Smoked Red Snapper and Dolphin

sprinter

Well, this weekend saw the egg cooking some of the Red Snapper that we caught a week ago, along with a fillet of the dolphin. I used the dill/sugar/salt method and cooked it real low, about 175, for 2 hours, then I let the temp. rise slowly to 225 for the last 3 hours. Total time on the egg was about 5 hours, used a lot of orange wood pellets for smoke, added a nice flavor to the meat. The snapper is not nearly as strong a flavor as the salmon, rather mild but still a great fish to smoke. The dolphin was a very long and thin fillet and it was done in about 3 3/4 hours so it came off early. Same as the snapper, much lighter flavor than salmon but still great smoked. I guess smoking isnt just for salmon any more. Would highly recommend these fish smoked if you ever get the chance.[p]Troy

Bordello

sprinter,
Sounds great, did you flip them during the cook?????
Thanks,
New Bob

sprinter

New Bob ,[p]Naw, Didn't flip them at all. I smoked them skin side down the whole time.[p]Troy

alternity

sprinter,
this raises a good question. and I do a lot of the sugar salt dill cure at temps and times similar to yours.
I mostly cook sushi grade tuna, swordfish and salmon which lend themselves nice because of there oil content.[p]I always have had Doroto (Dolphin) and Parga (red snapper)
high grill temps, but I would imagine they would be wonderful with a cure as that and temps/time for cook. I just look at it as longer cooking times and low heat
cook as well as high searing heat at short temps. The big differences are texture, smoke penetration. I like the char from high heat, and I also like the delicate flavor of lower longer cooks.
just my 2 cents worth

sprinter

alternity,[p]Hey alt, glad to see you posting. You are the one who hooked me on the salt sugar dill method, thanks.[p]I was a bit nervous about the oil content of the snapper and dolphin but it held up quite well on the low slow cook. Definitely worth giving it a shot if you havent done it. MUCH more mild flavor than the salmon and I like that. Salmon is great smoked but this, in my opinion, was even better, much more delicate flavor.[p]Troy