# Smoked bass and bluegill



## jokensmoken

Anyone here ever smoked large mouth bass or bluegill...And if so, could you offer some advice.
My fish smoking has been almost exclusively cold smoking salmon with a brown sugar, salt and pepper cure.
I don't usually keep bass to eat and we usually deep-fry our gills but in cleaning out my down stairs freezer to make room for several butts I got on sale I found about 3-4 lbs of filets left from my nephews visit and subsequent fishing trip this fall.  Any advice offerd
 would be appreciated.

Walt


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## cmayna

Never done bass but looking at it, I would assume it is a pretty wet, oily meat.  If so,  I would probably do a simple dry brine.  You might do a research on how oily (fatty) it is compared to say Chinook Salmon.  If any where near Chinook, then for sure a dry brine.  My opinion anyways.


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## SmokinAl

Never smoked bass either, but bluegills make a real good smoked fish dip.

I bet bass would too.

Al


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## jokensmoken

Thanks Al, any tips on a dry cure vs. wet brine or would my salmon cure work...I've read conflicting recipes.  Some swear a dry cure some a wet brine.
Not that I mind experimenting, but you guys usually cut the learning curve WAY down through your vast experience.

Walt


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## cmayna

I just googled "smoked striped bass"  and almost 100% of what I saw is using a wet brine.


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## big t bbq

I have smoked both, but they were whole fish, not fillets, wet brined with salt and brown sugar for 18 hours, I know it sounds like a long time but again these were whole fish. They are both very good.


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## SmokinAl

When I made the fish dip, I didn't brine them at all.

I just coated  them with EVOO & Cajun spice & smoked them for a couple of hours.

Then into the Cuisinart with a  little mayo, & cream cheese, and mix until you get the consistency you like.

We like it with some hunks of fish in it so I just pulsed it a few times.

Al


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## cmayna

Al,

That sounds yummy.  Love fish dip.


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## jokensmoken

Thanks All.
I'll give it a shot...Got about 6 pounds of sirloin thawing for jerky and thought I'd smoke the fish same time. Might as well load 'er up...

Keep the smoke thin and blue

Walt


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## Bearcarver

jokensmoken said:


> Anyone here ever smoked large mouth bass or bluegill...And if so, could you offer some advice.
> My fish smoking has been almost exclusively cold smoking salmon with a brown sugar, salt and pepper cure.
> I don't usually keep bass to eat and we usually deep-fry our gills but in cleaning out my down stairs freezer to make room for several butts I got on sale I found about 3-4 lbs of filets left from my nephews visit and subsequent fishing trip this fall. Any advice offerd
> would be appreciated.
> 
> Walt


Hi Walt,

Bass & Bluegills aren't as fat & Oily as Salmon, but I use the same method for Salmon, Trout, Gills, Bass, Tuna, and most any other fish.

Below are two of my Step by Steps---Pay attention to the length of time in brine going by the thickness of the pieces.

*Thicker:*


> *Smoked Salmon*
> 
> 
> 
> Thinner
> 
> 
> 
> *Smoked Brook Trout & Tilapia*
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Bear


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## biteme7951

My dad loved smoked bass (largemouth and smallmouth)  making it the only reason I would keep them. They are not oily at all and I would wet brine them overnight  with salt, brown sugar, onion and garlic powder, some poultry seasoning, and a couple of bay leaves. Smoke times were short (2-4 hours) as the fillets were thin.A bend test  for flakiness and internal temp of 160 is what I looked for. The thinner parts of the fillet were more like jerky and eaten as such and the thicker parts were used plain or in a fish dip with crackers. We also threw in bluegills and they came out more like jerky when peeled from the skin. Peel and eat bluegill went fast at our house.

Barry.


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## jokensmoken

Thanks loads bear,
Exactly the info I was looking for. Not that dissimilar to the way I brine my salmon.  Gills usually don't last long enough around here to smoke (we deep fry them as fast as we catch them) and I don't usually keep bass and I've read that they don't smoke well because they are so "lean" so thought I'd ask first.
You guys have shortened the learning curve more than once.
I'll post pics Sunday...I'm slicing sirloin tonight for jerky smoke Sunday and may as well load that 40 inch MES up.

Walt


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## jokensmoken

Thanks Barry,
I've got a go to brine that's similar to your suggestion...
I'll post pics through the process...

Walt.


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## cmayna

Looks like wet brines win.  Looking forward to the pics.


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## Bearcarver

jokensmoken said:


> Thanks loads bear,
> Exactly the info I was looking for. Not that dissimilar to the way I brine my salmon. Gills usually don't last long enough around here to smoke (we deep fry them as fast as we catch them) and I don't usually keep bass and I've read that they don't smoke well because they are so "lean" so thought I'd ask first.
> You guys have shortened the learning curve more than once.
> I'll post pics Sunday...I'm slicing sirloin tonight for jerky smoke Sunday and may as well load that 40 inch MES up.
> 
> Walt


Yeah----Gill Fillets are usually so thin I like pan frying them better anyway.

Now Smoked Bass Fillets have a little more Heft to them.

Bear


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## jokensmoken

IMG_20170121_124544261_HDR.jpg



__ jokensmoken
__ Jan 21, 2017


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## jokensmoken

Jerky sliced last night...The bag on the left is a peppercorn dry rub...The two on the right are a teryak brown sugar wet conglomeration I've been working on


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## jokensmoken

IMG_20170121_114346180_HDR.jpg



__ jokensmoken
__ Jan 21, 2017





Here's my fish after thawing over night...All largemouth and as suspected about 3.5 pounds


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## Bearcarver

jokensmoken said:


> Here's my fish after thawing over night...All largemouth and as suspected about 3.5 pounds


Nice little bucket of Bass Fillets.

If those were mine, I'd Pan fry them, but that's up to you.

However just so you know by the time you get the Internal temp to what you want, the thin outside edges will be crisp, maybe even leathery, much like the outside edges of some of the thinner pieces in my links I gave you in Post #10 above.

Not a Big Deal---Just letting you know.

Bear


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## jokensmoken

Well Bear, that's kinda what this is all about, learning...Lol...
We usually do pan or deep fry these fish fresh...I found these filets left over from my nephews trip here this fall while adding butt roasts to my freezer and thought, what the heck, I'm doing jerky Sunday let's try some bass filets...Nothing ventured nothing gained...But I'm tending to agree with you.
Most will robably end up as fish jerky and in dip but I wanted to see if the shoulder portion of the larger ones might fair differently so I seperated a few of the larger ones and cut the shoulder of the filet off to do a dry brown sugar salt cure... They're about 3/4 inch thick so I'm hoping for reasonable results.


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## Bearcarver

jokensmoken said:


> Well Bear, that's kinda what this is all about, learning...Lol...
> We usually do pan or deep fry these fish fresh...I found these filets left over from my nephews trip here this fall while adding butt roasts to my freezer and thought, what the heck, I'm doing jerky Sunday let's try some bass filets...Nothing ventured nothing gained...But I'm tending to agree with you.
> Most will robably end up as fish jerky and in dip but I wanted to see if the shoulder portion of the larger ones might fair differently so I seperated a few of the larger ones and cut the shoulder of the filet off to do a dry brown sugar salt cure... They're about 3/4 inch thick so I'm hoping for reasonable results.


Sounds good to me---Wish I was there!!

Bear


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## jokensmoken

IMG_20170121_134030142.jpg



__ jokensmoken
__ Jan 21, 2017





So here are the trimmed thick shoulder pieces of several filets going into my brown sugar, salt and spices.  I'll pull and rinse them about 4:00 am and rack them to dry till I'm ready to smoke.


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## jokensmoken

IMG_20170121_134409747_HDR.jpg



__ jokensmoken
__ Jan 21, 2017





Here they are fully coated and ready for the fridge.


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## jokensmoken

The rest I'm going split and do 1/2 in an EVOO and spice rub as smokenAl suggested and the rest are going into a the brine recipe from Bear.


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## jokensmoken

So...Everything's on schedule for today's smoke.  I rinsed the filets in the dry cure first off this morning and put half the remaining in Bears wet brine and rubbed the rest up with EVOO and a Cajun spice as Al suggested...Everything's now racked and drying in the fridge for smoking to start in about 2 hours.  I post more pics when I.load up the smoker.


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## Bearcarver

jokensmoken said:


> So...Everything's on schedule for today's smoke. I rinsed the filets in the dry cure first off this morning and put half the remaining in Bears wet brine and rubbed the rest up with EVOO and a Cajun spice as Al suggested...Everything's now racked and drying in the fridge for smoking to start in about 2 hours. I post more pics when I.load up the smoker.


Sounds Good !








Bear


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## bellaru

I'm interested


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## jokensmoken

Well as luck would have it, everything's on track but the weather lol.
Knowing I'd be leaving my Michigan winter wonderland for Texas and NC this Tuesday, I planned one more cold weather smoke for today before leaving.
So much for a cold day for a colder temp smoke...It's 44 out now and projected to be 60 ish by 1:00 pm...Who da thunk 60 in the middle of January in Michigan.  Not that I mind because it's beautiful out, I was just hoping for the more traditional mid 20's temps for the Smoke today.


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## jokensmoken

IMG_20170122_132340838_HDR.jpg



__ jokensmoken
__ Jan 22, 2017





Here's the fish from left to right
Al's suggestion of EVOO and Cajun spices
In the center (slightly darker)
My traditional brown sugar, salt dry cure
Left...Bears wet brine recipe...
Time will tell.


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## jokensmoken

IMG_20170122_133350212_HDR.jpg



__ jokensmoken
__ Jan 22, 2017





One rack of peppercorn dry rub/cure top round jerky


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## jokensmoken

IMG_20170122_133932027_HDR.jpg



__ jokensmoken
__ Jan 22, 2017





One rack with teryak, brown sugar, garlic, pineapple chunks, juice included...
I'll post the recipe if it turns out...Lol...


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## jokensmoken

Well, as it turns out my smoker loves 55° outdoor temps...
It's mild, overcast and calm and I'm holding very constant temps.
Predictable and controllable
About to bump enough to get an "on cycle" to add a little smoke (thanks Bear for the suggestion of starting cool and bumping the temps every half hour to keep the smoke going).


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## Bearcarver

jokensmoken said:


> Well, as it turns out my smoker loves 55° outdoor temps...
> It's mild, overcast and calm and I'm holding very constant temps.
> Predictable and controllable
> About to bump enough to get an "on cycle" to add a little smoke (thanks Bear for the suggestion of starting cool and bumping the temps every half hour to keep the smoke going).


Looking good so far !!
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





You're bringing memories back about playing the Temp game.

If you get an Amazing Smoker, You won't have to worry about bumping the temp to keep it smoking.







Bear


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## jokensmoken

IMG_20170122_193012305.jpg



__ jokensmoken
__ Jan 22, 2017





Well here's my verdict...Anyone who thinks you can't smoke bass either did it wrong or are repeating gossip.
The EVOO and Cajun spice rubbed ones are quite tasty right off the grill and WILL be amazing in dip...Thanks Al.
The dry brown sugar and salt are a little salty...But otherwise good...and they also would be exceptional in dip.
A couple mods could easily be made...First I cured them for 14 hours so a shorter cure time might help, but I think the key will be cutting back on the salt...Let ya know next batch...But the 50/50 course kosher salt to brown sugar ratio I usually use for salmon is to salty.
By far the best straight off the grill were the ones done in Bears wet brine...Thanks bear, delish.
All that being said...No they're not salmon...They are drier and chewier but much less chewy than jerky BY FAR and certainly are deserving of learning to do.
Of course, I'll.probably continue to fry my pan fish but if I ever have any I'm not sure what to with...I'll smoke them.


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## jokensmoken

IMG_20170122_195316392_HDR.jpg



__ jokensmoken
__ Jan 22, 2017





And the jerky, as usual it came out very good...I'll post my recipes when I go over my notes.
Thanks for following along...and Bear...Thanks again.

Walt


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## jokensmoken

And now it's time to get out the cream cheese, some mayo, dice up a little onion and make some fish dip...I got a box of wheat thins and n the cupboard and a lazyboy calling my name.


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## jokensmoken

Well, so much for the dip...As I munched a piece of fish, then another and another...Lol...I finally just took a plate full with me and ate them like potato chips...Nope, couldn't eat just one...
I'll do dip tomorrow.


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## Bearcarver

jokensmoken said:


> IMG_20170122_195316392_HDR.jpg
> 
> 
> 
> __ jokensmoken
> __ Jan 22, 2017
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And the jerky, as usual it came out very good...I'll post my recipes when I go over my notes.
> Thanks for following along...and Bear...Thanks again.
> 
> Walt


Looks Great, Walt !!
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Nice Job!
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Bear


jokensmoken said:


> IMG_20170122_193012305.jpg
> 
> 
> 
> __ jokensmoken
> __ Jan 22, 2017
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Well here's my verdict...Anyone who thinks you can't smoke bass either did it wrong or are repeating gossip.
> The EVOO and Cajun spice rubbed ones are quite tasty right off the grill and WILL be amazing in dip...Thanks Al.
> The dry brown sugar and salt are a little salty...But otherwise good...and they also would be exceptional in dip.
> A couple mods could easily be made...First I cured them for 14 hours so a shorter cure time might help, but I think the key will be cutting back on the salt...Let ya know next batch...But the 50/50 course kosher salt to brown sugar ratio I usually use for salmon is to salty.
> *By far the best straight off the grill were the ones done in Bears wet brine...Thanks bear, delish.*
> All that being said...No they're not salmon...They are drier and chewier but much less chewy than jerky BY FAR and certainly are deserving of learning to do.
> Of course, I'll.probably continue to fry my pan fish but if I ever have any I'm not sure what to with...I'll smoke them.


That's what I like to hear, Walt !!
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Thank You for the Report !

Always glad to help.

Bear


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## biteme7951

Good looking smoke! 

If you want another crack at a dry brine, try a 20/80 salt to sugar ratio. 

Barry.


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## hillbilly jim

This thread is perfect timing. In a coupla' weeks, I'm gonna drag out 10 or 15 lbs. of bass and bluegill that got put in the freezer last year. I might throw a couple of the larger pieces of bass in the skillet, but the most of it is goin' in the smoker with dip as the goal.


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## mrmotorcycle

Bearcarver said:


> Yeah----Gill Fillets are usually so thin I like pan frying them better anyway.
> 
> Now Smoked Bass Fillets have a little more Heft to them.
> 
> Bear


I take sunnies and


Bearcarver said:


> Nice little bucket of Bass Fillets.
> 
> If those were mine, I'd Pan fry them, but that's up to you.
> 
> However just so you know by the time you get the Internal temp to what you want, the thin outside edges will be crisp, maybe even leathery, much like the outside edges of some of the thinner pieces in my links I gave you in Post #10 above.
> 
> Not a Big Deal---Just letting you know.
> 
> Bear


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## mrmotorcycle

Oops. New to this forum. I take sunny and crappie filets (no skin), dry brine with brown sugar and kosher salt, just like I do with salmon, quick rinse, pellicle dry, then put on a piece of non stick foil.
Cut the foil just slightly larger than the fillets. I stack fillets on top of each other in a pile, they will smoke together like natural meat glue. That way they don’t dry out like fish jerky. Maybe 5-6 fillets together, depending on thickness. Amazing flavor.


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