Smoked Smelt?

[chinarider]

Hey all:

Well, I am invited to my first Dip tomorrow - And since I have so very little freezer space (How the heck do people do it? An extra "coffin" in the Garage?), I have decided that whatever I get I'll smoke.

I have searched here and found a couple of recipes on this board - Anyone have any others they haven't posted?

Wet or Dry Brine - the one's Ive seen here have been wet - But I have switched to dry for fish and like it much better.

Chips? I use mostly apple & alder for fish - Good with smelt?

Head/Guts on or off? I have to say, I think I know MY answer to that question! :smile:

Thanks in advance for any responses!

Tom

[Fast Water]

Tom,

Just wing it with this wet brine:

1 cup salt
2 cups dark brown sugar
A few good dashes white wine vinigar
A decent amount of fresh ground pepper
A few good shakes of red pepper
A few good shakes of chilli powder
A few good shakes of Tabasco
A couple shakes of garlic powder
A couple shakes of onion powder
A splash or two of soy sauce
A splash or two of Whoostish..Whoschtcher..Whoostishere..Oh, the other black stuff that is in your fridge
A pinch or two of some green leafy herb in your cabinet that you think would work

Brine for only a couple hours. Dry. Smoke.

I went with 2.5 pans of Alder with a total time of 6 hours. Yummmm! :grin:

Good luck.

[The Overfishin Condition]

Guts out- have you seen what comes out of those things when you clean them?

[ 02-21-2003, 10:07 PM: Message edited by: The Overfishin Condition ]

[Fast Water]

Oh yeah, I would do the guts out, heads off thing too.

:shocked:

[Ras]

Actually, save your time. Smoke 'em whole. When ready to devour, savor the meat off of one side, then you can grab the head and peel skeleton and innards in one stroke. Beats the heck out of pre-cleaning 500 fish. Clean 'em as ya eat 'em! And wash down with some malted bev :grin:

Soaking my batch up tonight :cheers:

Ras

[scrod]

Fast Water,
That seems a fierce a mix without water. I don't think there would be worry of gut taste, or fish. :rolleyes:

[GutshotApe]

Smoke male smelt, only.....guts in, heads on. Some people hang them in the smoker by stringing them on a wire thru both eyes, hang vertically in the smoke. If you're squeamish, you can rip iff the head & most of the guts just before eating them. But, lots of people eat 'em guts, feathers & all.

Don't try this with female smelt. :wink:

[Fast Water]

Scrod,

:laugh:

Well, I suppose you could water it down some. Guess I missed that one.

Add water to taste...... :rolleyes:

[LIV2FISH]

Fast Water, Thanks for the info, going to prepare a batch for smoking today!! :cheers:

[chinarider]

Thanks for all your help so far!

I have one more question - How do you tell the difference between Male and female, besides the presence of eggs?

Tom

[Fast Water]

Quite easy:

Females have rounded bellies that are very smooth.

Males on the other hand have a concave feature below the latteral line and are rough to the touch.

Follow these links:

Oolichan.org (http://www.oolichan.org/)

PSMFC (http://www.psmfc.org/habitat/edu_smelt_fact.html)

HMSC (http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/odfw/devfish/sp/smelt.html)

[ 02-22-2003, 09:48 AM: Message edited by: Fast Water ]