Title: Smoking Salmon and Trout Part Xi - Pickle Smoked Fish
Categories: Seafood Smoke Info
Yield: 1 Text file

Pickle smoked: fish are pickled before smoking. This is a good way to enhance the taste of lean fish that do not otherwise smoke well.

Prepare and defat skinless fillets: To do this, when you fillet, leave plenty of meat on the backbone where the meat is especially fat. Cut off the belly portion. Skin the fillet leaving about 1/8" meat on the skin. Make cuts on either side of the lateral line, lift it out and discard it. Divide the fillet into pieces of different thickness.

The pickling procedure is similar to corning meats. The flavored sugar-salt brine is weaker than normally used and the fish brined longer to achieve a cured taste. prepare brine in the following proportions: 4 tb mixed pickling spice, 3 cups salt and 2 cups brown sugar per 4 qts water. Keep the brine and fish below 45 deg F at all times. Use a salinometer and maintain salinity at 60 deg minimum at all times adding more salt periodically if needed. Don't over pickle; remove the thinner pieces as they become cured.

PICKLING TIMES

:Fillet thickness Fat Fish Lean Fish : 1/2" 30 hrs 20 hrs : 3/4" 40 hrs 30 hrs : 1" 2 1/2 days 40 hrs : 1 1/4" 3 days 2 days : 1 1/2" 3 1/2 days 2 1/2 days : 1 3/4" 4 days 3 days : 2" 5 days 3 1/2 days : 2 1/2" 6 days 4 1/4 days : 3" 7 days 5 days

Overhaul [stir and move around] the pieces daily to ensure even pickling. When ready rinse off the pieces and let water drain off. Cold smoke at medium density 7 to 10 hours depending on thickness or 30 to 48 hours natural draft depending on thickness and weather. Continue until the flesh is firm enough for slicing. Cool the finished product almost onto freezing before wrapping to prevent sweating and spoilage. Freeze the surplus. Serve as for Lox and Scotch smoked.

Extracted from: Smoking Salmon & Trout by Jack Whelan. Published by: Airie Publishing, Deep Bay, B.C. ISBN: 0-919807-00-3 Posted by: Jim Weller

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