# Seeking Advise for Smoking Smelt...



## fish hunt man (Feb 3, 2011)

Hello All,

Went smelting last year for the first time. Cleaned them up but couldn't find enough people interested in eating these babies. I decided to smoke them up when it gets a bit warmer here in MN. I am looking for advise on how to do this. I have 2 typical cheap smokers with charcoal on the bottom pan, a water pan and then I've added chicken wire shelves so I can add much more meat to smoke. This has worked well for thick cut venison jerky and summer sausage in the past, this is my first attempt at smoking fish though...

The heads are removed, gutted with a scissors and toothbrush cleaned along the spine, then quick frozen in water in 1 gallon bags....

While I have made smoked vension and jerky (see my pics in album) I have yet to try and smoke fish, let alone something so small as smelt.

Brine Recipes?
So, lay on racks? Hang in some fashion?
How long to smoke?

I have posted photos of the actual smelting here:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/gallery/album/view/id/8708/user_id/41841

Please take a look and let me have it! All advice welcome!

Thank you!!


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## TulsaJeff (Feb 3, 2011)

I have not smoked smelt specifically, however, from what I hear these smelt are extremely tasty and they smoke up nicely..

I would do them very similar to trout.. just soak them in a brine for about 1 to 1.5 hours, let them dry a little in the open air then smoke them on a low temp until they reach 145 degrees or so.

*My brine is as follows:*

1 gallon of drinking water

1 cup of kosher salt

3/4 cup of brown sugar

Soak the cleaned fish in the brine for at least an hour but no more than 1.5 or 2 hours.

Smoke them wrapped individually in foil with a little butter and lemon and open on one end or just lay them on a cookie sheet or even directly on the grate if you wish. Keep the heat low for best results, I like to keep it about 160 or so to keep the fat/oil from cooking out of the meat. I am not sure how long this will take but I'm guessing at least a couple of hours.

Watch them carefully and when the meat flakes, the fish are done.

Maybe there are others who have smoked smelt, that will be able to be a little more definitive.


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## fish hunt man (Feb 3, 2011)

Thanks Jeff, sounds simple, aside from wrapping all those little fish :)M

Made my mouth water thinking about it! Have any ideas about how to store, once smoked?

Best,

Mike


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## cowgirl (Feb 3, 2011)

Not sure about the storage of smoked smelt ...maybe vacuum sealed and into the freezer?

Enjoyed your smelting photos Fish Hunt Man... very interesting!


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## daveomak (Feb 3, 2011)

Mike, Afternoon. I have smoked them.  We fished the Nooksack River in Washington. The smelt in that run were really really oily. Very high quality fish. I brined them and smoked them until "hard smoked" on wire racks. Low heat, long time (120/24 hrs). Great with beer. My buddy would string his smelt up using a needle and thread and hang in the smoker. Vacuum pack in a jar or bag and put in the freezer. If they last that long?


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## fish hunt man (Feb 4, 2011)

Thanks for your help Dave, really appreciate it!

So by "hard smoked" do you mean they dry out and turn hard or hardwood smoked? Or something else? :)

I think the needle thread would be the best use of space in the smoker.

Thanks again!


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## daveomak (Feb 4, 2011)

Morning, By hard smoke I mean, until the fish is dry and hard. Turns out like salmon jerky. I have sprinkled black pepper on the fish, before the smoke, while damp. Anything is possible. Because the fish is so small I treat it as if it were a snack treat. Dont worry about the bones. They add more crunch.


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## badlab1 (Feb 10, 2011)

Awesome pics! I was just thinking about smoking smelt, when I stumbled across this thread. 1st I need to go catch some of those little suckers! lol Pleeeeease let us know how you made out, as I'd love to try too. I'm hoping to go next week ice-fishing for them. Good-luck!!!


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## badlab1 (Feb 10, 2011)

Oh... BTW--I had them deep-fryed out on the ice just last week, using Zaterain's original mix. WOW--are they good! Can't imagine not finding people to eat em up.


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## bilder (Feb 10, 2011)

Up here we call them hooligan.  We usually net a few gallons every spring and freeze them up.  They are wonderful smoked and make a great snack.

The natives call them candle fish due to the fact that the oil content is so high that when dried they can be lit and burned like a candle.

I got some thawing right now.  I may take some photos and such of the process I use to share.

Till then here is a video I took of the girls a couple years ago catching some hooligans.


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## fish hunt man (Feb 14, 2011)

Thanks alot for posting Bilder! Really cool you get to bring your girls our for the fun!


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## expat smoker (May 23, 2013)

I'm gonna give smelt a smoke this weekend.  Just bought a kilo for under $3 frozen here in Thailand.  So far, I've only had them fried crispy and the Thais eat them whole, from head to tail....guts included.  I usually stop at the head.  The ones we have here are either Japanese or Chinese and full of delicious eggs. I've read a few recipes that mostly say to brine for a short time [less than 2 hrs] and smoke for a long time [4 hrs], at low temps [160f].

My only experience with smelt is here in Thailand and was wondering if other cultures eat them whole....head to tail?? Google tells me that their diet before spawning on the beach is krill and plankton so maybe no pollution to worry about??

Any tips??


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## akhap (May 24, 2013)

Alaska holligan (eulachon is the correct spelling) are very delicate, extremely oily, and ridiculously plentiful.  They also smoke up very nicely.

For smoking I make a quick pass with the knife to gut them and a quick pass with a stiff brush to remove the kidney along the backbone and keep the head on.  Always keep them as cold as possible!!!  

Brine in standard 2:1/1 brine; two cups brown sugar, one cup salt to one gallon of water for exactly 90 minutes.  Fudge to the short side, not the long.

Rinse in clear, cold water and place on racks to air-dry and form a pellicle.

Place racks in smoker with lots of smoke and very low heat (under 150F) for at least a couple hours.

After a couple hours start raising heat while maintainiing a good flow of smoke.  Keep heat around 180 or so.

Because they are so rich smelt will tolerate higher temperatures and still produce a very rich, oily, smoked product. 

The skin will wrinkle and be removable with minimal effort after about 4 hours.  At that point the meat from the sides can be gotten at by bending the fish and getting something under the flesh to start it moving away from the spine.  The pin bones will stay with the skeleton and produce wonderful strips of slighty salty, firm, sweet pieces of dried fish.

Canning, freezing, and further drying will work at this point to produce ultra-long-term storage fish.


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## daveomak (May 24, 2013)

My buddy would use a needle and thread.... run through the heads and hang them in the smoker.... They are a very good eat...  I've dipped them in the Nooksack and Cowlitz rivers...   I cooked and ate them guts, feathers and all....   Bride refused that technique and had to clean them like AKhap described.....   The egg skein, in the females, was really good...  Dave


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## woodcutter (May 24, 2013)

DaveOmak said:


> My buddy would use a needle and thread.... run through the heads and hang them in the smoker.... They are a very good eat...  I've dipped them in the Nooksack and Cowlitz rivers...   I cooked and ate them guts, feathers and all....   Bride refused that technique and had to clean them like AKhap described.....   The egg skein, in the females, was really good...  Dave


Years ago Lake Michigan used to have smelt and people held large smelt fries. I remember stopping at one where they ran the smelt thru an old ringer washer and then agitated then fried. It wasn't very impressive. Lake Michigan smelt are now gone.


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## mr t 59874 (May 24, 2013)

Anyone remember "Blind Robins"?


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## daveomak (May 24, 2013)

Mr T 59874 said:


> Anyone remember "Blind Robins"?


Haven't heard of this one............  unless it was an adult beverage I never took part in....


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## woodcutter (May 24, 2013)

I remember they were smoked sardines wrapped plastic packages of 5-6. I remember they were salty and rubbery with head and tail intact. I was too young and only tried a taste and didn't like them. I would probably like them now.


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## mr t 59874 (May 24, 2013)

DaveOmak said:


> Haven't heard of this one............  unless it was an adult beverage I never took part in....


Blind Robins were smoked smelt that were wrapped and placed on a poster boards and sold in bars and stores.  It was my introduction to smoked foods a good 60 years ago.

The company is no longer in business, can't understand why, they were so good.

Tom


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## ironchefkitchen (May 24, 2013)

Fish Hunt Man  are you up in Duluth?

Went smelting on the Knife river a couple times when i lived there.

Getting warmer?  You know Duluth

9 months of Winter 3 months of bad sledding  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





At least you will have some good smoked smelt

Love to hear how they turn out


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## expat smoker (May 26, 2013)

Broke da mouth!!!!

Used AKhap's simple recipe, but added fresh ground pepper and my smoker had a hard time maintaining  150f.......mostly near 200 and taste tested @ 1.5 hrs and they were WOW......succulent, juicy burst in your mouth, but let them go a bit longer and still excellent, but a little drier.  Ate the whole damn fish from head to tail and dipped it into a Japanese sauce of molasas and soy sauce and definately will do it again, but not so long and hot.

Thanks guys...........


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## akhap (May 26, 2013)

expat smoker said:


> Broke da mouth!!!!
> 
> Used AKhap's simple recipe, but added fresh ground pepper and my smoker had a hard time maintaining  150f.......mostly near 200 and taste tested @ 1.5 hrs and they were WOW......succulent, juicy burst in your mouth, but let them go a bit longer and still excellent, but a little drier.  Ate the whole damn fish from head to tail and dipped it into a Japanese sauce of molasas and soy sauce and definately will do it again, but not so long and hot.
> Thanks guys...........



Outstanding!  Adding coarse ground pepper is good and easy and I will often do it to a portion of the smoker load. 

The idea IMO&E is make fish with excellent texture and taste while using sauces to achieve extra sweetness, spice heat, or other tastes.  It creates far more flexible table fare that way.

Getting the mechanics down to produce that perfect fish is not really difficult.  Keeping it the same every time keeps you from ruining lots of pounds of hard-won or expensive fish.

good job!
art


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## biggear (Jan 14, 2014)

Well this is my first shot at smoking smelts ..put in a brine for 2 hours .1 cup kosher salt 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 lemon sliced some dill and  bay leaves 4 cloves 1 teaspoon of garlic and ground perpper .I let them soak 2 hours then rinsed them well and let them sit overnight in my fridge ..on the smoker now going for 2 hours at around 150 and I will sample ...


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## daveomak (Jan 14, 2014)

Big, morning......  are you smoking them guts, feathers and all ???   That's the way I liked them.... I used the head as a handle and gently bit into the meat and it slid of the bones easily...   or eating the bones was OK also....  depends how far into the "cocktail hour" we were....


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## leah elisheva (Jan 14, 2014)

Did someone say "smelts???" Smiles. I LOVE smelts - whole, with heads especially - although so often, the store only has headless here. If you check out a previous thread of mine, titled "I eat bait and I like it," in the fish section, that may help some???

If not, then simply know that I send some likeminded and very zealous SMELT cheer your way, as I do love the stuff and am sure you're will absolutely be delicious!

Cheers! - Leah

(I think this is the link, and I've also posted other smelt ones before it, but again, if helpful, then fabulous, if not, then Happy Tuesday anyway)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Make today amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/153127/yes-i-eat-bait-and-i-love-it


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## biggear (Jan 14, 2014)

Smelts turned out good .no mine were cleaned .2 hours in the smoker did the trick ..very good dish ..













20140114_114803.jpg



__ biggear
__ Jan 14, 2014


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## leah elisheva (Jan 15, 2014)

Fantastic!!! Smelts are good food! Indeed! Great job! Cheers! - Leah


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## reinhard (Jan 16, 2014)

FishHuntMan, a fellow Minnesotan.  Did you get those smelt down on Park Point in Duluth?  That's a pretty good haul nowadays.  I used to smelt as a kid on the North Shore in the heyday's when you could get them by hand almost.  Things have slowed down a bit now since Lake Superior has rebounded with the game fish and salmon and trout.  We used to seine Park Point on the Harbor side also.  Hope your smoked smelt goes well.  Lot's of good ideas here.  Reinhard


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## leah elisheva (Jan 17, 2014)

Hi all! I grilled smelts yesterday and they were fantastic! Happy Friday!!!!!!!! Cheers! - Leah













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__ leah elisheva
__ Jan 17, 2014


















DSCF4260.JPG



__ leah elisheva
__ Jan 17, 2014


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## adamlovesbbq (Apr 14, 2017)

expat smoker said:


> I'm gonna give smelt a smoke this weekend.  Just bought a kilo for under $3 frozen here in Thailand.  So far, I've only had them fried crispy and the Thais eat them whole, from head to tail....guts included.  I usually stop at the head.  The ones we have here are either Japanese or Chinese and full of delicious eggs. I've read a few recipes that mostly say to brine for a short time [less than 2 hrs] and smoke for a long time [4 hrs], at low temps [160f].
> My only experience with smelt is here in Thailand and was wondering if other cultures eat them whole....head to tail?? Google tells me that their diet before spawning on the beach is krill and plankton so maybe no pollution to worry about??
> Any tips??




I grew up in Newfoundland.  We catch a similar fish we call Capelin (say "Cape-Linn"). Some people out there fillet them or gut them. Most people simply eat them whole from head to tail. Myself included. Salted and dried is my favourite way to enjoy these fish but I'm looking forward to trying out smoking them.


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