Smoking Fish

[Tanglefoot]

Skin on or skin off? Most recipes I find call for the skin to be left on for both hot and cold smoking. Anyone smoke skin off and how does the smoking technique differ?

Thanks, Tom

 

[scott craven]

skin on, it holds the fish together...
otherwise the filets would break up getting them off the rack.

 

[Gomphus]

I smoke pinks skin off and so far they have not broken apart getting them off the grill.

 

[Tanglefoot]

I was going to say that I don't have trouble with them falling through either but I sometimes get them too salty or sometimes too dry without the skin.
Reason I brought it up is I have about 20lbs frozen and skinless fillets and I'd like to smoke them without screwing it all up. I guess I'll just brine them for a couple of hours and dry them 'til they're firm then 'cool' smoke them in my Bradley.

Alder better than hickory for fish? or what else?

Tom

 

[oguard]

Tom ,I would spray the racks down with pam or wipe them with some olive oil.

Mike

 

[TheBigGuy]

Hi, Tom.

If you try a dry brine the meat will be very firm and you don't have to worry about it falling apart. I often do smoking without the skin on and it turns out great. I sometimes cut the pieces into small snack size "nuggets" about an inch in size. If you go to a cooking supply store you should find racks with small half inch mesh size. Take the measurements from your smoker. Buy the closest size to your racks you can find. Cut them down to the exact size with a pair of wire snippers. Voila, no more problems with fish falling through the racks. Not very expensive, and works great.

See my recipe I posted with detailed instructions for a dry brined, cold smoked Indian candy in the Salwater forum.

http://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7620