Hi Guys

I am chopping at the bit to get smoking fish... not on a big scale,as i only keep bout 1 fish every 6-7weeks,but wudn,t mind taken couple more stockies if they tasted a bit better
Anyone know where i can a handy smoking kit,or even any little extra tips on the smoking of them..
All advice will be taken on..thanks for your time and comments.

David

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Remember, there are two kinds of fishermen, those that fish for sport and those that catch something.


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Two sorts of smoking - hot smoking and cold smoking. Hot smoking cooks the fish, cold smoking doesn't.

For hot smoking, you can use a small purpose made hot smoker over a heat source, or a barbecue with a lid. I use the chiminea thing we have, I wrap the fish in chickenwire and dangle it down the chimney. Takes about 20 mins. I usually briefly brine the fish first, but it isn't essential.

The chiminea is this sort of thing:



For cold smoking, you need your fish far enough away from the heat source that the smoke has cooled down by the time it hits the food. You want to give the fish a proper brining first, then into the smoker. You want to leave it in there for hours.

My cold smoker:

Around here, no one cold smokes their fish! What are the advantages of a cold smoke? I may be overlooking a good thing regarding cold smoking?

Never had cold smoked atlantic salmon,a much missed item in the Wren houshold,would only eat my wild fish not the farm stuff.
Cold smoked rainbow is better than farmed salmon smoked !

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Andy Wren
Winter grayling taking a year off !
Claret not just a great dubbing colour!

It's originally a food preservation technique, but the point nowadays is more flavour and texture than shelf life. Have you not had cold smoked salmon? It's essentially served raw, but the brining and smoking process both flavours and dehydrates the flesh, giving it a lovely texture and flavour.

Yes - Cold smoking takes ages but the end result will keep for ages. Hot smoking is quick but the end product only has the same fridge life as unsmoked fish. I would try hot smoking first - it is cheaper and easier and then move onto cold smoking if you like the process. You can buy portable Hot Smokers on ebay for about £35 and they work very well.

Hope that helps a little.

Good points all, especially the 'shelve life' of cold vs hot (and you could toss in a 'wet smoke' there too) smoked fish. My smoker is going a couple of times per week; usually chicken or meat of some sort.

But I'll toss in only one thing: choice of wood with fish (or chicken for that matter). Use a 'fruit wood' (Apple, Cherry, etc) of some sort rather than Hickory or Mesquite. The latter produces far too intense a flavor.

fae

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"The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a
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How do you produce the smoke from your cold smoker.

I have built a cylinder as the 'fire box' but not had much success in keeping it smoking by burning the saw dust.

I have been using dry oak saw dust for the fire and green oak chippings for the smoke and flavour.

For 'All things out of a smoker,' equipment, how to build, etc., and etc., these are your folks.

Very good/comprehensive US based board. Trust me, they have no 'problem' with Newbies as they walked me through the first of my equipment. Still had to make the 'choice' but excellent unit and I knew its 'ups and downs' before I dropped the dime. Don't know if Amazon.com ships out of country, but if they do an excellent place to buy equipment. Right down to the wood chips; order on door step yesterday.

The Smoke Ring

If you want to get into the Great Game, these are your folks. Small sales pitch (nothing to do with the Guy) but "Big Ron's"Rubs/BBQ sauces are over the top.

Fred

__________________
"The problems we face today are there because the people who work for a
living are now outnumbered by those who vote for a living." -- Anonymous

That is something of a work in progress - I have been using a little bucket barbecue with some charcoal in it to heat woodchips to smoulder, using aluminium foil with a few small holes in it to restrict oxygen to the woodchips.

It works well, but for two issues - it tends to burn through the woodchips too quickly, and the smoke gets a little too hot. Just needs tweaking, really. According to my book, I shouldn't expect to successfully cold smoke in hot weather in the first place, though.