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6 replies

Steelhead Trout Help?

T tomMember
Mornin', Andi.

When my meat manager found out I was cooking for the firehouse and ambulance station,he decided to donate.

He gave us about 12 lbs. of Johnsonville fresh sausage links,which was no added problem,to go along with the butts and yardbirds.

He happened to be cutting Steelhead Trout fillets,so he packaged us up about 10 lbs.

This was Friday night. I essentially used your dry brine in the refigerator for 12 hrs. like I have done before .

I washed and scrubbed them well in cold water and then let them set about 45 mins. in cold fresh water.

I paper towel dried and left them on my racks under the fan for almost 5 hrs.,until I had a good pellicle.

I started up the CS with 3 oz. hickory at 240� until I had a good smoke and then I put the racks of trout in and soon reduced to 150�.

I wasn't expecting to have heavy smoke,but I wasn't getting much at all.

I cooked about 5 hrs. to 150� internal and removed . We ate some hot and they had a stronger than expected salty after taste and very little smoke...We tightly packed and refrigerated overnight....We ate some cold on Sunday morning and still had too much salt for our taste.

Before going over to the cookout I decided to baste with maple syrup,a little cayenne and smoke over 2 oz. of hickory for an hour at 180�-190�.I started it smoking well before I put the cold ,cooked trout back in.

I figured maybe I could mask the salty with some sweet and warm and they would believe it was a smoked Cajun snack.

It went over fine[of course it was free],but I wasn't pleased.

Whatcha think,Andi....Was it something about steelhead trout or do you spot something easy I missed.

Thanks.
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FM Former Member
Tom: Dry brine for only about 45 minutes for Steelhead. 12 hours is too long. Or, try this:

Brine in 1/4 c. canning salt or curing salt in 1 gallon water for 4 hours. Rinse, not soak, and dry well. Then cover with about 1/2 c. brown sugar, 1/2 c. oil, and some dry crushed herbs...marjoram is great with trout...about a tsp. Rub into the fish and smoke with 2 oz. hickory until done to your dryness. I like it very moist. Only a couple of hours.

Or, wet brine w/Italian Salad Dressing all made up, thinned w/a little white wine and some fresh cracked pepper and garlic. Marinate for about 45 minutes, no more. Smoke to your preferences.

Or, don't brine at all. Brush with oil and after an hour of smoking, brush with maple syrup or even pancake syrup, or white wine, or oj, or brandy/whiskey mixed in with the syrup.

Wink
FM Former Member
I use a slight variation of the dry brine recpie from one of the Cookshack cookbooks. This brine is very simple and requires no rinsing or any other messing around. Everyone who has eaten my smoked fish just loves it and one of the most common comments is how it isn't too salty like most other smoked fish they have eaten. Here is the dry brine I use.


    1 Cup Salt
    1 Cup Brown Sugar
    1 teaspoon Thyme
    1 teaspoon Cayanne Pepper
    1 teaspoon Morton's Tender Quick




Apply a liberal coating of this to both sides your fish and then set on racks in front of a fan until you get the pellicle. I have also used this cure overnight in the refrigerator with no problems.

As for the smoking... I usually smoke fillets or steaks for 1 hr. at 225 then turn off the smoker and let the fish sit for an additional 30 mins. I always use 2 oz. of Apple wood.
T tomMember
Thanks guys for the responses.

Jim,I've used Andi's 2 to 1 canning salt to brown sugar on Alaskan Salmon and did fine.

The trout looked pretty fatty,and I was pushed for time.

I usually wouldn't brine trout at all,just zesty Italian dressing and some Cajun spices' but was intending to carry it over to the next day as a cold snack with crackers,jalepeno poppers,and beer cheese.

I just went by the firehouse and they all thought it was great,but they sure were thirsty all night. Big Grin

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