Smoked (not Smoke-Cooked) Trout

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TasunkaWitko

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I'm smoking a bakers dozen of trout today; many of them were caught yesterday, but most were caught over the course of a couple of ice fishing trips last winter, then carefully frozen in blocks of ice after cleaning. All are rainbow trout except for one nice, hard-fighting brook trout that my beautiful bride caught creek fishing yesterday in a great show of drift-fishing skill.

I used a variation of this brine:

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1 cup non-iodized salt*
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup soy sauce**
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. chili powder***
1 Tbsp. garlic salt (optional)****
1 Tbsp. onion powder
3 cups warm water

Mix all ingredients in warm water. Let the brine cool and add the fish. Brine for 4 or more hours. Rinse and air dry. Use 2 or 3 pan-fuls of Apple, Alder or Hickory flavor chips. Keep in the smoker until done. (5 to 7 hours.)

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Here were my variations:

*For some reason, I had no kosher salt, so I used 1/2 cup of coarse Mediterranean sea salt instead.

**I substituted teriyaki sauce in place of soy sauce.

***I substituted Old Bay seasoning, just beacuse.

****I tried a substitute of "Adobo Seasoning" from Goya, which is mostly garlic with added black pepper and oregano.

I brined the trout for about 4.5 hours, and they are currently sitting on racks developing their pellicles before smoking. I'll be using my front-loading Big Chief smokehouse for the actual smoking, and most likely a cherry/alder blend for the smoke itself.

I'm expecting the results to be good, as usual!
 
Here they are, going into the Big Chief:

Smoked%20Trout%20-%2024MAY15%20-%201.jpg


It turns out, I have 12 instead of 13 (one too many beers when counting?), but it's all the same. I generally place the trout on the highest racks possible for the amount of fish I have, with the bigger ones on the lower rack(s) and the smaller ones placed as I go up. I also alternate their alignment and leave plenty of room between each fish/fillet/chunk for even smoke distribution.

The Big Chief should be "up to heat" by now - time to put the wood on to smoke. For this smoke I am using a blend of alder, apple and cherry, all of which I have found to be outstanding for trout.
 
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