# Fish in smoker



## ryansguitars (Feb 8, 2014)

I am planning on smoking salmon in the next few weeks. Will there be a fishy smell or any type of residual odor from doing this. I work with a man who smoked fish a year ago, he claims he had to power wash the smoker out following the smoke. Just seeing if this will be the case or if it wont effect things too much.

Thanks


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## africanmeat (Feb 8, 2014)

Hi ryan 

i smoke fish all the time ,hot smoke ,cold smoke . no problem .

fish dos not smell if it is fresh .

if you are planing  to cold smoke the the fish don't forget to brine it with cure #1 .


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## dirtsailor2003 (Feb 8, 2014)

Depending on the fish and the amount of fish you are smoking you can get residual fish flavoring in the smoker. Fish such as tuna am salmon will leave that flavor in there. A good air out and cleaning of the grates takes care of the smell.


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## cmayna (Feb 9, 2014)

Maybe that's why I have two smokers dedicated only to fish?


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## leah elisheva (Feb 9, 2014)

I LOVE the smell of fish! And just took a spoonful of Cod Liver Oil with my breakfast in fact! DELICIOUS! Bring on the fish!!!!!!!!

Smiles.

Your smoking will be fabulous!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers!!!!!!!! - Leah


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## mdboatbum (Feb 9, 2014)

I think your smoker will be fine. If by chance there is a residual fishy smell, a good hot burn with some strong wood should take care of it. I've honestly never had any problems with fishy smells in my smoker. I think the key is not to let the fish get to the point where you're leaching all the oils out. Keep it below 150˚ (the internal temp of the fish, I mean) and you should be fine.


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## sb59 (Feb 9, 2014)

I've smoked all kinds of things including bluefish ( a pretty strong fish ) in my smoker and when I open it I smell smoke!


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## wade (Feb 9, 2014)

SB59 said:


> I've smoked all kinds of things including bluefish ( a pretty strong fish ) in my smoker and when I open it I smell smoke!


The same here. I smoke several kinds of fish regularly as well as various meats, cheeses and butter. When I open the smoker I too only smell smoke. I do wash the grills down between each smoke though with hot soapy water.


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## stupeg (Mar 13, 2014)

I dedicate one smoker for fish only, learned my lesson a long time ago....  Of course it was a smoker that smoked about 100 pounds of mullet at a time for about 30 years, my dad's old one on the side of a canal bank.  A buddy and me smoked about 25 chicken quarters for a party and they turned out great looking, just tasted like mullet...  I didn't mind it though.


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## Bearcarver (Mar 13, 2014)

Maybe if you smoke hundreds of pounds over many years, but I smoked 19 Salmon sides (over 100 pounds) in 8 batches, over a period of two months,

in an Electric MES 30, and nothing I did after them smelled or tasted like fish. My smoker might have smelled like smoked fish, but only until I did the next item.

However I like the smell of smoked Salmon just as much as smoked anything else.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Bear


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## stupeg (Mar 13, 2014)

We never cleaned the racks either, which were made of chicken wire, besides with a wire brush.  But thousands of pounds of mullet were there well before the chicken was. Just my findings on this smoker, if I cleaned it better I'm sure it might have been ok.  Doe's this mean the " MULLET " came before the chicken?  Or before it crossed the street?  LOL.


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## bigwheel (Mar 13, 2014)

We had an old football coach one time who was always calling us "mullets" I ask him one time..what is a mullet. He said it was a brainless boneless fish. Now is that right or wrong? Aint nobody going to make my pits smell like dead fish ever again. Yes..get a dedicated smoker for nasty stuff.


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## Bearcarver (Mar 14, 2014)

bigwheel said:


> We had an old football coach one time who was always calling us "mullets" I ask him one time..what is a mullet. He said it was a brainless boneless fish. Now is that right or wrong? Aint nobody going to make my pits smell like dead fish ever again. Yes..get a dedicated smoker for nasty stuff.


Boneless fish?

I wish I could find some---Save a little time filleting.

Bear


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## sb59 (Mar 14, 2014)

Bearcarver said:


> Boneless fish?
> 
> I wish I could find some---Save a little time filleting.
> 
> Bear


Hi ! Bear,

They've been around for millions of years. They're called jelly fish. I don't care for them though.


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## Bearcarver (Mar 14, 2014)

SB59 said:


> Hi ! Bear,
> 
> They've been around for millions of years. They're called jelly fish. I don't care for them though.


Yuck !!


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## sb59 (Mar 14, 2014)

I thought about smoking them but they kept dripping through the racks!


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