OK all you mullet deprived Cookshakians- here is a newbies first effort at smoking up 3 of these little dudes.

My first shot is of the mullets going into the Smokette. I used about 2 oz of apple wood, and cooked them at 190 degrees for 1 hour. They were sprinkled with pepper, paprika, onion powder and a touch of cayenne pepper. About as simple as you can get, wouldn't you say?



And, here they are plated up and ready for consumption.



The mullet is an oily fish with surprisingly delicate and moist white flesh. Most of the bones are large enough to locate before you choke on them . Mullet have a distinctive flavor and are eaten fried or smoked in Florida. When smoked, it is not necessary to remove the scales of the fish. We use mullet heads to fish for Tarpon around here, and Snook love small live mullet.

The ones cooked today had delicious flesh, but developed very little surface crust. When I opened the CS at 1 hour, the cavities and indentations on the fish had juices in them, and this may have kept a crust from forming? I think, the moistness of the fish would be amenable to a longer cook.

Now some questions. Do any of you with CS fish smoking experience think that a lower temp cook for a longer time might help develop this desireable surface crust? On the other hand, how would a higher temp for less or about the same time do?

My impression on this cook: Delicious tasting, wonderful aroma, done just right but lacking in surface texture. You can judge the appearance from my pictures.

Would I do them again? You betcha!

It had liquid cuz you didn't form the pellicle, like I explained on the other thread. The pictures are great and made my mouth water!

Put a fan or a good breeze on them until the surface is dry. And brine for an hour or less, then dry. You'll get the surface crust...I promise!

Andi-

Thanks for the tip! I have smoked mullet in water smokers (electric and gas) and never had a problem with forming a crust.

For 3 small fish, what ratio of salt, sugar and water would you suggest for the brine?

2 c. canning salt to 1 c. packed brown sugar to one gallon water.