TL's Fabulous Smoked Trout
by Tony Liddle
Here's my recipe for what I like to call Flash Smoke Trout. I use a New Braunfels barrel
type grill. I don't however use the smoking attatchment, mainly because I like to get things done a little quicker. basically my grill
is a couple of feet deep & 3-4 foot long. I seperate the bottom where the charcoal goes by using large rocks. This allows me to
indierectly cook w/ a convection type process here. I like to use Lump Coal. Mesquite by Lazzaro is my go to charcoal. You can pick
this up @ Safeway for 8 bucks & get a 20 Lb. bag. While your getting your charcoal ready, take a good portion of smoking chips
& soak them in hot water. I prefer Alder, Cherry, Apple, Hickory, Pecan & Peach. You can also use Pistachio shells, or whatever
you wanna try. Don't use softer woods like Pine, they will burn harsh & add a little too much smoke to the fish. Make sure your
coals are white, place the grate on & clean her up. Let the grate sit on w/ the lid down & get your temp adjusted. Once the
temp is adjusted, add you fillets on the side w/out the fire. Also start adding a mixture of dry & wet chips. Sometimes the wet
chips will lower the temp a bit, so you can add them a litttle before this step, or just go w/the flow. I like my temp to not exceed
275 or get below 175 for this type of cooking. I'm going to jump back here a ways. After you get the coals started, you need to @
some point get the fillets ready. Most everyone used a liguis brine, I really don't like my fish to sit in any type of liquid. So
I use what I call a dry brine. I make it up & then rub it on. Cooking time depends on if you want a jucier or jerkier type of
snack. So once again, the first couple times may be trial & error. I could go on w/tiny details for hours here, but would like
a little Q & A on this to not only answer specific questions, but to also let others join in w/ any tips they may have. Below
is a recipe I use.
Brown Sugar
Kosher Salt
Oregano
Tyme
Basil
Marjoram
Rosemary
Dill
Shallots
Crushed Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
Paprika
You can
use a slew of spices here so have fun
Also if you notice I used fresh Tyme, Rosemary, dill & Chives in the pic. below. If you opt
to use fresh spices instead of dry just add the fresh ingredients on top of the fillets instead of adding to the rub mixture. I'm
sure I left some things out here, so add to the list or ask me a question.
