Smoked Fish with Q-view

[abelman]

I decided to make a second attempt at smoking some fish since the first one was so good.

While we were out at one of our favortie seafood places having dinner the other night, they had some fresh Walleye for sale. I have always heard great things about Walleye so I got 4 fillets. Two of which I grilled and two went to the smoker. I included a Salmon fillet as well. The grilled fish was very good.

I brined them for 5 hours in a basic fish brine. Afterward, I sprinkled pepper seeds on the fish just like what you typically put on pizza.



Then, they stayed in the fridge with a rack for roughly 12 hours as the pellicle formed. I used apple wood and kept the temps at 200. Normally, I smoke fish to 140 internal but these weren't cooperating so much. Once past 140, I just eyeballed it as to how they looked and flaked. Here's where we were done essentially.



In short, the salmon turned out good although it doesn't have a great look to it. The walleye was terrible. It was Very salty. It came out of the brine a little strange to so I wasn't expecting much.

So, we picked at the salmon some and then vacuum packed it for a later day.



End result, one fish was a waste, one was good and I have some work to do to get back to where I was on my first fish which was Dolphin/Dorado/etc.

 

[chargrilled]

Probably the way the fish acted in the brine. Salmon has denser flesh than walleye. I have never done walleye exposed to smoke just in foil basically steamed.

 

[erain]

i can understand the walleye not turning out. the best fish for smoking have fat in them, salmon,trout,catfish,whitefish etc. waalleye is a very lean white meat which does not lend itself well to smoking. the salmon appears a little light, a little brownsugar rubbed on will carmelize and give darker color. i like what u have on the fish looks good. can i ask your recipie, looks like crushed red pepper but not sure about rest.

 

[blacklab]

Have to agree about the white fish. If I can add to this, I would suggest putting a lite coat of mayo on the white fish mixed with your spices. It will help keep it from drying out.

 

[cowgirl]

Mmmmm it all looks awesome Abelman!

 

[abelman]

Thanks guys. As for the recipe, the only thing other than the brine is the crushed red peppers.

I understand the lean fish issue, it's just like beef, etc. The strange thing is Dolphin is very lean as well and that smoke was fantastic (last picture). The Walleye came out of the brine very rubbery and post smoke, very, very salty. The salmon was in the same brine. They were both rinsed and patted dry afterwards. All 3 fish were done the same way.

I appreciate the tip for the brown sugar on the salmon. I had it in the brine but it didn't take as heavy as I thought it might (1 cup per gallon of water). I wasn't happy with the look but it tastes good so we'll get to work on the presentation.

In short, I'll do Dolphion again when I can find it fresh. I'll try some more salmon as a friend is headed to Alaska and said he would send me some fresh fish. As for Walleye, I'll leave that for the grill in the future.

 

[waysideranch]

We choose not to brine our fish. We also leave out the water pan on fish. Just the way we do it to get the results we like.

 

[richtee]

I think you'll find walleye does not have enough fat content to smoke, Able, and it's meat is less dense, possibly the salt intake problem... not sure about that tho.

It's too good beer battered and pan fried for me to try anything else...LOL!

 

[7outof10]

i have tryed to smoke walleye and did not work but grillinng on some tinfole not that is good