Smoking Fish (or anything for that matter) "how to" ???

[revin]

This isnt about fish smoking ciggys :D

More about how to go about smoking fish

I was at the 4WD show at Rosehill and saw the Cobb cooking display,they talked about how their cooker could be used to smoke fish aswell.Since I hadnt been paid I couldnt buy the Cobb (was at a bargin price too :( ) So yesterday (after payday) I bouself a Weber BBQ. Just got the budget base model also bought heat beads and some hickory wood chips.So am all keen to go.

So last night looking up some recipes and they all seem to contradict each other some say to "salt fish" for a couple of hours others say to get your "wood chips damp",then others say just clean fish and put on grill with a piece of dry wood.

Anybody got ideas and hints on other things that can be smoke cooked.I`ll be cracking the weber out next week end to do a Roast Lamb for my Girlfriend as a suprise (She dont even know I bought it yet) Lol

[Baldricks_Mate]

I smoke Trout all the time and Bream, Whiting, Flathead occasionally. They are slimy and hard to light.

Seriously, I gut and gill the fish but not scale them. I marinade them in some honey, olive oil and warm water for about an hour before hand. The marinade isn't so much for the flesh, it will cook into the skin and bind it together so that after cooking the skin just peels off as nice as you like.

I use sawdust (most fishing shops sell it) or collect the smallest chips of wood from fresh cut timber and bash em a bit with a hammer, kind of break them up. Don't use a building timber thats been scavenged, if they have been treated with *anything* they can emit toxic fumes that will spoil your cooking at best and make you seriously crook at worst.

Smoke for 20-ish minutes, that depends on the smoking unit. When done, allow to cool but not go cold. Place fish on a cutting tray, peel skin and pluck heads, fins and their bone structures out and bin. With a pointy knife cut along the lateral line of one side of the fish. As you insert the knife you will feel bone eventually, dont push past them, back the pressure on the knife off a bit and run the knife from head to tail.

Use a fork and carefully flake away chunks of flesh, working from the lateral line upwards and then repeat from the lateral line down but careful because this is where the rib cage bones are so lightly and gently does it. The rib bones should stay behind.

Turn fish over and repeat. I don't serve directly onto the plate but into a serving container. When you're done, shake the flesh liberally with juices like Lime, Lemon, or anything else that takes your fancy. Garnish with some sprigs of fresh herbs or good quality dried stuff.

Yummy.

[Troopy93]

I use old sledgehammer handles (real Hickory) cut into bits 3" long then split in half. Then i leave them permanently in water till ready to use them. Having them wet means they'll smoke longer. I use 1 each side of the Weber for fish, lamb, duck, venison ,chicken what ever you want to smoke. You can add them early or late to the cooking process. cheers Troopy93