Smoking Shad with Wood Chips?

RiverFarm · April 2011

We scored a bunch of fileted shad and want to serve some for guests tomorrow night. Normally we cook it with bacon on top but one of the guests keeps kosher so that's not going to work. So we thought about smoking it in the egg. We don't have any planks but we do have a lot of hickory saplings that we can cut to add flavor. How would we best smoke two one-pound filets?

RiverFarm · April 2011

We also have some Eastern Red Cedar (juniper) but I don't think that would work for smoking, would it? It's not the same as Western.

Ripnem · April 2011

RiverFarm,

I don't know shat about shad, except it's known for it's great flavor and a gazilion bones. I would take the bones issue into account. Here's one idea.

http://fishcooking.about.com/od/meetyourfish/p/shad_profile.htm

Here's some smoking wood info.

http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/Woods.htm

Capt Frank · April 2011

I don't know about shad but down here we smoke a lot of mullet and I imagine it would be similar, so maybe this will help a little.
First of all, you are right about the Eastern Red Cedar, do not use it for smoking. Not only will it impart a terrible taste to the fish but it is full of rosin/pitch and will make a mess in your egg.
I would use a fruitwood, apple or cherry, or some pecan or alder if you can. You want something mild. If you have to use the hickory go easy with it. A little will go a long way.

P2130016 by Capt Frank1, on Flickr
We split mullet open, clean and lay out on the grid and smoke at 225 dome for about three hours. They
are not thick enough to get good readings with a thermopen, so we just go by look and texture.

Capt Frank · April 2011

Here is a shot of it ready to come off. I usually rub with DP Swamp Venom. Like shad, mullet has a zillion tiny bones, so we sort of flake it apart with a couple of forks and make t into a dip or spread. Lots of people around here eat it just like you see it.

P2130018 by Capt Frank1, on Flickr

RiverFarm · April 2011

Thanks for the suggestions and the helpful pictures! This shad has already been boned, so I don't have to worrry about that.

Capt Frank · April 2011

You are most welcome!

RiverFarm · April 2011

From what I've been reading, it sounds like 2 1/2 hours on the egg at temps just below 200° for two one-pound filets should do it. We're thinking apple wood and maybe some grape vine trimmings would be good.

RiverFarm · August 2011

I tried to post the perfected recipe here and got huge spaces between the lines no matter what I did. Any ideas how I can do that and still have it retain its formatting?

Smoking Shad with Wood Chips?

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