Hello

I am looking for a great recipe for smoked trout.I have done them a few times, but am looking for a new recipe that will make people say wow.

I use High mountain's fish brine for all my fish, there are several kinds. I brine my fish around 18 to 24 hours, depending on how thick the fish is, rinse, pat it dry and let it set at room temp. while I get my 008 set up. I use little wood, but that is up to you and your taste. I also use a temp. probe to monitor the internal temp. of the fish. I have done salmon, walleye, trout and many different types of pan fish, and they all came out great, in fact, my friends are giving me their fish to smoke and pay me by letting me keep some.
Good luck, and if you find other recipes that work out for you, please let me know.

Hope you see this - easiest and very good smoked trout & salmon - I use it all the time, and think I first saw the method on this forum.

All you have to do is cover the fillets with rock salt for an hour (in the refrigerator), rinse thoroughly, and hot smoke. They can be dried to form a pellicle to make them look better before smoking, but I seldom do that. I smoke till done and have fresh smoked trout / salmon in 3 to 4 hours from putting into the Cookshack. This method pulls a lot of moisture from the meat and results in a nice firm end product. I do it skin on and when done slide a spatula between the meat and skin to seperate. So easy it is worth a try, and once you do you won't go back to the old long soak method.

Amazing smoked trout? Super easy.

Get a plastic bin of some sort, and dump in 2 liters of water, 2 pounds of brown sugar, a cup of salt and a cup of real maple syrup (not the aunt jemima shit.)

starting along the back of the filet, cut it into strips about a half inch thick, running from the neck to the tail. put the strips in the brine for a day, refrigerated.

pull it out, rinse it, pat it dry, and if you want, crack some pepper over the the pieces.

put it in the smoker, the key factor being this: flesh on the rack. if you put the skin down, the smoke doesn't do as good a job.

use whatever type of wood you like. i'm currently toying with apple, cherry and sugar maple mixed. i use lots of wood, but your method may vary.

get an empty spray bottle and fill it halfway with maple syrup, maybe a bit of honey (not critical, but cool if you've got some) and top it off with water. spray the fish with this while it's in the smoker. every half hour to an hour.

i usually do it for 8-10 hours at 130. you can cut it short if you want a more moist fish, and do it longer if you want a drier one.