Recipe for smoking kokanee?

[gone2hunt]

I have a few dozen kokanee left over from our spring break trip to LBC. I searched the Recipe Thread and didn't see one for Kokes. Does anybody have a favorite that they are willing to share?

G2H

[Salmonator]

Originally Posted by gone2hunt

I have a few dozen kokanee left over from our spring break trip to LBC. I searched the Recipe Thread and didn't see one for Kokes. Does anybody have a favorite that they are willing to share?

G2H

Somebody (pilar? puffin?) posted a smoked albacore belly recipe years ago. It was a sprinkling of rock salt, let sit for a half hour, rinse and smoke. I started doing this with everything else, kokanee fillets included and have never used a brine since. Really lets you enjoy the flavor of the smoke. It takes a try or two to get the amount of rock salt down, especially for thin fillets like kokanee.

[fishonjon]

High mountain AK salmon brine.Half cup of wine soak, pat dry,grind pepper, smoke

[Salmonslayer2]

This is what I do
I use MORTON TENDERQUICK Found in a blue bag in the salt area of most food stores. I sprinkle a good amount of MORTON TENDERQUICK on the fish and then some brown sugar. Then I put it in the refrigator. The time depens on how thick your fish is. 1 to 1 1/2 hours thin and 3 hours for thick. If it was a chinook I would go over night. maybe 8 hours. you will notice that some juices will come out of the fish. When the time is up rinse your fish well. and then smoke and enjoy. I have a lot of people tell me my smoked fish is the best. I have wanted to try something else but people till me no.
Good luck Larry

[Aufish101]

Here is the one I use, It's a wet brine.
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 or 3/4 cup of salt
1 tablespoon of seasoning salt
1 tablespoon of garlic salt
1 tablespoon of lemon pepper
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1/4 cup of molasses
2 to 4 drops of liquid smoke
Now some optional stuff,
1/4 of maple syrup or honey
1 tablespoon of sea salt

Put all ingredients in a large glass bowl, add 1 1/2 quarts of water, mix till all ingredients are dissolved. Add fish. I like to brine over night. After brining, remove fish, rinse with fresh clod water, pat dry, place on racks(coat racks with Pam or canola oil to prevent sticking). Let stand one hour before placing in smoker. During this time I sprinkle on some Cayenne pepper. Not too much or alls you will taste is the pepper. You can put on some lemon pepper instead of the cayenne. Smoke to you taste. I use about three pans of chips. I use a little chief smoker.

Aufish101

[Smalma]

I use the same recipe for most of my smoked fish which with kokanee turns out great.

I use a dry brine of just rock salt (make sure it is clean or use pickling or kosher salt) - place the fillets in a large contianer meat side up and sprinkle well with the salt, layer the fish and salt as needed. Refrigrate over night (the fish will make its own brine) and then rinse the fillets with cold water - the longer you rinse the fish the less salty they will be. You may need to test the first fillet - after rinse test its saltness by lick it; if too salt rinse some more and once you determine the approx.v time needed to achieve the correct saltness. Use that rinse time for the rest of the batch. With a little practice you will probably will have the rinse time down pat.

After rinsing I place the fish on cookie sheets cover. Sprinkle the fillets with a generous coat of brown sugar and then some lemon pepper (to taste). I allow the fillets to air dry for 45 minutes to an hour while I prepare the smoker.

Usually use a little and/or big chief smoker depending on how much fish I'm doing. I like hickory or apple for chips. It usually takes 5 hours or so to smoke a batch depending on the temperature and humidity and I like to add fresh chips to the pan every 45 minutes or so (at least 4 or 5 pan fulls).

I usually put the larger fillets on the lower racks though I prefer to bar-b-que the larger fish (those over 15 inches) and fine the smaller ones make for a nice consistent smoked product

Once the fish is done I let it cool on the smoker racks, remove and place on the cookie sheets again to allow to dry a bit more (to set up some of the oils and I may use a dry paper towel to sop-up some of the puddles of oil.

Nearly everyone agrees that the final product is great smoked fish and even so-so fish eaters typically ask for more. During the season I typically smoke fish nearly every week and darn little of it ever makes it to the freezer.

Tight lines
Curt

[gone2hunt]

Thanks for the replies. Time to get busy smoking.

[MarlinMark]

Keep it simple. Use rock salt 2:1 with brown sugar. Dry rub. Layer fish in a dish like lasagna in the rub. It will juice up quite a bit. Stir or fold everything around a few times in the 12hour soak time.

Remove from brine and towel off. Let sit on racks with a fan blowing on them until they get a good pellicle (dry layer.) And then smoke with alder chips.

Mark