You want smoked fish not baked. Mixed up simple brine of, 1 cup kosher salt, 1 cup brown sugar, 2 tbl pepper corns, 1 tsp cayenne.

A smoked fish brine will keep the delicate meat of the fish from drying out as well as work your seasonings past the skin and into the tender flakes of the fish. For the brine the 2 1/2 gallon mix will do 50 - 60 whitebass, 20 whitefish, 8 salmon or trout. The brine can be simply salt and water. I tend to avoid stronger woods like hickory, oak and mesquite. Even other fish like tilapia and catfish are great smoked with alder wood. Skin it, it will form a second skin during the smoking process. By soaking fish for ten minutes in a sea-salt brine (1 tablespoon sea salt per 4 cups of cold water), he keeps fish on the grate from falling apart. When ready to smoke, set stovetop smoker up with 2 tablespoons of chips between the smoker and the drip pan. Soak in brine 18 to 24 hours then rinse. Leave it there for 4 hours. Pat the fish dry with a paper towel. Brine fish 2-4 hours covered, in the refrigerator. Once your smoker is up to temperature, add cherry or apple wood. But as the fish are not going to be held for … Leave it whole, unless it’s more than 4 or 5 lbs.

I've smoked catfish before and it turns out good I thinks pops brine would just give a better taste it is a oily fish so it doesn't dry out when you smoke it Click to expand... You didn't mention how big or thick the Catfish or Fillets are.

Even if you're not grilling, a quick brine will get rid of the unsightly patches of white albumin that forms on fish when cooking. Take your catfish out of the refrigerator and out of the brine mixture. Over and done in 4 hours is the same as grilling or baking the fish with some smoke flavor added. Plan on 1 tablespoon/15 mL of plain salt, meaning salt without iodine , per cup of water. Got them cleaned and cut into fillets, then soaked in clean water for 24 hrs to get the blood out. Place the bags in a large bowl (just in case they spring a leak) and put it in the fridge. A Great Brine and Smoke – Soy Sauce, Brown Sugar and Seasonings for Salmon, Trout and other Fish Posted on July 7, 2013 by Jack & Barbra Donachy For the past couple of years, our brining and smoking method for salmon, trout, sturgeon and other fish has been the most popular article on our blog. One gallon of brine is enough for 5 to 6 pounds of fillets. Pat dry, then season both sides of each fillet with coarse ground black pepper, freshly ground. Fruit wood like apple and cherry are on the milder side and can work for smoking fish. Put the fillets in brine for 8 hrs, patted dry and let them air dry for 1 hr, while I got the smoker fired and warmed up. PREPARATION: Stir All Purpose Fish Brine in large non-conductive bowl until sugars dissolve. Clean and wash catfish good. Get 2 freezer bags and place about 3 pounds of catfish fillets and ½ gallon of the brine in each of them. Smoke it slow.

The smoking time and temps can't be rushed as the smoking process is designed to slowly remove moisture from the fish and provide the curing process. This does mean that hot smoked fish has a short shelf life and needs to be refrigerated or frozen. Replace cooking grate. Lightly apply Extra Virgin Olive Oil to both sides of the Catfish. Sprinkle Cajun seasoning, salt and pepper all along the top of the fillets and then drizzle hot sauce on top. Remove fish from brine, rinse in cold water and air dry for 10 minutes before smoking. Remove the catfish from the brine and give a quick rinse. Apply Three Little Pig’s Championship Rub to the Catfish. Skin it, cut the head off, and gut it, and wash it.