Hickory Smoked Fish Recipes

PAT'S SMOKED CATFISH

Steps:

• Combine the buttermilk and hot sauce in a 13 by 9-inch casserole dish. Add catfish fillets and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove the catfish from the refrigerator and pat dry with paper towels.
• Set up your grill for indirect heat at a medium-low temperature, about 275 degrees F.
• Mix together the oregano, lemon peel and salt, pepper, in a small bowl. Lightly coat the fish with olive oil and sprinkle the seasoning evenly over the catfish fillets.
• Put the catfish on the grill away from the hot coals. Smoke the catfish until it is fully cooked through and golden brown, about for 45 minutes. Remove the fish from the grill to a serving platter and serve with the Orange Dill Cream Sauce.
• Add all the ingredients to a serving bowl and serve with the smoked catfish.

HICKORY SMOKED SALMON SKEWERS

Steps:

• Cut the salmon into 2-inch chunks. Fold the lemon coins in half and thread the salmon and lemon onto the soaked skewers, alternating between the salmon and lemon. Place the salmon skewers in a shallow dish and set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, honey, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Pour marinade over the skewers, turning to coat, and marinate for 15 to 30 minutes.
• While the skewers are marinating, prepare your grill. Cut a large piece of Reynolds Wrap® Non-Stick Foil and firmly fit it over the grill grate. Preheat the grill to medium heat. For a charcoal grill, place 4 to 5 hickory wood chunks on top of hot coals and close the grill cover to let the smoke accumulate. For a gas grill, place wood chunks in a smoker box or in a large piece of foil; fold up side to make a packet. Poke holes with a fork and place on the grill. Close the cover to let smoke accumulate.
• Open the grill and lightly oil the foil.
• Cook the salmon skewers for 4 to 5 minutes per side, until fish is opaque in color. Plate the salmon skewers and sprinkle with parsley. Serve hot.

HOW TO SMOKE FISH

Steps:

• Make the brine: Combine water, sugar, and 1/2 cup salt. Place fish in a nonreactive dish; cover with brine. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Heat charcoal grill to medium, piling coals on 1 side to set up direct and indirect heat zones. Set a drip pan under the grill grate in the indirect heat zone.
• Soak wood trimmings in water for 30 minutes. Drain (if smoking whole trout or char, leave 1/2 cup wood in water); add to coals.
• Smoke the fish: Once smoke develops, place fish in a lightly oiled grill basket. Transfer to grill rack, and set over drip pan. Open lid vent, and position over fish. (This will direct smoke to impart maximum smokiness.) For the trout fillets: Smoke fish until cooked through but not dry, 12 to 15 minutes.For the whole trout: Smoke for 10 minutes. Flip basket. Drain remaining 1/2 cup wood; add to coals. Smoke fish until cooked through but not dry, 8 to 10 minutes more.For the side of arctic char: Smoke for 10 minutes. Drain remaining 1/2 cup wood; add to coals. Smoke fish until cooked through but not dry, 13 to 15 minutes more.

HICKORY SMOKED FISH

Steps:

• Place fish in a large bowl.
• Combine oil, lemon juice, sugar, dill weed, and salt. Stir until sugar dissolves and pour over fish. Refrigerate for 1 hour, turning once.
• Build a slow fire in a covered bbq.
• Remove fish from marinade, reserving marinade.
• Place fish in a single layer in a lightly oiled baking dish or foil pan.
• Place baking dish on heavy duty foil on grill.
• Sprinkle dampened chips over coals.
• Close hood and bbq, turning fish once and basting with marinade several times, 30 to 40 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

BASIC SMOKED FISH

Steps:

• If using liquid brine, place the fish fillets in a ceramic, glass or stainless-steel (not aluminum) bowl with the brine. If using dry cure, rub each fillet top and bottom with the dry mixture and place in a ceramic, glass or stainless-steel (not aluminum) baking dish. Cover and refrigerate about 6 hours, or overnight.
• Remove fillets from bowl or dish and rinse them under running water quickly to remove surface salt. If using dry cure, do not rub off all the seasonings. Place fillets on a cake rack or raised grid surface that allows air to circulate beneath them. Leave to dry about 3 hours, or until a dry shiny surface forms.
• When fillets are sufficiently dry, build a charcoal fire, if necessary (it will take about 30 minutes for the charcoal to reach the desired state). If using wood chunks, let them soak in a bucket of water for half an hour. If using an electric smoker, turn it on just before using and place sawdust or wood shavings in the smoking pan.
• Place fillets on the smoker grid. Close vents, or place lid on smoker. Regulate vents, if possible, so that heat stays at around 110 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Leave the fish 1 to 2 hours or longer, checking periodically and, if possible, replenishing fuel or smoking medium as necessary. The fish will be done more quickly at higher temperatures. At temperatures of 175 to 200 degrees, for example, fish will be done in about 1 hour.
• Remove fillets from smoker when they are dry and yellowish in color. Serve immediately, or refrigerate and serve cold or as an ingredient in other recipes.

SMOKED FISH

Steps:

• Mix all brine ingredients thoroughly.
• Cut fish in 1-2" pieces, leaving skin on.
• If fish is fresh, soak for 1-1/2 hours; if it has been frozen, soak for 45-60 minutes.
• Remove fish from marinade and place on smoker-racks skin-side down.
• Allow to glaze at room temperature for at least 4 hours, and preferably overnight.
• I usually set a fan to blow across the fish and help them get dry to the touch and look very glazed.
• Cold-smoke (at 120-140 degrees F) for 8-12 hours to obtain desired flavor.
• Then hot smoke (at 180-200 degrees F) for 1-2 hours or finish in a 300 degree F oven for 30-45 minutes to get desired texture.
• I do not like a mushy fish, so I cook it until it firms up, though it's hard to tell, though, until after it has cooled down.
• Cool to room temperature, freeze on cookie sheets, package, and store in freezer.
• Best with stronger flavored, oily fish such as salmon, tuna, or swordfish; in general, mild fish smoke poorly.
• Notes: I use a Brinkmann Smok’n Pit water-smoker.
• The water helps to keep the temperature low, and the steam in the smoke keeps meat more moist during long cooking.
• My smoker is intended for charcoal smoking, but for fish, I place soaked wood chips in a metal (not foil, foil will burn through, use real metal) sitting on top of a cheap hot plate (with a rheostat control, not just an on-off switch), which sits on a brick so the pan is up under the bottom of the smoker, where the charcoal pan normally sets.
• Adjust temperature by adjusting hot plate up or down (usually somewhere between low and medium), and throw another handful of wet wood chips into the pie plate every 30-40 minutes, when the smoke stops generating.
• Depending on my mood, and what kind of wood chips are available, I usually smoke fish with alder, cherry, oak, maple, orange or lemon wood (on the rare occasion I can find orange or lemon) Alder and cherry are usually the easiest to find, and they both work beautifully for fish.
• Do not use hickory or mesquite; they are just too strong and completely overwhelm fish!
• I usually double or triple this recipe; I have rigged my double-size smoker to take up to 4 racks to handle the larger amounts.
• Since this whole process takes a lot of time, the little extra effort is worth while, and the smoked fish freezes well, lasting a couple years with only a little deterioration in flavor or texture.
• SAFETY NOTE: Needless to say, DO THIS OUTDOORS!
• Cabon monoxide KILLS!