How to Smoke Fish at Home
How to Smoke Fish at Home – Step #1
The first step you’ll take to smoke fish at home is to select your fillet. Salmon works extremely well in a smoker as do Cod, Trout, Catfish and Haddock. Once you’ve selected the fish you want to smoke, prepare it by removing bones, etc.
How to Smoke Fish at Home – Step #2
Now that you have a prepared fillet, the next step to smoke fish at home is to cure it. That’s right. Before being smoked, fish needs to be cured. Here’s a simple solution for curing fish.
Combine 1 cup salt, 2 tablespoons black pepper (freshly ground is best), �½ cup white sugar and �½ cup brown sugar. Put into a lidded jar and shake to thoroughly combine.
How to Smoke Fish at Home – Step #3
The next step to smoke fish at home is to place a large sheet of aluminum foil (a few inches larger than the fillet on each side) on a flat working surface. Over the foil, place a large piece of plastic wrap, about the same size as the foil.
How to Smoke Fish at Home – Step #4
The next step to smoke fish at home is to sprinkle some of the curing mixture on the plastic wrap so that the bottom of the fish fillet will be saturated when we put it down. Place the fillet on top of the plastic wrap and cover the top with the cure mixture.
How to Smoke Fish at Home – Step #5
The next step to smoke fish at home is to fold the plastic wrap over to encompass the entire fish fillet and make sure it’s wrapped as tightly as possible. Then, fold the foil over and roll up one end nice and tight. Also, make sure the seam in the middle of the foil is pulled tight. The remaining end, we will leave open a bit to give the juice a place to escape. It doesn’t need to be gaping open, just don’t roll it as tight as the other end.
How to Smoke Fish at Home – Step #6
Put the cured fish bundle into a baking pan and set on the lowest shelf of your refrigerator. You’ll need some sort of flat object such as a cutting board to put on top of the fish for compression. Weigh this down with large cans of vegetables or some other heavy object. Compressing the fish will help it take the flavor of our cure. Allow the fillets to cure for at least 24 hours in the refrigerator, turning the fish about half way through the curing process. This will add flavor and texture when we smoke fish at home.
How to Smoke Fish at Home – Step #7
The next step you’ll take to smoke fish at home, after you’ve cured for 24 hours, is to completely rinse the cure from the fish. Just unwrap the bundle of fish and rinse in your sink. Make sure you rinse thoroughly.
Now, dry the fish in a cool, dry place by placing it in front of a fan, open window or letting it air dry if you have to (only in a cool area, not your hot kitchen). Drying in the fridge won’t work because of the moisture.
How to Smoke Fish at Home – Step #8
Now we’re ready to start smoking. The first step to make our simple smoker is to get our materials together. We’ll need a cardboard box; any size will do but try to make it proportionate to your fish fillets. If you’ve got large fillets, you don’t need a tiny box. We’ll also need two dowels, about Ã?¼ inch if possible.
Hardwood is also a necessity. Do not use soft woods for smoking as the flavor it produces won’t be a good one. You can use hardwood chips of any kind that have been soaked in water or even hardwood sawdust for smoking.
The remaining supplies needed to smoke fish at home are a small cast iron skillet to hold your wood chips or sawdust, a grill rack or other metal rack to hold your fish fillets, an electric burner or hot plate, two probe thermometers, extra aluminum foil and a small electric fan (a portable, personal fan will work just fine).
How to Smoke Fish at Home – Step #9
Now, we’re ready to start constructing our simple fish smoker to smoke fish at home. First, punch two holes in each side of the cardboard box, big enough for the dowels to fit through but not big enough to leak a lot of smoke. Insert the dowels into the box and out the other side. This will make a shelf to hold your smoking rack.
How to Smoke Fish at Home – Step #10
Cut a small doorway in the side of the box to slide the pan full of chips or dust through. Make sure you don’t make it to small and that it opens easily towards you. Put the electric burner in the box through the doorway, making sure you can reach the temperature dial.
How to Smoke Fish at Home – Step #11
Fill the skillet with wood chips or sawdust and then place on the electric burner. Turn the heat on high. Cover the top of the pan with a sheet of aluminum foil that you’ve poked many holes in. This will protect from dripping while still allowing the smoke to escape.
Put the small electric fan inside the bottom of the box via the doorway on the opposite side of the pan. You don’t want to point the fan directly at the pan but do turn it on and point it at the side of the box.
How to Smoke Fish at Home – Step #12
The next step to smoke fish at home is to put the fish fillets on the rack and put the rack on the dowels in the box. Take the first probe thermometer and punch it through the side of the box and then stick it into the fish fillet. It’s best to stick it in the thickest part of your fillet. Set the temperature for approximately 150 degrees.
How to Smoke Fish at Home – Step #13
Stick the second thermometer through the side of the box and let it hang on the inside. This way, you’ll know the air temperature inside the smoker. Set the temperature to 150 degrees. When it reaches this temperature inside the smoker, you can turn the heat down on your hot plate. You don’t want the temperature to get to high.
How to Smoke Fish at Home – Step #14
The final step you’ll take to smoke fish at home is to close the top of the cardboard box and secure with a rock or brick. Turn on the hot plate and let the smoking begin. Keep a close eye on the temperatures on both of your thermometers. And, remember not to let the air get too hot inside the smoker.
If the smoker stops smoking, you’ll need to add more wood chips or sawdust to the pan via the handy trap door you cut earlier. Don’t forget to dump the ashes into an ash bucket or other heat proof container before adding more material.
How to Smoke Fish at Home – Step #15
You can smoke the fish for as long as you want but several hours is ideal. Just make sure you maintain the proper temperatures. Once you’ve had your fill of smoking, remove the smoked fish and serve!
