, I assumed a fish needed to be of some size to make it worth it. I will check next time though.

Many years ago I read someone say the cheeks were the filet mignon of the trout. So, my son and I always savored them.

 

[LotusEater]

Took Friday off to visit one of my favorite high country lakes and was rewarded with some fat rainbows and cutthroats. Kept a couple cutts and smoked them over alder yesterday. Alder smoke and fish are a magic pairing. Some sweet onion, capers and a nice white wine make a simple, but wonderful meal.
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When I read a post like this I think
I’m probably doing something wrong in this life.
You on the other hand seem to be doing something very right!

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

So true, alder wood smoked fish is magical!! It's hard to get alder down here in the south...

 

[hawky454]

Beautiful Fall colors, reminds me of home. I grew up in Flagstaff with the Pine and Aspen trees, I have very fond memories there and one day I'd like to move back. The fish looks amazing too, man you've got it good!

I apologize if I missed it, where is that lake?

 

[troutface]

That lake is in the mountains of Colorado, west of the Continental Divide. Sorry, but that's as specific as I wanna get.