MY LIFE IN THE FLORIDA KEYS AND BEYOND: SMOKING FISH IN THE KEYS

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

SMOKING FISH IN THE KEYS

WHEN YOU RUN INTO A GOOD DAY OF FISHING FOR SPANISH MACKEREL, ONLY ONE THING TO DO, SMOKE'M

I have always been fond of smoked fish,smoked Whiting, White Fish,Spanish Mackerel Etc. So when i came into about twenty plus lbs. the urge came out to smoke the fillets. Now, these weren't a bunch of skinny under nourished fish, these were the real deal, big fat and the prime source for smoking fillets.

The next chore was to find a smoker worthy of the wonderful fish we catch down here in the Fl. Keys. After doing some research, I found the perfect one at the Bass Pro Shop online catalogue. It is called the Master Built Extra Wide Elite. This smoker might be a little big for the beginning smoker, it filled the bill for me. After having it shipped to the closest retail store, with free shipping, I picked it up and began the assembly. Not too bad, it took about forty minutes to assemble. Once it was ready to go I had to season the unit to get rid of any residue that may have been left on the material during manufacture. With the curing done i went straight to the fillets, first brining them in a solution of kosher salt, brown sugar, and water,for about eight hours.

The next day the fillets, a test batch went into the smoker, which was set at 225 degrees, two hours later, perfect smoked fish. The fish came out with a wonderful smoke flavor and extremely moist, success. Two days later the smoker was fired up once more and fifteen lbs. were brined and smoked,again a great success. To this date everyone that has tried them rave about the apple wood aroma, flavor and moistness. Next up, some racks of baby back ribs, I am looking forward to see how they turn out, although I don't eat much meat, I love to put a smile on the faces of others.

Here are some pictures of my first two efforts.