Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Smoking Trout--or any type of fish.

After reading a comment about cold smoked trout as being an exceptional way to go, I thought I would look into it since I may have a few to spare soon.

I can find plenty of sources that say fish should be cooked to 140-145 degrees in a normal recipe were you bake it or such. However when it comes to smokin', it seems like one guy will say do it for 4 hrs at 190 degrees, or another guy may say he does it for 8 to 12 hrs at 80-100 degrees. None of them that are smoking it for a long time say anything about a certain temp the fish should ever get to.

Any thoughts on this?

....Jim

Not sure about cold smoking...but a good website for grilling and smoking is Barbeque University with Steven Reichlin...might be some info there

Cold smoking should never reach temps above 100°...It can take 12+ hours easy to acheive cold smoke fish...The brine used and smoke are actually what is preserving the fish not the cooking..

Most smokers today can't even be turned down enough to acheive those temps...Kinda trick to do, but if you like smoked fish, it is the way to go...

In cold smoking, you are not cooking the fish, just saturating it with smoke flavor. 80F or so would probably be the maximum temp. Time depends on what flavor you want.

You will need to deal with parasites tho. Best way is to freeze it. Brine's and other methods won't work. I doubt a residential freezer will get low enough, but some might get to -10F, but may take a week at those temps. Some of these parasites are toxic to humans!

Just be careful when messing with cold smoking. I doubt you could red neck a true cold smoking system

Watch out for what you read on the internet about this.

I have seen some parasites in action once removed from a fillet.

I am positive I do not want one of those guys eating at my flesh.

I will stick with frying my fish, unless traditional smoking can kill the critters.

Thanks

Eeeks!!!!! I haven't come across anywhere that mentioned parasites in smoking. Do you think that smoking at a low temp and then near the end raise the temp up so the meat would get to 140+ degrees would kill parasites?

Toxic? Do you mean if they are killed off you would still be poisoned by their residue?

Regular 'hot' smoking around 190-210 will let you get across your 140 safety barrier. And you can 'cold' smoke it for some flavor then 'hot' smoke it or bake it to get it over 140.

Consider that most standard refrigerators don't actual hold the temp below 40 (the other safety barrier)--too much food in there, opening and closing of the door, cheaply made thermometer or incorrect settings. So your ground beef that is sitting in there for 2-3 days before you make hamburgers is often sitting in the 40-140 danger zone. Meat at the grocery is unlikely to sit at under 40 in the cases where people are grabbing it and putting in their cart. Do you think it sits for 6-10 hours? you bet ya! Thats why you put it to the fire to cook it.

Though, that is one reason I believe in a good fridge thermometer, grinding your own meat and having a good butcher that doesnt display all that they sell.

Oh and buy a good insta-read thermometer to check meat temp when smoking or grilling. I highly recommend a thermapen--the purple are the fastest.

If you are going to cook it, what would be the point of cold smoking? Totally different!

The parasites need to be killed before ingesting, otherwise they hook up within your system and do crazy stuff. No residue, just interaction within your system. Once they are dead, your cool!

Won't the juice from the trout flesh plug up the pipe's screen?

???

OK, got it!

No, No, No...you roll your own...no screens or pipes...

JKB is right the best way to deal with parasites in fish that will be consumed raw or rare is freezing.Generally your sushi grade and commercially available fish is blast frozen at -35 for 15 hours to kill the creepy crawly things.I used to remember all the times for different temps but the highest you can go is -5F for 7 days or so and be on the safe side of things.Now keep in mind these guidelines are the same if it is a big tuna loin or a single trout fillet.Generally not something the home freezer is capable of.

For home smoking I would recommend getting it close to 145 if it hasn't been commercially frozen.Keep in mind the health and safety folks recommend 145 degrees for 15 seconds to be safe

I just knew that when I titled this post, it would only be a matter of time......... what took you so long?

Tan is eagerly waiting for results here.

Since parasites were mentioned, I have been able to do more researching concerning it and found a lot more articles on smoking as a result of the different search criteria.

The brine has been mentioned almost always as a preparation for smoking fish....to get the fish to have a longer shelf life. Bradley's smoker website eluded to the fact that it does not have to be cured, though most folks do. Has me wondering about this part of the process.

What are the opinions of brining? If you do not brine, does the fish spoil while it is being smoked at lower temps ( below 140) over a long period of time, say 6- 8 hours? This kind of goes along with Rentlaws idea that food is often not stored at cold enough temps most of the time.

Thanks everyone for the feed back so far on this. Never tried anything like this, and I want to give it a shot somehow, someway.

i've never cold smoked. Always brined and hot smoked.

All I've used is a Luhr Jensen electric smoker. Yeah, I'm behind the times. I can't tell you how many pounds of Barracuda I've done in them.

recipe book

When we were on the boat fishing we never worried about parasites. The chef would say "Who wants to donate the next Mahi Mahi that they catch to make sushi?"

I'm a big fan of brining when smoking. Due to climate, I rarely cold smoke (I only cold smoke if the outside temp is under 50-60). But adding the water and flavor of your brine (salt, sugar, pick your seasonings) is worth it. The added water content makes the fish a little more forgiving in hot smoking and, if like other meats, should give you a longer smoke time for cold smoking allowing more smoke flavor to be absorbed.

Brining will do nothing for parasites.

I think that I will lean towards hot smoking because its the only solution for me at this time that will hopefully kill off parasites. I have never seen evidence of them in fish out of our pond, but I rather be on the safe side.

I must have always eaten hot-smoked fish in the past. Now that I know there is two different methods, I will have to pay more attention when buying it and try each.

I've watched Barbeque University on PBS, interesting show. I like cooking fish on a covered grill while adding some soaked wood chips to the coals (or put in aluminum foil) to give it that smoky flavor. Quick, easy and delicious!

Essup,saltwater and freshwater fish carry different parasites and anadromous fish like salmon can carry both.

Fish like mahi mahi and tuna carry what we called round worms in the restaurant (forget the real name) and they are visible for the most part in the flesh but not always.I used to come across these more then the average person would care to know.

Parasites in freshwater fish like trout and walleye while I know less about,I do know they are different.We where always just taught to be sure they are cooked.It's been so long now but I seem to remember that they could carry a form of tapeworm,but please don't hold me to that.

One last thing,the saltwater parasites can cause allergic reactions even when cooked dead.............Have you ever ran across anyone who eats or ate seafood,and then all of a sudden they are allergic or had a reaction.Chances are these little buggers caused it and not the actual fish.

Most people I know that cold smoke freeze for at least 30 days before then vacuum pack and flash boil for 10 minutes after packaged...

Carnivores are more apt to have parasites than omnivores or herbivorous... Just like with making jerky... Freezing/boiling kills parasites but only heat kills bacteria...

Well I played today. Wanted to try a few things out and see how they go. Everything was fine until towards the end.





I let the bear have it.

When did the end start?

This is a good blog...here is how she cold smokes fish...

http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/2012/10/cold-smoking-and-canning-salmon.html


Here is the DIY smoker she built...

http://cowgirlscountry.blogspot.com/2008/01/building-cold-smoker-smokehouse.html


Wish she and I were neighbors.

I remember this gal from a homesteading website, years ago.