What do I do with all these Tuna????

[Brian Reiber]

Also..... can you rinse the pieces off before canning? Normally a no no but does it matter if being canned right away.

When hot smoking I read 2 different thought processes. 1 says to shorten the brine time and the other says that do it exactly like you do salmon ????

 

[Derby]

And a big thank you by the way for all the help you gave Michael with this adventure. His ability to research something to death and be successful on the first try makes me proud. We couldn't have done it without your help.

My pleasure he's great young man very happy for your success...

 

[Derby]

Also..... can you rinse the pieces off before canning? Normally a no no but does it matter if being canned right away.

When hot smoking I read 2 different thought processes. 1 says to shorten the brine time and the other says that do it exactly like you do salmon ????

I haven't smoked them with any success.. i can tell u that they are a different animal then salmon so you should find a successful recipe first before proceeding as i would hate for any of the fish go to waste... i dont wash any of my tuna before canning

 

[Pippen]

When hot smoking I read 2 different thought processes. 1 says to shorten the brine time and the other says that do it exactly like you do salmon ????

I would be concerned with hot smoking tuna due to the texture if you're essentially cooking it right through; but maybe someone with some experience can speak to it?

We did some cold smoked and it was awesome.

 

[Brian Reiber]

I haven't smoked them with any success.. i can tell u that they are a different animal then salmon so you should find a successful recipe first before proceeding as i would hate for any of the fish go to waste... i dont wash any of my tuna before canning

I should specify. We had an oops and one tray slipped and ended up on the ground. We cleaned the pieces up with paper towel but I really want to rinse those pieces before canning just make they are clean. I dont intend to rinse the rest.

I smoke with two little chiefs and I usually crack the door to keep the temps low. I still call that hot smoking even though the temps are much lower than my meat smoker.

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

Some of the threads I did on the forum when I made candy Tuna, Lox, and hot smoked Tuna were before the forum had a glich and some of the pics don't show up on those threads but here's the threads:

https://www.sportfishingbc.com/foru...re-tuna-and-spring-salmon-indian-candy.70994/
https://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum/index.php?threads/lox-spring-salmon-and-albacore-tuna.71066/
https://www.sportfishingbc.com/foru...ng-out-the-freezer-of-2017-season-fish.71155/

I'll post up some of the pics that aren't working on the threads. I have a Masterbuilt smoker with a cold smoke attachment to it. I have cold smoked, warm smoked, and hot smoked Tuna. You have to really watch Tuna with how much wood you use for smoke flavor as it can get over powered with it quickly and you have to really watch how long and how high temp you smoke Tuna in. It will get over done very quickly and there's a fine line where it goes to tough and not so good. Wet brining it where it absorbs the brine will help it not over cook too quickly. Especially sweeter ingredients like Teriyaki, brown sugar wet brines..These slow those cooking processes down and allows the Tuna to keep it's moisture longer.

Warm/Hot smoked Candied Tuna​

Wet Brined/Warm Hot Smoked Candied Spring and Tuna


Wet Brined (Not Candied) Warm/Hot Smoked Tuna Loins




Dry Rubbed/Marinated in Vac Bags Tuna Loin Lox




​

Canning Tuna
​

 

[Brian Reiber]

Some of the threads I did on the forum when I made candy Tuna, Lox, and hot smoked Tuna were before the forum had a glich and some of the pics don't show up on those threads but here's the threads:

https://www.sportfishingbc.com/foru...re-tuna-and-spring-salmon-indian-candy.70994/
https://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum/index.php?threads/lox-spring-salmon-and-albacore-tuna.71066/
https://www.sportfishingbc.com/foru...ng-out-the-freezer-of-2017-season-fish.71155/

I'll post up some of the pics that aren't working on the threads. I have a Masterbuilt smoker with a cold smoke attachment to it. I have cold smoked, warm smoked, and hot smoked Tuna. You have to really watch Tuna with how much wood you use for smoke flavor as it can get over powered with it quickly and you have to really watch how long and how high temp you smoke Tuna in. It will get over done very quickly and there's a fine line where it goes to tough and not so good. Wet brining it where it absorbs the brine will help it not over cook too quickly. Especially sweeter ingredients like Teriyaki, brown sugar wet brines..These slow those cooking processes down and allows the Tuna to keep it's moisture longer.

Warm/Hot smoked Candied Tuna​

View attachment 47940

Wet Brined/Warm Hot Smoked Candied Spring and Tuna
View attachment 47941

Wet Brined (Not Candied) Warm/Hot Smoked Tuna Loins
View attachment 47949

View attachment 47948

Dry Rubbed/Marinated in Vac Bags Tuna Loin Lox

View attachment 47942

View attachment 47946
View attachment 47943​

View attachment 47945

Canning Tuna
View attachment 47947​

Wow, looks pretty damn good.

 

[Rain City]

Some of the threads I did on the forum when I made candy Tuna, Lox, and hot smoked Tuna were before the forum had a glich and some of the pics don't show up on those threads but here's the threads:

https://www.sportfishingbc.com/foru...re-tuna-and-spring-salmon-indian-candy.70994/
https://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum/index.php?threads/lox-spring-salmon-and-albacore-tuna.71066/
https://www.sportfishingbc.com/foru...ng-out-the-freezer-of-2017-season-fish.71155/

I'll post up some of the pics that aren't working on the threads. I have a Masterbuilt smoker with a cold smoke attachment to it. I have cold smoked, warm smoked, and hot smoked Tuna. You have to really watch Tuna with how much wood you use for smoke flavor as it can get over powered with it quickly and you have to really watch how long and how high temp you smoke Tuna in. It will get over done very quickly and there's a fine line where it goes to tough and not so good. Wet brining it where it absorbs the brine will help it not over cook too quickly. Especially sweeter ingredients like Teriyaki, brown sugar wet brines..These slow those cooking processes down and allows the Tuna to keep it's moisture longer.

Warm/Hot smoked Candied Tuna​

View attachment 47940

Wet Brined/Warm Hot Smoked Candied Spring and Tuna
View attachment 47941

Wet Brined (Not Candied) Warm/Hot Smoked Tuna Loins
View attachment 47949

View attachment 47948

Dry Rubbed/Marinated in Vac Bags Tuna Loin Lox

View attachment 47942

View attachment 47946
View attachment 47943​

View attachment 47945

Canning Tuna
View attachment 47947​

Show off

 

[Derby]

Man.. I so glad i don't live near you.... i would be living at house...

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

Can any of you here that have smoked their own tuna share with me their experiences. Do you use the same brine recipe that you would for salmon. Do you hot smoke at the same temps and for the same amount of time as you would for salmon.

Thanks

For cold smoking use flavors you like but I would suggest starting with a basic Lox dry brine recipe then tweeking from there. You can add flavored alchohol like fruit Gins or Vodka's too if you like experimenting like that. Some European recipe's on the net for those. When cold smoking I dry brine and vac pac and leave in for 24 hrs before cold smoking. You want your fish to firm right up and feel densely tighter than before dry brine. Then let it air dry and get a pellicle on it before smoking. Like I mentioned before too much smoke will over power Tuna. Especially Lox where you want it to be not cooked and just have mild flavors of your dry brine. I never go above 70 degrees when doing any fish lox myself. When you get above 75 it will start to cook. I do mine 3 hrs max cold smoked and only use a half pan of alder or apple or a mix of the two. Cherry is good but stronger than apple/alder I find.

For Hot smoking ( I call it warm/hot really ) Tuna I try not to go above 120F. But my smoker will rise and fall when I mess with the door, wood chips etc..Mine will go up to 130 at times then I usually **** and open the door and let heat out. Too hot and it will dry out soooooo fast. You just have to really be careful with Tuna like others here have mentioned. It will dry out much much faster than Salmon. But the fattier belly pieces...OMG they are delicious warm/hot smoked and are easier to do cause of the more fat in the meat. Remove Tuna before you would Salmon. I can tell Tuna is perfect when the center of the pieces still feel rubbery/bouncy when poking them with my finger while the outer edges feel more done. This will be perfect where once the pieces dry out the centers will still be moist. Remember it will continue to cook even after removing it from the smoker. So If I know my Tuna is perfect when I look at it in the smoker I immedietely put the pieces in the fridge to halt any more of the cooking process going on in the fish. If you cut all your loin pieces in pretty much the same size/shape then you can get good at telling when it's done to your liking by using an internal temperature probe. Salmon I smoke hotter at around 150 constant. Well absorbed wet brines will help you with not over cooking/smoking Tuna. They add wet mass to the meat and slow cooking process which makes it easier to keep an eye on not over doing the cooking.

I still have canned Tuna left from our batch I canned and I love it. I eat it a lot and have given a lot to friends/family. It will last like others said, years in cool dark storage. We keep ours in our canned food cellar.

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

Show off

Ya I like to share my passions.

Man.. I so glad i don't live near you.... i would be living at house...

We'll end up living over on the island one day down the road

 

[wildmanyeah]

found it, only made the tuna part tho not the salad

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/sesame-crusted-tuna-with-watercress-salad-1247961

 

[Derby]

Ya I like to share my passions.


We'll end up living over on the island one day down the road

We'll welcome neighbor

 

[Brian Reiber]

found it, only made the tuna part tho not the salad

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/sesame-crusted-tuna-with-watercress-salad-1247961

Thank you, I think I'l try it tonight.

 

[Brian Reiber]

For cold smoking use flavors you like but I would suggest starting with a basic Lox dry brine recipe then tweeking from there. You can add flavored alchohol like fruit Gins or Vodka's too if you like experimenting like that. Some European recipe's on the net for those. When cold smoking I dry brine and vac pac and leave in for 24 hrs before cold smoking. You want your fish to firm right up and feel densely tighter than before dry brine. Then let it air dry and get a pellicle on it before smoking. Like I mentioned before too much smoke will over power Tuna. Especially Lox where you want it to be not cooked and just have mild flavors of your dry brine. I never go above 70 degrees when doing any fish lox myself. When you get above 75 it will start to cook. I do mine 3 hrs max cold smoked and only use a half pan of alder or apple or a mix of the two. Cherry is good but stronger than apple/alder I find.

For Hot smoking ( I call it warm/hot really ) Tuna I try not to go above 120F. But my smoker will rise and fall when I mess with the door, wood chips etc..Mine will go up to 130 at times then I usually **** and open the door and let heat out. Too hot and it will dry out soooooo fast. You just have to really be careful with Tuna like others here have mentioned. It will dry out much much faster than Salmon. But the fattier belly pieces...OMG they are delicious warm/hot smoked and are easier to do cause of the more fat in the meat. Remove Tuna before you would Salmon. I can tell Tuna is perfect when the center of the pieces still feel rubbery/bouncy when poking them with my finger while the outer edges feel more done. This will be perfect where once the pieces dry out the centers will still be moist. Remember it will continue to cook even after removing it from the smoker. So If I know my Tuna is perfect when I look at it in the smoker I immedietely put the pieces in the fridge to halt any more of the cooking process going on in the fish. If you cut all your loin pieces in pretty much the same size/shape then you can get good at telling when it's done to your liking by using an internal temperature probe. Salmon I smoke hotter at around 150 constant. Well absorbed wet brines will help you with not over cooking/smoking Tuna. They add wet mass to the meat and slow cooking process which makes it easier to keep an eye on not over doing the cooking.

I still have canned Tuna left from our batch I canned and I love it. I eat it a lot and have given a lot to friends/family. It will last like others said, years in cool dark storage. We keep ours in our canned food cellar.

Thanks for all the tips and pictures. I have a batch in the canner. We tried some with oil and some with water. I have cut a bunch up and have it sitting in my standard 4 to 1 dry brine. I've messed with all kinds of different spice over the years and have always come back to 4 to 1 and a few cloves of garlic. I use a little chief and one tends to run hotter than the other. I doubt the hotter of the two runs over 125 or 130 other than on the hottest of summer days. With this cool weather I might even have to put the box over the smoker to bring the temps up on the cooler of the two smokers. I think this is still considered a hot smoke as the smoke and heat is direct as opposed to a cold smoker were only smoke is piped into the fish. I will play with the setup that I have but we generally like a longer cooler smoke.

Cheers,
Brian

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

Thanks for all the tips and pictures. I have a batch in the canner. We tried some with oil and some with water. I have cut a bunch up and have it sitting in my standard 4 to 1 dry brine. I've messed with all kinds of different spice over the years and have always come back to 4 to 1 and a few cloves of garlic. I use a little chief and one tends to run hotter than the other. I doubt the hotter of the two runs over 125 or 130 other than on the hottest of summer days. With this cool weather I might even have to put the box over the smoker to bring the temps up on the cooler of the two smokers. I think this is still considered a hot smoke as the smoke and heat is direct as opposed to a cold smoker were only smoke is piped into the fish. I will play with the setup that I have but we generally like a longer cooler smoke.

Cheers,
Brian

Right on. Ya I enjoy experimenting like that too. I find some family/friends like some certain ways and I may like it other ways so I try to please everyone with different brine recipe's. I'm bad at writing anything down though so if I find something I make that's a real hit I try to make sure I take pics of the ingredients I used for that certain recipe I come up with after experimenting. Ya I agree cooler smoking is much better for not over doing things and leaving the nutrient rich fats/oils in the fish. Too hot and the come out of the fish and end up drying in white/yellow blogs on the outsides of the fish. That's where all the great Omega nutes are

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

Another awesome meal you can make (one of my all time favorites) to help you thin out your Tuna supply is a seafood burger. I make mine with prawns, shrimp, tuna. The addition of the other ingredients to the Tuna will help moisten it and help to not dry it out. Best seafood burger I've ever had and/or made. My friends go nuts for them and bring it up to me so often lol... Like "hey buddy when you thinkin of makin those Tuna burgers again, I'll bring the beer" When I go on out of town trips I usually bring all the ingredients for them too to make for my buddies. So good. Trick is though not to over cook them so they don't dry out. But the other ingredients help to keep them moist.

Here's the ingredients (sorry I don't write down the amounts of all the items I use, I just wing it) :
Albacore Tuna, Prawns, Shrimp (can also use crab too). For the burger mix I chopped up the Tuna and Shrimp/Prawns into small pieces then mixed with 1/2 cup panko, 1 egg, red bell pepper, dill pickle, Ponzu sauce, light soy sauce, sesame oil, sweet paprika, old bay seasoning, cajun seasoning, garlic powder, seasoning salt, cracked black pepper, cumin, and some smoked apple wood spices. For the sauce I mixed up a batch of mayo, sriracha, scallion, caper, paprika, cracked pepper, lemon juice and sesame oil. Awesome sauce!! For condiments on the burger I had avocado, heirloom yellow tomato, and iceberg lettuce.

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

And you can get rid of more of your Tuna with bagel and cream cheese lox sandwiches too. So good! I make my own home made chedder, chive, herb, everything bagels for these. Fresh out of the oven OMG!

 

[Derby]

I'm going to vote u as the best thread for 2019

 

[Aces]

I haven't smoked them with any success.. i can tell u that they are a different animal then salmon so you should find a successful recipe first before proceeding as i would hate for any of the fish go to waste... i dont wash any of my tuna before canning

The bellies hot smoked are awesome