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Cold smoke rainbow trout.

Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2016 15:29
by Butterbean
Took the opportunity to take my boys trout fishing. Can't say we slayed them be we did alright I guess. Had a great time anyway and the scenery was beautiful.

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Nothing like a good meal by the river after a long day fishing.
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Decided to cold smoke the remaining trout along with some Spanish mackerel.

Decided to make them semi-sweet with a mild saltiness so I used this cure mix.


Recipe for Cure Mix:
1 cup canning salt with 1 tsp Cure 1
2 cups turbinado sugar.

Procedure
Filet fish leaving skin on then place in a shallow pan and coat generously with cure mix and leave them to cure for 12 hours or so. Its good to weigh them at this point also. When using a dry cure you will typically lose 14% of the weight from the leached moisture and this decreases the time it takes to become shelf stable if that is your goal. Oh, and when dry curing, many people find when the weight loss is at 18% this is when they are at their best. Maybe not shelf stable but best eating.

In the cure

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After a night's curing.

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Once they have firmed up and had time to cure I rinsed them good and hung in the smokehouse to dry and let them form a pellicle then I applied cold smoke using cherry and pecan.

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After about six hours in the smoke they had formed a thick pellicle and began to sweat some which I've been told is a good sign they are done. Quick taste test confirmed this

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Taste test. Nice flavor. Not salty at all with a sweet tone to them.

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Also noted something worth mentioning. It seems like the Spanish mackerel turned out much sweeter than the trout as if it was somehow able to absorb the sugar easier than the trout. IMO, it is the best tasting which surprised me.

Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2016 19:55
by Rich
Very nice...you may want to surf some of the Alaska blogs on smoking Salmon, very similar...those fillets look amazing ! also, hat's off for takin' the kids out !! :grin:

Cheers,

Rich

Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2016 22:02
by nuynai
Eating the fish is temporary, time spent with kids will last forever. Way to go BB.

Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2016 16:45
by Butterbean
We had a big time. My children are spread out all over the country now so I cherish any time we can spend together. We had a big time fishing.

Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2016 19:52
by Bob K
Where the heck in a warm water state do you find Rainbows? :shock: Looks like you had a great outing :!:

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2016 04:54
by Butterbean
We went up to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Some cold water up there. lol

Youngest son was able to come home for a few days so I took him hunting this afternoon and he bagged this boar. Sadly, he was rank and not fit to eat but we'll be back in the morning so maybe we can get a big fat pig.

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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2016 03:55
by redzed
Hey BB, a couple of questions? First, how did that trout stay on those bacon hooks during the smoking session? I skewered some small pink salmon the same way and most of them fell off because the skin ripped when I have the fillets some heat. :???: :shock: And second, are the wild pigs in your area actual descendants of the European wild boar or are they feral pigs?