# STEELHEAD 'NUGGETS' USING NEW CURE AND A HOT SMOKE



## chef willie (Jun 27, 2013)

Had a small farmed steelhead filet to smoke and ran across a recipe in the library from a book titled Rays Fish Shack. They called them 'nuggets' and the cure was simple....1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup kosher salt and 2 tablespoons of water. Marinate 30 minutes, drain with no rinse, fan dry for 1-2 hours and then hot smoke for about 30 minutes until caramelized. The picture in the book had me hooked so off we went. I used cherry wood chunks in the 200 degree smoker for 45 minutes. IT of the steelhead hit 140 and looked good so pulled them. I expected some salty twang but they were fine. Boys at the bar scarfed them down with cold beer so all was good. I love simple & good results......Willie













fish 1.jpg



__ chef willie
__ Jun 27, 2013






didn't look like a lot













fish2.jpg



__ chef willie
__ Jun 27, 2013






all tossed and coated













fish3.jpg



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__ Jun 27, 2013






after 30 minute marinade--lot of liquid pooled













fish4.jpg



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after 90 minutes of fan time













fish5.jpg



__ chef willie
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after 45 minutes of cherry wood smoke at 200 degrees













fish6.jpg



__ chef willie
__ Jun 27, 2013


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## themule69 (Jun 27, 2013)

Willie that looks great. Nice and simple.

Happy smoken.

David


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## snorkelinggirl (Jun 27, 2013)

Hi Chef Willie,

Your nuggets look great. Thanks for posting the cure and process. I'd like to try it sometime as I've never smoked fish before and this looks like a pretty simple recipe for getting my feet wet.

I'm curious how the texture of the fish came out?  Dry or moist? 

Thanks for sharing and have a great day!

Clarissa


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## chef willie (Jun 27, 2013)

SnorkelingGirl said:


> Hi Chef Willie,
> 
> Your nuggets look great. Thanks for posting the cure and process. I'd like to try it sometime as I've never smoked fish before and this looks like a pretty simple recipe for getting my feet wet.
> 
> ...


Hey Clarissa....hmmm, some of the thinner pieces were 'dry' but not bad dry (like eating a saltine), ya know? The plumper pieces were just right IMO. Now, this was devoured within a few hours so I have no idea what it would have been like today. And there was no oily sheen on the fingers afterwards like with some smoked fish....Willie


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## woodcutter (Jun 27, 2013)

Nice color on those pieces!


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## cmayna (Jun 27, 2013)

Looks great Chef Willie.  I did some Steelhead nuggets a few months.  Very fun to hand out to friends.


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## mr t 59874 (Jun 27, 2013)

KISS, got to love it.  Looks great Willie, I think I'll grab a beer.  
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






Tom


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## WaterinHoleBrew (May 11, 2015)

Looks great Chef, gotta love some nice salmon & a couple cold ones !

:beercheer:


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## bryce (May 11, 2015)

Nice job. Cherry wood, how was it? Wish I could have tasted those!


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