Whitefish Brine, Prepping for hot smoke

Check out the recipe section on this site....lots of info for you there.

Arnie

I use a hickory maple blend for smoking fish. The hickory is a stronger flavour so toning it down with maple is nice. 3/4 maple 1/4 hickory approximately.

Smoked the fish in a Weber charcoal grill (I don't have a smoker) and made a small ventilated foil pack filled with alder chips above the charcoal. It worked out well for smoke but it was difficult to maintain temperature. The whole smoked herring was probably my favourite, found the whitefish fillets had absorbed more of the brine, will make a note of that for next time.

Final product:

Great first fry.

Always have to tweak your brine to get it to your tastes.

Thanks Disco, just need to catch some more now for the next batch!

This is my go to recipe for smoking trout and whitefish.

Dry Brine Recipe

This recipe will brine enough filets to fill 4 bradley smoker trays. Approx 6-8 filets depending on size(2-4lb fish before fileting).

Filet leaving skin on.
Rinse filets thoroughly in cold water and pat dry. Cut filets top to bottom in 4-5 evenly spaced pieces depending on filet length(approx 4" wide). Set fish aside.

Next mix the brine. In a large bowl mix thoroughly 3 cups brown sugar( I prefer to use golden brown sugar not dimerra brown sugar), 3/4 cup coarse sea salt or kosher salt, 3 tbsps garlic powder, 2 tbsps paprika and 1 1/2 tbsps fresh ground coarse black pepper.
Spread a layer of the brine mixture over the bottom of a large mixing bowl or large roast pan. Place a layer of fish pieces skin side down on the bottom of the pan. Spread a layer of the brine mixture over the filets. Leave the filets spaced apart enough to allow the next layer of brown sugar mixture to fill in the gaps between the filets. Repeat with another layer of fish and brine mixture continuing to place fish skin side down on top of the layer below. Be sure to cover the final layer of fish with the brine mixture. If there is any brine mixture leftover spread it over the top layer and be sure to fill in any gaps along the sides of the fish.
Cover and place in refrigerator 24 hours. After brining is complete remove fish from the brine and rinse thoroughly under cold running water. Be sure to rinse all the crystaline mix from the filets. Rub it off gently if required. Pat dry the pieces of fish with paper towel and set on your smoker racks skin side down to cure in the air and form a pelicle. I usually place mine outside on an open bbq on a cool day with a nice breeze out of the sun and I spray the racks with Pam cooking spray to prevent the skin from sticking to the racks during smoking. If there is no breeze place a fan on low next to the fish and pass air over it. A pelicle will form(tacky feel) on the flesh surface of the fish. It takes about 1.5-2 hours to form a good enough pelicle. The pelicle helps the smoke adhere to the fish.
At about the half time mark of the pelicle forming start the smoker and preheat to 160 degrees. Start the smoke generator approx 30 mins prior to placing the fish in the smoker. I use the Bradley maple flavoured bisquettes. I prefer the milder sweeter flavour they produce to alder but you can use either.
Once the pelicle is formed and the smoker is up to temperature I place the racks in the smoker. Be sure to keep the smoke generator on producing smoke through the entire process with the vent on top open about 50%. After one hour rotate the racks in order top to bottom and increase the temperature to 170 degrees. At hour number two rotate the trays in order top to bottom once again and increase temp to 180 degrees. At hour # 3 again rotate the trays and increase the temp to 200 degrees for the final 30-60 minutes or until the thickest part of the fish filets reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees. I use a meat probe and test them every 30 mins after hour #3....usually it takes 4 hours to complete a batch.

NOTE* Make sure the bowl that catches the used bisquettes has plenty of water to serve two purposes. One it helps keep the smoker hydrated and two it prevents the bisquettes continuing to burn and become ash which can ruin your fish! Once the fish is done(145 degrees) remove the racks and let cool. Place in vacuum seal bags when cooled and seal. Will keep several weeks sealed in bags in the refrigerator and for months w/o issue in the freezer. When thawing from frozen place in fridge and let thaw in the fridge and the fish will not get a wet texture.

Here are some Brookies & Bows I did recently.

The brine

Fish brined and in the refrigerator for 24 hours

Brine rinsed off, filets patted dry with paper towel and placed in a cool breezy spot to form a pelice. The pelicle helps the smoke adhere to the filets. It will feel tacky to the touch when formed, not wet. After rinsing and patting dry I grind a bit of coarse ground peppercorn on each filet for a little extra flavour.

Into the smoker

Finished and cooling off

Vaccum sealed and into the freezer they go for tasty treats in the duck blind or ice tent.

Thanks for the detailed response! Very informative, will take this all into consideration for next time.