When I was a kid my mom and dad and aunt and uncle used to take us kids up in the mountains to fish for native brookies in Canada. One of the things I will never forget is trout eggs and potatoes cooked outdoors for breakfast.
Trout season just opened in southern PA. I am new to this smoking so I plan to take notes on my smokes to help me get better. Hopefully some of you might find this useful.
Brined 5 trout (heads off tails on – about 10 inches) yesterday in ½ cup salt, ½ cup maple syrup, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 tablespoon black pepper for 2 hours in refrigerator (modified recipe from topchef). When dumping brine noticed not all salt was dissolved. Laid trout on wax paper covered rack and put in the fridge overnight. Top surfaces were nice and dry but bottom still moist – need to place directly on raised rack next time (or maybe try skipping this step?).
Outside temp is mid 40’s and it’s raining. Put trout in smoker for 1 1/2 hours at 200 degrees with lightly charred block of hickory probably about 2 oz. (left over from seasoning the grill). Put grill at level of the temperature probe. Waiting on another control unit as the one I have starts beeping after an hour or so into the cycle but temperature seems to hold an there was a bit of smoke still coming out of the top when I decided to open the door.
Trout came out super golden brown. Skin was probably firmer than you would want to eat but peeled off nicely leaving incredibly moist flesh beneath – at least on the warm one I sampled. Next time I would double the maple syrup and brine for another hour. Also add more pepper. Would not be afraid to go 2 hours on the smoking and add a little more Hickory. The wood was reduced to ash so a little more wood would probably not hurt. The meaty portions of the fish were mild in smoke flavor – not much but you could tell it was there. The ribs were more pronounced in smoky flavor – about the way I would like it.
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