Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello everyone, chasing opinions on whether its better to brine fish before you smoke them, what brine recipe's are good, how long to brine them for and also what woods give the best flavour in your opinions. TY all in advance

as i just said in the brag thread, i did mine in brine and brown sugar and they were great i used hicory dust ( cause thats what came in the sample pack)

the instructions said you can add garlic, ginger, chilli etc to the brine for different flavours but i havent had a chance to experiment yet

Cheers
pete

if you're cold smoking, it's really best to brine first...dark brown sugar is good for "fatty" fish..
i like plain sugar for mild fish..
but with hot smoking, a short brine and sugar dip is nice (15-30 minutes) but isn't "required"

+1 Keith

ahhhh interesting, i did another 4 today and added garlic to the brine but i couldnt really see any benefit from it

ill have to try without the brine some time too

Cheers
pete

Am about to embark on the whole smoking thing soon too.. Adding garlic caught my attention.. that's what I add to things I can't add bacon to..

no benefit? there must be a way..

to get that garlic flavor, put some garlic powder in with your woodchips.. add sprigs of thyme or rosemary.. i even put in sage leaves with the wood chips
tea works well and adds a nice flavor as well
smoke extra garlic with your fish,, makes a nice schmear

oh, and i just had some smoked peppercorns.. they were great.. i've had smoked salt before, it's nice as well

1 tablespoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar for every litre of water, min 1 hour to overnight for the soak time. Works for me.

I just brined some fresh salmon for hot smoking

1/8th cup salt, 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, 500ml water. soak for about 5 or 6 hrs, hot smoke.

was pretty decent, though I might cut the sugar a bit next time.

double post

so a question for you folks. would smoked trout be right to freeze?

had a bit of trouble with the freezer door being left open all day and now most of my trout have defrosted ive smoked as much as i think i can eat in a week (good thing i like it ) but im wondering what to do with the rest ?

should i smoke and then re freeze ?

Cheers
pete