Slow cook a catfish?

ShesGotEggs

I have a friend coming for the weekend making an elaborate larb recipe from her family's repertoire. She's asked me to slow cook catfish ahead of time with some smoke. Any tips?

NPHuskerFL

As in smoke it whole L&S?  I'm gonna say I'd think the texture would be "different". I would prefer it pan fried, deep fried or baked with a broiler crust finish. 
Although whole or filleted you could smoke for a bit just to pick up a little smoke profile and then finish off with a CI pan sear/crust. 

ShesGotEggs

Yes as in "smoke it whole L&S". Although I am not even sure I can get a fresh catfish here in the Pacific NW. Guess I better start catfish hunting!

rmr62

never done one that way, but if you can get 2 whole filets, why not do it similar to a salmon filet??

NPHuskerFL

LoL Now you went and done it & it's not even Friday. And I'm sure your market will at least have fresh "farm raised" fillets. Maybe not wild caught though. Check a fresh seafood market. Catfish are pretty much everywhere in the US. 
For your viewing pleasure  
https://youtu.be/inyypMDYaGU

SGH

ShesGotEggs said:

Yes as in "smoke it whole L&S". 

There is nothing to it. Simply lock your BGE/Smoker in at 175-200 degrees and smoke the catfish until it flakes easily. This works well with large fillets as well as whole fish. For the record, when doing "whole" fish I limit them to around 5 pounds. I fillet the larger fish and smoke them as either fillets or steaks. 

NPHuskerFL

SGH said:

ShesGotEggs said:

Yes as in "smoke it whole L&S". 

There is nothing to it. Simply lock your BGE/Smoker in at 175-200 degrees and smoke the catfish until it flakes easily. This works well with large fillets as well as whole fish. For the record, when doing "whole" fish I limit them to around 5 pounds. I fillet the larger fish and smoke them as either fillets or steaks. 

@sgh No crispy finish Scotty?

SGH

NPHuskerFL said:

SGH said:

ShesGotEggs said:

Yes as in "smoke it whole L&S". 

There is nothing to it. Simply lock your BGE/Smoker in at 175-200 degrees and smoke the catfish until it flakes easily. This works well with large fillets as well as whole fish. For the record, when doing "whole" fish I limit them to around 5 pounds. I fillet the larger fish and smoke them as either fillets or steaks. 

@sgh No crispy finish Scotty?

I was just answering her question about how to "low and slow" a catfish. As much as I enjoy catfish, I much prefer them deep fried myself. 

JethroVA

Fry it, pan sear it, grill it.  Don't low and slow.  

SGH

Sister I was short on time when I answered earlier. However I'm settled in now and would like to add the following addendum to the above. 
If you are going to smoke them, please know that Blue Cat can be very strong. Especially if they have any size to them. Flathead and River Cat lend themselves much better to smoking than their wicked step cousin the Blue Cat. With that said, if you are buying store bought fish, you will be at the mercy of whatever they sell. 
Fish cooks so fast that if you run any higher than 200 degrees you are basically just baking it. Thus my above recommendation of 175 degrees. 
Im more of a deep fry guy when it comes to catfish. However the above method produces about as good of a smoked catfish that you could ask for. 

SGH

@ShesGotEggs
Sister, you still have the coolest user name on the forum. 

ShesGotEggs

Thank you @SGH! No catfish were to be found in my town, so my friend brought one - not sure where she got it or what type it was. I went with @rmr62 suggestion and smoked it like a salmon since i have lots of experience with that (my only experience with catfish is stepping on their barb in the bottom of a boat when I was a little kid...) Turned out amazing! Thanks all for the help.

SaintJohnsEgger

I prefer catfish fried whole. IF they get big enough to cut into fillets they taste different than when fried whole.