Ping, Thirdeye/Fishless- trout cure?

Cactus Doug · October 2009

Thirdeye, Fishlessman or anyone out there with a good trout cure/method? I just got a call from a friend who said he is coming over Sunday with a load of trout, beer and tequila. I can get the trout early for a cure. I was hoping for a preparation that will yield a smoked snack food rather than a dinner preparation. Is there something like this out there, help?

Mr. & Mrs Potatohead · October 2009

This may sound odd…But a true smoked fish here in my family, is brined first, and then smoked. Most often at a pretty low temp. in the 100 to 125 F. range. However we have been known to finish at a higher temp. to help drive off some oil, if smoking a very oily fish. It seems to work!
Brining and a low fire seems to make for a dryer (usually) fillet that may keep longer. Keeping longer, however, never seems to be a problem though as it is eaten in a hurry!
If I’m doing just a few…I will forego the brining process anymore, but it makes my father go a bit crazy!!
I have done salmon and trout on the Egg with out any brining or cure and have been pretty happy with the outcome. I’ve tried whole fish, but have come to a point where I like to do the fillets better!
Pat the fillets down (paper towels) removing the excess moisture if they are way wet. Rub them down with a bit of canning salt and fresh ground pepper, or your favorite rub.
Set up the Egg with a lot of smoke-wood blended through out the lump. I like apple, alder or cherry the best. Stabilize the Egg at about 225 F. Put the fillets on a raised grid, direct, skin side down.
I like my smoked fish a bit on the dry side and don’t really rely on a finish temp. When it flakes, I go about another 10 minutes or so. This is most often about an hour to an hour and a half.

thirdeye · October 2009

My dry cure takes 3 or 4 hours on trout (it turns into a syrup during the process) then you need a couple of hours of resting before smoking, and although it can be eaten warm, it's best when given several hours of chilling after smoking (I like an overnight chill myself). All the instructions are in the seafood section of my site and I have recently updated the photo's. Give me a shout if you have questions....

Here is a quickie how-to on trout bone removal if this is not a familiar task for you. The pin bones are plucked out with pliers and the ribs are cut away with a sharp knife.

fishlessman · October 2009

ive never cured trout, except for brookies i really dont enjoy trout. heres some hot smoked landlocked salmon and lake trout. basically cover in brown sugar, pepper, and onoin powder, heavey with the sugar and refridgerate a few hours, the sugar liquifies. then in the egg at 325. really good with the salmon, the laker i would rather deepfry. i dont have thirdeyes patience with the pin bones, i just slice them out

Sundown · October 2009

Damn, Wayne, you've inspired me to smoke some fish. I have something coming from England that my be just the thing to cold smoke fish and cheese.

http://www.macsbbq.co.uk/

I ordered it a few weeks ago and have been waiting. They told me it shipped two days ago. I'll let you know how it works out.

I'm thinking this is a "must have" for a few of us if lives up to its marketing.

Boilermaker Ben · October 2009

Wow, fantastic post, thirdeye! We really need a system of preserving these kind of tutorials so they don't get lost. Thanks for the photo-detail. This is really great stuff.

Cactus Doug · October 2009

Thanks Thirdeye I have actually used your dry cure on salmon before, I did not know you used the same cure on trout. What kind of seasonings/rub do you put on trout before smoking?

Ping, Thirdeye/Fishless- trout cure?

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