Smoking Striper

We just did Striper -- we did it with a 5 to 1 brown sugar and Kosher Salt mix -- pat it on and let it sit overnight -- take it out and put on racks with newspaper under it and with fans on them for an hour or so to dry it up a bit then smoke (I followed the 3 men times for smoking) when you take it out put back on racks with newspaper under it and fans on it to cool off. When we were doing the smoking we tested the fish at the time recommended by the 3 men site and some of it needed a little longer than others (thicker I think)-- it seems really moist when you take it out to begin with but it firms up as it cools.

I started the wood smoking at 225 and when the smoke was coming out good -- I turned it back to 140 to finish it up so it didn't seem to cook it as much as smoke it - if that makes sense.

good luck

Thanks for the reply. How big were yours and did you split them in half or filet them before smoking? When I did the whole ones (4 lb'ers) they just turned into mush. I guessed it was from getting too hot and the moisture not being able to get out. It's been awhile since I tried it and I'm not sure what the temp was.

Sort of reminded me of the first time I tried trout and I added Accent to the brine. I quickly found out how dumb this was as it "tenderized" the fish to baby food.

The stripers were about 30 inches -- we did fillet them -- so maybe that did make a difference. Also we patted the brown sugar/salt mix onto the fillets and put in the fridge -- don't know if that is still considered a brine as the only liquid was what came out of the fish themselves - we didn't add any.

You know, I really don't know anything about Striper.
I just thought it was kinda funny that I click on the title to this thread so quickly because I thought it said "Smokin Stripper"

Stripers should be filleted - with the skin ON. I use a brine that is 1 1/2 cups of water, 2/3 cup of pickling salt, and 1/2 - 2/3 cup of pure maple syrup. Leave in the brine (refrigerated) for between 2-4 hours depending on how salty you want the fish. Then rinse of the fillets, put them on oiled rack(s) skin side down, and fan dry until the pellicle forms. That is, the outside becomes dry with a "skin". Dry to the touch. This takes about two hours.

I use apple wood (maybe with a little cherry) and start the smoke at 125. After a couple of hours I raise the temp to 150 and smoke for another 2-3 hours. This results in real hot smoked fish, not just cook/smoked fish and will keep for at least 2-3 weeks in the fridge if vacuum bagged. I smoke Togue, salmon, etc. about the same way. For salmon I use a little more maple syrup in the brine.

Forgot to say in the above post, I smoke salmon with western alder.