Smoking fish – Get a smoker and fill your summer with tasty fish!
Smoking is a popular method for preparing, particularly in the summertime, and the reason is obvious – smoked fish is an amazingly tasty and succulent food that few people can resist. Fish has traditionally been smoked using a wood-fired smoker, where the fish is cooked slowly, without hurry. Smoker bags offer a quick modern solution, allowing you to smoke fish in a regular grill. Another quick smoking method is the use of a smokebox, which is placed onto a grill or over a fire to heat up. Today, the most popular option however is an electric smoker that enables you to smoke fish effortlessly. Whatever your preferred smoking method, Happy Angler offers suitable smokers for each need.
Using an electric smoker
An electric smoker is the most practical option, and they are also very easy to use. You should keep in mind that an electric smoker is only suitable for outdoor use. The electric smoker has a dedicated grate or tray for the wood chips or dust used in smoking, of which alder is the most popular kind. You can also use oak, applewood, or cherry wood dust to provide a slightly different aroma to your smoked fish. The most important thing is to ensure that you use enough dust provide a decent aroma. Before you start smoking, you should check that the chips or dust are moist, as using dust that is overly dry may lead to the lid of the smoker popping open during smoking.
The ideal smoking temperature of a smoker is quite low, typically maxing out at approximately 100 degrees Celsius. The reason for this is to ensure that there is sufficient time to produce enough smoke and prevent the fish from drying in the smoker. The smoking time depends on the size of the fish. Smaller fish are generally ready in 20–30 minutes, while larger fish take 50–60 minutes to cook.
Fish suitable for smoking
In Finland, salmon is a popular smoked fish. Many people believe that fatty fish are particularly suited for smoking. Thus, rainbow trout, European whitefish, and vendace are also commonly cooked by smoking. Today, some people prefer to smoke less fatty fish, which is why zander and perch, for example, have become increasingly popular in smoking in recent years. As the options are varied, we recommend smoking different fish to find out your personal preferences.
Tips for smoking salmon and other fish
Smoking is ultimately quite an easy way to prepare tasty food. Here are a few small tips that will help you get started quickly with smoking and ensure delicious results. Fish can be smoked whole or as fillets in the smoker. It is advisable to first try smoking smaller whole fish or fillets, and then moving onto large whole fish. Instead of scaling the fish, you can just gut it before smoking. With smoking, it is important to ensure that you only smoke fresh fish, as even a smoker cannot rescue a fish that has passed its sell-by date.
The ensure the best possible results, salt the fish before smoking using sea salt or brine; both options have their supporters. Some people prefer salting their fish after smoking. This means immersing the fish in heated, approx. 10% brine for ten minutes on average. As an example, you can salt salmon before smoking by sprinkling sea salt onto both the flesh and skin sides of a room temperature salmon at least two hours before smoking. You should take the thickness of the fish into account in the salting; the tail section will require less salt than the front half of the fish. Before you place the fish into the smoker, wipe off the extra salt that has not dissolved into the flesh.
The smoking time of salmon, as well as salmon fillets, depends on the size of the fish smoked at each time, and may range from approximately 25 minutes for a piece of fillet to 60 minutes for a whole salmon. This means that compared to a whole salmon, the smoking time of an average European whitefish is shorter. The smoking temperature should be kept below 100 degrees Celsius for salmon, and if you are using a cooking thermometer, the internal temperature of cooked salmon is approximately 65 degrees Celsius.
Get a smoker and fill your summer with tasty fish!
Do you enjoy eating fish? If so, have you thought about purchasing your own smoker that would allow you to enjoy warm, succulent, freshly smoked fish whenever the urge strikes you? Or has your old smoker come to the end of its road? A smoker is always a sensible and affordable investment in terms of the tasty experiences it provides. Get your own smoker and ensure that your summers are filled with the intoxicating scent of freshly smoked fish that is enough to bring any family member or friend running to the dinner table.
