First Smoke Of The Season

[Frank_NK28]

Made it home for a week of days off so decided to pull out the smoker and do up a couple trout from this past winter's ice fishing season. Two Rainbows and two Brookies went into the dry brine recipe we like best then into the smoker using maple bisquettes. Four hours later....

[schleprock]

I was told not to freeze trout if I was going to smoke them later as the quality would not be good. Obviously I was given poor advice as yours look fantastic. What’s your method for freezing and then thawing before brining your fish. Thank you in advance.

[trigger7mm]

What brine recipe do you use?

[AlbertanGP]

Looks good.

[Savage Bacon]

Tasty snack

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[Howard Hutchinson]

Man! Looks great

[dr.crentist]

I got mine started this weekend but it was pork and beef ribs

[58thecat]

Dam fine looking meat!

[Frank_NK28]

Originally Posted by schleprock

I was told not to freeze trout if I was going to smoke them later as the quality would not be good. Obviously I was given poor advice as yours look fantastic. What’s your method for freezing and then thawing before brining your fish. Thank you in advance.

I use a metal scouring pad and scrub all the scales and slime off them prior to fileting then put the fillets in a large ziploc freezer bag, fill as full as possible with water and freeze them. When it's time to eat them or smoke them they taste as fresh as the day they were caught and are nice and firm.

[Frank_NK28]

Originally Posted by trigger7mm

What brine recipe do you use?

I use a dry brine of 3 cups brown sugar, 3/4 cup coarse salt, 3tbsps paprika, 3tbsps garlic powder and 1.5tbsps cracked pepper. I brine them 24 hours, then rinse them off under cold running water, pat dry and set out on racks for 1.5 to 2 hrs in a cool breezy spot to form a sticky pelicle then smoke them using maple wood.

[3blade]

Originally Posted by schleprock

I was told not to freeze trout if I was going to smoke them later as the quality would not be good. Obviously I was given poor advice as yours look fantastic. What’s your method for freezing and then thawing before brining your fish. Thank you in advance.

You were told right. Just happens that some palates are more discerning than others, and I don’t mean that as an insult to the OP.

Smoke when fresh, then vac seal and freeze, or pressure can. Much better results

[Savage Bacon]

Originally Posted by dr.crentist

I got mine started this weekend but it was pork and beef ribs

Ohhhh boy that looks good

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[OL_JR]

Looks awesome Frank, pretty sure my palate would be all over that 😁.

[Frank_NK28]

Originally Posted by OL_JR

Looks awesome Frank, pretty sure my palate would be all over that 😁.

My palate and that of the friends I share with have not noticed any difference between smoked fresh or having been frozen beforehand. Want fish to taste fresh after freezing then freeze it encased in water. They also say you should remove the skin after smoking if you are going to freeze it as it makes it strong tasting but I leave it on and have not noticed any strong flavour even when getting to the last of the fish that has been frozen for an extended period. I cut the trout into portion sizes prior to smoking and vacuum seal them individually. They make a great serving size for a quick lunch or snack in the goose blind come hunting season that my hunting partners and I enjoy.