# A late night knock at the door!



## wade (May 22, 2018)

Friday 8 pm at home. I am sitting watching TV waiting for Joyce to fetch my slippers and pour me a large Woodford Reserve, whilst she finishes cooking my dinner **. A knock on the door... "Hi Wade, can you smoke a couple of Trout for me that I caught today?". "Sure" I said, "bring them in"...

_** Those of you who know Joyce will suspect that this may not be totally accurate :-)_

He struggled in with the very large cool box and he said "I am in no hurry for them".

"How many are there?" I asked

"I am not sure" he said. "Maybe 25 or 30" !!!!!

What was expected to be a nice quiet weekend suddenly wasn't.

The following morning they were all gutted and filleted and in the fridge ready for smoking (there were actually 26 fish). I would normally dry brine them but because of the volume of fish I immersion brined these for 5 minutes (150g salt per litre of water) before allowing them to drain for about an hour. They were then smoked at 20 C for 20 hours.

I didn't take any photos of them with heads, fins and tails but here they are after being smoked and about 2/3 of the way through slicing and packaging the batch.








Most of the local fishermen here love to catch the fish but once landed they don't know what to do with them. Some do get returned to the water but many of them get taken home, put in the freezer and forgotten - before being thrown away a couple of years later !! At least when they get them back smoked and ready to eat they don't get wasted.


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## hardcookin (May 22, 2018)

At least he should have cleaned them for you.
Woodford Reserve...Good stuff!!


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## wade (May 22, 2018)

I usually don't accept them unless they have been gutted when they are caught. These were all caught that afternoon though and had been kept on ice right from the water, so I made an exception.


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## gmc2003 (May 22, 2018)

That was awfully nice of you. They look great. Did you get to keep any of the fruits of your labor.

Chris


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## crazymoon (May 22, 2018)

W, Good looking fish and  professional looking packaging!


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## tropics (May 22, 2018)

Wade nice job on the smoked fish
Richie


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## wade (May 22, 2018)

gmc2003 said:


> That was awfully nice of you. They look great. Did you get to keep any of the fruits of your labor.


Enough for dinner tonight :-)


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## wade (May 22, 2018)

Thanks guys :-)


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## SmokinAl (May 22, 2018)

Your too nice of a guy Wade, I would have kept at least half the catch for cleaning & smoking them!
Al


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## bdskelly (May 22, 2018)

Well done Wade. B


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## phatbac (May 22, 2018)

That was really nice of you! you are a gentleman Wade!

Happy Smoking (fish),
phatbac (Aaron)


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## atomicsmoke (May 22, 2018)

Leave it to Wade to set the bar high for all of us. Both in the smoke fish presentation (pretty sure taste matches the appearance) and being a quality dude.

How does 5 minutes in immersion brining work?

20C? So cold smoked? No further drying?


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## 73saint (May 22, 2018)

Beautiful looking smoked fish!  Makes me want to try smoking some of the fish I catch here (specs, bass, redfish).


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## wade (May 22, 2018)

atomicsmoke said:


> How does 5 minutes in immersion brining work? 20C? So cold smoked? No further drying?


Thanks Atomic :)

This is a common way for traditional smoked haddock to be commercially produced over here. I have just adapted the method for bulk smoked trout production. The fillets are first washed and then they are immersed in the brine. The salt in the brine then acts as a bacterial inhibitor on the surface of the fish which provides protection until the fillets lose sufficient water in the smoker. Although the immersion time is only 5 minutes you do not rinse off the brine (you just let it drain off) and so the salt effectively remains in contact with all of the fish exposed surfaces throughout the smoke.

Yes they were cold smoked. The combination of the 20 C (70 F) and the constant flow of air/smoke through the smoker was ideal for reducing the fish moisture content during the smoke. The couple of fillets I checked had lost 18-19% weight by the end.


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## atomicsmoke (May 22, 2018)

Thank you. That will save a lot of time in the future.

This wouldn't work for hot smoked wish would it?


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## wade (May 22, 2018)

Yes from a safety perspective it would work fine for hot smoked fish - you can hot smoke the fish without pre brining it at all if you wanted. The brine does firm up the flesh though and the sugar and spices in some brines are there to add sweetness and additional flavours, which may not penetrate sufficiently in such a short period of time.
Personally, I like to be able to taste the fish but many on here seem to like to have it end up sweet and salty - I think it is a cultural difference between continents. I have tried several of the highly praised brines from here (I published a comparison on here a few years ago) and with most of them the fish ended up either way too sweet, too salty, or both.


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## Geebs (May 22, 2018)

Very nice of you Wade, wish I was close enough to sample!


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## atomicsmoke (May 22, 2018)

I am not concerned with the safety aspect. Rather looking for a short brining step if possible. 
I plan hot smoking some lean fish soon - i would give it a try.

I don't use sugar in brines and it seems the amount of salt i use for dry curing works for my palate.

Wasnt sure how a strong/short brine/no rinse would taste in smoked (cooked) lean fish. Cold smoked fish is saltier than cooked fish.


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## pushok2018 (May 22, 2018)

Wow! Nice looking trout.... Beautiful! Did you really smoked it for 20 hours? Isn't it little too long? The reason I am asking this question because if I cold smoke more thicker salmon or carp for 6 hours it getting over powered with smoke.
Is your smoke very light during the process? Thanks!


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## kit s (May 22, 2018)

Just wondering about a few things.
So what did the misses think about the whole thing?
Did your "friend" offer you any?
What the heck is the limit in your neck of the woods? I mean those are decent size fish and well if the limit of fish is that big it just surprises me and so many get to that size.
I usually add some brown sugar to my brine for fish, but still they do look good. Nice packaging too!


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## noboundaries (May 22, 2018)

Wade, you are truly a great neighbor.

I noticed you just said "trout," and that made me wonder what kind of trout fisherman catch in the UK. I went looking online and found the following educational link. For all the fishermen here at SMF, the author's angler humor slips in about the middle of the article.

https://www.wildtrout.org/content/trout-facts


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## wade (May 22, 2018)

atomicsmoke said:


> I am not concerned with the safety aspect. Rather looking for a short brining step if possible.
> Wasnt sure how a strong/short brine/no rinse would taste in smoked (cooked) lean fish. Cold smoked fish is saltier than cooked fish.


The surface of the fish tastes _slightly_ salty - but not unpleasantly so. You can hardly taste the salt in the centre of the fish. The combination makes pleasant eating for me - and I am not a salt lover. If you are hot smoking the fish then you could use a weaker brine and leave it for, say, 15 minutes. You would probably not get the same level of firming of the flesh though as you would get with longer brines. It is really a case of trying it and seeing which works best for you.


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## wade (May 22, 2018)

pushok2018 said:


> Wow! Nice looking trout.... Beautiful! Did you really smoked it for 20 hours? Isn't it little too long? The reason I am asking this question because if I cold smoke more thicker salmon or carp for 6 hours it getting over powered with smoke.
> Is your smoke very light during the process? Thanks!



I use an AMNPS smoke generator in my converted commercial freezer smoker. It produces a constant stream of light smoke which then passes into the smoking chamber. To keep the smoke flowing steadily through the chamber I have fan on the exhaust vent that draws the smoke tars and moisture away. The smoke actually spends relatively little time in contact with the fish so that the heavier tars do not get a chance to accumulate.
I also use almost exclusively Hickory for my smoking which has a sweeter, less course smoke flavour than some other woods.

My salmon sides (which are bigger than the trout) usually stay in for 24 hours however they are usually dry brined for 18-24 hours first.

The cold smoker




















The flue fan - a variable speed 4" computer case fan










These photos were taken at different times over the past couple of years. I initially started off with the powder coated (white/cream) cold smoke generator box but I found that it was too small so I later replaced it with the stainless steel one you can see in the first photo.


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## atomicsmoke (May 22, 2018)

Thank you Wade.

I like your setup.


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## wade (May 22, 2018)

noboundaries said:


> I noticed you just said "trout," and that made me wonder what kind of trout fisherman catch in the UK. I went looking online and found the following educational link.



If you are picturing our fishermen out in the wilderness for days braving torrential rivers and the expectation of wild bear attacks at any moment just to catch the fleeting spawning migration of the elusive wild trout, forget it...
They fish on lakes stocked with farmed brown trout usually no more than a 5 minute walk from the car park and cafe. The most danger they face is the possibility of a gnat bite turning septic or pneumonia as they fish in the torrential rain :)

The lakes are normally stocked with Brown Trout and that is what I am usually given. They grow to between 40-60 cm (16-24 inches) and most of these were ~40-45cm (16-18 inches)

These pictures are trout from a previous last batch I was given to smoke


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## CharlotteLovesFood (May 24, 2018)

wade said:


> Friday 8 pm at home. I am sitting watching TV waiting for Joyce to fetch my slippers and pour me a large Woodford Reserve, whilst she finishes cooking my dinner **. A knock on the door... "Hi Wade, can you smoke a couple of Trout for me that I caught today?". "Sure" I said, "bring them in"...
> 
> _** Those of you who know Joyce will suspect that this may not be totally accurate :)_
> 
> ...


Those look great Wade! Not sure I've eaten trout before...
I adore smoked haddock though! even though it makes my lips tingle just a little bit :confused:
I would love to smoke some it's just knowing where to start and I'm worried I would mess it up. I like Mackeral too :p


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## wade (May 24, 2018)

CharlotteLovesFood said:


> Those look great Wade! Not sure I've eaten trout before...
> I adore smoked haddock though! even though it makes my lips tingle just a little bit :confused:
> I would love to smoke some it's just knowing where to start and I'm worried I would mess it up. I like Mackerel too :p



It seems daunting until you have tried it... then you wonder what all the worry was about :-)
The smoked Haddock that you are referring to would be cold smoked and the Mackerel would usually be hot smoked. For the cold smoking you need to be able to get a good air/smoke flow through your smoker and for the hot smoking you need to have good (sub 100 C) temperature control in your smoker. Let me know when you are ready to try either and I can step you through it.


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## WaterinHoleBrew (May 24, 2018)

That was nice of you Wade!  You sure done a great job on them!


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## CharlotteLovesFood (May 24, 2018)

wade said:


> It seems daunting until you have tried it... then you wonder what all the worry was about :)
> The smoked Haddock that you are referring to would be cold smoked and the Mackerel would usually be hot smoked. For the cold smoking you need to be able to get a good air/smoke flow through your smoker and for the hot smoking you need to have good (sub 100 C) temperature control in your smoker. Let me know when you are ready to try either and I can step you through it.


Thank you Wade, you're so kind and a blessing to this forum! As soon as I am ready I will let you know then :D


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## wduguid (Sep 14, 2019)

wade said:


> I use an AMNPS smoke generator in my converted commercial freezer smoker. It produces a constant stream of light smoke which then passes into the smoking chamber. To keep the smoke flowing steadily through the chamber I have fan on the exhaust vent that draws the smoke tars and moisture away. The smoke actually spends relatively little time in contact with the fish so that the heavier tars do not get a chance to accumulate.
> I also use almost exclusively Hickory for my smoking which has a sweeter, less course smoke flavour than some other woods.
> 
> My salmon sides (which are bigger than the trout) usually stay in for 24 hours however they are usually dry brined for 18-24 hours first.
> ...


What are the two exhaust ports for Wade and where did you get the stainless steel box for housing the amnps. Also will the amnps produce enough smoke from outside into a 700 litre vertical cabinet?


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## wduguid (Sep 15, 2019)

wade said:


> I use an AMNPS smoke generator in my converted commercial freezer smoker. It produces a constant stream of light smoke which then passes into the smoking chamber. To keep the smoke flowing steadily through the chamber I have fan on the exhaust vent that draws the smoke tars and moisture away. The smoke actually spends relatively little time in contact with the fish so that the heavier tars do not get a chance to accumulate.
> I also use almost exclusively Hickory for my smoking which has a sweeter, less course smoke flavour than some other woods.
> 
> My salmon sides (which are bigger than the trout) usually stay in for 24 hours however they are usually dry brined for 18-24 hours first.
> ...


What are the two exhaust ports for Wade and where did you get the stainless steel box for housing the amnps. Also will the amnps produce enough smoke from outside into a 700 litre vertical cabinet?


wade said:


> I use an AMNPS smoke generator in my converted commercial freezer smoker. It produces a constant stream of light smoke which then passes into the smoking chamber. To keep the smoke flowing steadily through the chamber I have fan on the exhaust vent that draws the smoke tars and moisture away. The smoke actually spends relatively little time in contact with the fish so that the heavier tars do not get a chance to accumulate.
> I also use almost exclusively Hickory for my smoking which has a sweeter, less course smoke flavour than some other woods.
> 
> My salmon sides (which are bigger than the trout) usually stay in for 24 hours however they are usually dry brined for 18-24 hours first.
> ...





wade said:


> I use an AMNPS smoke generator in my converted commercial freezer smoker. It produces a constant stream of light smoke which then passes into the smoking chamber. To keep the smoke flowing steadily through the chamber I have fan on the exhaust vent that draws the smoke tars and moisture away. The smoke actually spends relatively little time in contact with the fish so that the heavier tars do not get a chance to accumulate.
> I also use almost exclusively Hickory for my smoking which has a sweeter, less course smoke flavour than some other woods.
> 
> My salmon sides (which are bigger than the trout) usually stay in for 24 hours however they are usually dry brined for 18-24 hours first.
> ...





wade said:


> I use an AMNPS smoke generator in my converted commercial freezer smoker. It produces a constant stream of light smoke which then passes into the smoking chamber. To keep the smoke flowing steadily through the chamber I have fan on the exhaust vent that draws the smoke tars and moisture away. The smoke actually spends relatively little time in contact with the fish so that the heavier tars do not get a chance to accumulate.
> I also use almost exclusively Hickory for my smoking which has a sweeter, less course smoke flavour than some other woods.
> 
> My salmon sides (which are bigger than the trout) usually stay in for 24 hours however they are usually dry brined for 18-24 hours first.
> ...


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## wduguid (Sep 15, 2019)

What are the two exhaust ports for Wade and where did you get the stainless steel box for housing the amnps. Also will the amnps produce enough smoke from outside into a 700 litre vertical cabinet?


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## wade (Sep 15, 2019)

wduguid said:


> What are the two exhaust ports for Wade and where did you get the stainless steel box for housing the amnps. Also will the amnps produce enough smoke from outside into a 700 litre vertical cabinet?



The second exhaust port in the photo is from the extractor fan that sits above my FEC-120 which is also in the smokery.

Yes, The AMNPS will provide ample smoke for the cabinet that size. I actually use a small fan on the top vent port to ensure that the air and smoke keep flowing through the chamber - and the smoke in the chamber is still dense.


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## wduguid (Sep 15, 2019)

Thanks Wade great help. Have to source a variable computer fan. I’m up in Aberdeenshire and going to cold smoke haddock with info from the forum.  Enjoying the group with tons of info.


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