Smoke fish how long

Cold smoking fish requires a few different steps than simply hot smoking it. Before you attempt cold smoking, make sure you have the right smoker.

You need a smoker that can be set as low as 78 degrees Fahrenheit. Clean the fish and remove the head. Next, you will apply the salt to start the curing process.

So for five pounds of fish, use a minimum of 1 pound of salt. Make sure the fish is completely covered in salt. The salt will begin drawing moisture out of the fish. Let it sit covered in salt and refrigerated for about 24 hours. Set your smoker to 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and place the fish inside. Choose your favorite woodchips, and smoke the fish for 6 - 8 hours. After smoking, you can vacuum seal the fish and freeze some to use at a later date. Other ways to smoke fish include using an oven, a grill, or a campfire.

To smoke fish in an oven, you will need liquid smoke , available at most grocery stores. To start, fully clean the fish and remove the head. Place the fillet in a large bowl with 4 ounces of liquid smoke per fillet. Salt and pepper to season. Cover the bowl and place in a fridge or cold cellar for 6 - 8 hours. Remove the fish and rinse them clean. Set your oven to degrees Fahrenheit, then place your fillets on a wire cooling rack in the oven.

This will allow full air circulation around the fish. Leave in the oven for 6 - 8 hours. Once the internal temperature of the fish is around degrees Fahrenheit, it will be safe to remove. Let it cool, and enjoy your tasty meal. Using a grill to smoke fish provides an easy alternative to a smoker.

Simply follow the same preparation steps as you would for hot smoking the fish in a smoker. Clean it, and prepare the same brine for the fish to soak in. Let the fish soak in the brine for 8 - 12 hours. When the fish is ready to be removed from the brine, rinse it clean. Remove the woodchips from the water and wrap a few handfuls in an aluminum foil pouch.

Use a fork to make a few dozen small holes in the foil. Place the foil near one of your edge burners on your barbeque, and turn on just that one burner to medium heat. Close the lid and let the woodchips heat up enough to start creating smoke. Once the smoke starts to fill the barbeque, turn the heat down low enough to reach a grilling temperature of roughly - degrees Fahrenheit. Check your pouch every 30 minutes or so and add more woodchips when necessary to keep the smoke flowing.

Smoke the fish for about 2 hours, depending on the size and thickness of the fillet. To smoke fish on a campfire, follow the same cleaning and brine solution mentioned in the hot smoking section. For fillets, place fish skin side up for smoking.

For other cuts, smoke skin side down and flip over as needed. Pro Tip: If you want to keep your grates clean, place greased aluminum foil on them so that the fish doesn't stick. If you prefer to smoke your skinless pieces of fish, I strongly recommend a solid surface like a cedar plank so that your fillet doesn't fall to pieces during the smoking process.

Pro Tip 2: If your smoker is heating up to over degrees, place a pan of ice inside to help regulate the temperature. You will want to periodically check the temperature of the fish. Your goal is to reach degrees internal temperature. Of course, various factors can affect cooking temperature and time such as outside temperature, how many times smoker was opened, temperature of fish, how many fish and more.

Just keep checking, because you want these fillets crispy, flaky and tender, not raw or overcooked. I don't know about you, but when I eat fish as the main course, I need a little extra food to fill in the gaps.

It's delicious and all, but I get hungry quickly otherwise. A classic pairing is potatoes fish and chips, anyone? Some other sides that would be a welcome accompaniment to freshly smoked fish might be dirty rice, sauteed vegetables, brown rice, smoked vegetable skewers, Caesar salad, quinoa, or bean salad fava, lima or lentils. Some crusty bread with butter never hurt anyone, either. Also, if you still have your smoker on, great recipes exist for roasted tomatoes, peaches, nuts, cheese, potatoes and more.

Also, don't forget to cut up and serve up your array of aromatic herbs and lemon wedges so that everyone can add a little splash of fresh color and citrus to his or her smoked fish fillet. After this process, you should have enjoyed an exceptional meal of smoked fish, cooked to tender, flaky, seasoned perfection.

If you're especially lucky, you'll have a slew of sides to share and friends to share the feast with. If you enjoyed the step by step tutorial on how to smoke fish, could you let us know? We want to know how successful we were at guiding you through each detailed process. Feel free to let us know what type of fish you smoked, how you chose to season it and what you served alongside it.

We welcome your comments, input and suggestions and encourage you to share this helpful post with your friends who may be interested in hosting their own smoked fish gathering. Print Recipe Pin Recipe 4. Nutrition Serving: g Calories: kcal. Download This Recipe. Save this recipe in your Cave Tools BBQ app or download other recipes from the community recipes exchange!

The most popular types of smoked fish are smoked salmon, trout, haddock, or mackerel. These types of fish have high oil and fat content and do not overcook easily on the smoker.

You can also smoke other types of fish, like halibut, sea bass, or cod. Fish can be smoked whole or as fillets, but it should always be brined before it is smoked. This will protect the fish in the low smoking temperatures. The brine should contain salt, and usually contains sugar, too. You can brine the fish for 6 to 10 hours, or up to overnight, in the refrigerator. When it is finished brining, you should pat the fish dry so the smoke will better stick to the surface.

At degrees F, you should smoke your fish about 1 to 3 hours. The fish is done smoking when it reaches an internal temperature of degrees F. If you are cold smoking fish, you must first salt the fish for 24 to 48 hours.

This will prevent bacterial contamination during the cold smoking process. Once the fish is brined, cold smoke it until it is firm and leathery. Preheat the smoker and start adding wood chips. I would recommend letting the wood preheat for about 45 minutes. To be sure, you may use a digital thermometer to check throughout the smoking process because you want your fish to be crispy and tender, not overcooked or raw.

If this event happens, the fish might acquire microbial bacteria and pathogens that make it unsafe to eat. Before serving the smoked fish, it should rest and sit in the refrigerator for at least 4—6 hours, but preferably overnight. This method can be done in any grill, which makes it easier and quicker than cold smoking. Hot smoking requires a lot more patience to get the fish equally smoked.

Feel free to experiment in choosing the fish, but some of the best are those oily and fattier fish such as salmon, sardines, and mackerel. You will need heat and a lidded container where the smoke can drift over the fish and a charcoal or gas barbecue.

But for some larger fish, it will take a few hours to make sure the fish is properly cooked and not raw. Prepare the soaked wood plank in the grill of the barbecue with low to medium heat. As the base of the plank starts to heat up, place the fish on the plank.