Smoked Mullet on the Big Green Egg

Menawa

Used the castnet to catch some late season Fatties as they swam up a creek on a cold and windy north Florida afternoon!  Fried a few but kept 3 of the largest to smoke on the Big Green Egg! 

When cleaning Mullet for smoking I scale and gut them, remove the head and split them from the top down to the belly leaving the belly skin/meat intact which causes the mullet to butterfly out and lay flat on the smoker.  This also allows better access to any roe which may be inside.  It being this late in the year (New Years) most Mullet have already spawned but fortunately these fish still contained Red Roe which were removed and fried with some other fish. 

Once the fish are thoroughly cleaned they are seasoned with Everglades, Lawry's, and a liberal coating of Old Bay Seasoning. 

The Big Green Egg is loaded with charcoal and fired up.  For this cook I flavored the smoke using Oak and Apple wood chips, soaked in water and liberally placed around the outer perimeter of the Egg. 

The Mullet were placed on individual sheets of aluminum foil, large enough for the large butterfly'd to lay flat on them, skin side down.  I have used a coating of Olive Oil on the skin which allows it to be removed more easily from the foil, this time I didn't oil it and will just work the fish up off of the foil. 

With the Large Big Green Egg fired up (electric starter) I open the vents and adjust the grill temperature to 225-250. 

I used the plate setter to prevent the fish from becoming too hot.  I placed a grill on top of the plate setter and placed two of the fish on top of the grill.  I use an elevated grill which allows me to put one more fish above the two lower fish. 

Once the stage is set I close the lid and set my watch alarm for 3 hours.  The temperature during this cook fluctuated between 225 and 250 which was perfect!

After 3 hours I opened the lid and pulled the lid/foil off the Egg.  These fish turned out perfect! 

This is an easy way to smoke Mullet!  Although I can only put 3 fish in the Egg at a time they always turn out perfect! 

Two butterflyed mullet on foil are set onto the lower grill of the Big Green Egg.  The mullet were seasoned before being put on the Egg. 
The third fish is resting on an elevated grill inside of the Egg. 
Soaked Oak and Apple chips were used liberally inside of the Egg for the smoke. 
The fish were cooked on the Egg at 225-250 degrees for 3 hours. 

The final result is amazing!!!  

There are as many ways to prepare fresh Mullet as there are men who fish for them.  This technique has worked for me for years.  Please use this technique as a starting point and develop your own way of smoking these delicacies!  You will be well rewarded! 

SandyHookEgger

Very nice. 

Ozzie_Isaac

United States of Jawsome right there!

MaskedMarvel

Pretty sure we’re all googling that Midwest Hearth thermometer now…