# smoking ?



## wildlife chaser (Mar 4, 2005)

i would like to try smoking some fish. have been doing some reading and keep reading about soaking fish in a brim. like i said i'm new to smoking does anyone have any advise.


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## Linda G. (Mar 28, 2002)

I do a lot of smoking, especially when it's time to clean out the freezer. Smoked up some lake trout yesterday, today it's pheasant, and tomorrow I'm going to do a fall turkey. 

All I do is marinate the meat for a day or so in cherry or apple juice, sometimes I'll throw in some flavored brandy or some bourbon. I get the smoker out, load it up with charcoal, preferably straight or hickory, then after the fire burns down add some wet and green (not dry wood, it has to be green) apple, cherry, or maple twigs that I trimmed the day before and soaked for at least a day or two. The maple adds a slightly sweet flavor, you can also get that from adding maple syrup to your marinade. 

I use the base marinade I soaked the meat in for a water base, then throw the meat on the grill after the fire has burned down and the smoke's rising. 

A couple of hours is more than sufficient for fish, a bit longer for meat, I bone all the meat out first. 

No liquid smoke or salt, or anything like that, although if you like the flavor those ingredients add, go for it. 

You can throw your smoked meat back in the freezer if you're not likely to use it right away, and pull it out for use at will in salads, soups, gravies, or as an appetizer for a meal. 

Good luck, have fun.


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## 2PawsRiver (Aug 4, 2002)

Linda has some good advise there and you can also do a search in recipies and there are alot of threads on smoking fish....good luck


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## Big Nic (Apr 23, 2004)

WC ,

Have done a ton of smoking over the years and I marinate all my stuff in a brine for between hours and days in the fridge depending on the fish/meat !

For a basic brine solution the oldtimers used to say enough salt to float an egg,
Well I use the basic 1/4 cup of Kohser salt (*NOT TABLE SALT* ) per quart of water. then I add any spices that I like on the particular food I am smoking .
I pretty much put some garlic on everything:lol: 

For anything that I want a slightly sweet flavor on ( ribs ) I modify my basic Brine to 1/4 cup Kohser salt + 1/4 cup Brown Sugar per quart of water.

I also use a charcol smoker and I use almost exclusively Hickory to smoke with 
Since I can't always get fresh (green) Hickory I got a bunch on hand and I just soak it in water for an hour to wet it up some , it usally doesn't dry enough to burn till its real small .

If you use these basic Brine solutions to marinate you won't be sorry and they work really well with any type of foods . Good Luck and let us know how you do on your smokin' .


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## wildlife chaser (Mar 4, 2005)

thanks for the advise i'm going to try something this weekend if the weather lets me


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