# Hot smoked Mackerel, Sea Bass and Trout



## Bolas De Fraile (May 8, 2011)

These are for dinner tonight, I am just letting them cool so I can peel and bone them later. I used a simple brine as I forgot to dry salt them last night as Goodweed suggested.


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## taxlady (May 8, 2011)

Does hot smoking make the food taste like cold smoked, only cooked?

I'm trying to understand the design of your BBQ. Have I got this right? The grate/basket that holds the food rotates sort of like a gimbal when the lid goes up or down?


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## Dawgluver (May 8, 2011)

OMG, those look fantastic!  Drool rag, please.


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## forty_caliber (May 8, 2011)

Looks great!!!!

.40


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## PrincessFiona60 (May 8, 2011)

Yum...that looks fantastic...want smoked fishes!


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## West Texan (May 8, 2011)

Looks awesome, haven't done a lot of fish here. Just once I tried cedar plank smoked salmon.


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## Bolas De Fraile (May 9, 2011)

taxlady said:


> Does hot smoking make the food taste like cold smoked, only cooked?
> 
> I'm trying to understand the design of your BBQ. Have I got this right? The grate/basket that holds the food rotates sort of like a gimbal when the lid goes up or down?


To a degree Tax yes to me it does the texture is different.
Yes that's how the lid works.
I am trying to find out where and when I can buy some eels to smoke, hot smoked eel is the best of all.


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## Bolas De Fraile (May 9, 2011)

Thanks for the kind comments, the flavor of the sea bass was incredible.
We ate all the fish last night with a good salad some lancashire "black" new potatoes and good bread, I had my first alcohol for 14 weeks with it and pint of cold dry cider
West Tex  would you be so kind as to explain the salmon on wood method, I can obviously google it but would prefer a hands on explanation so I can avoid the pit falls
Tonight if the weather holds its a whole chicken.


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## buckytom (May 9, 2011)

wow, bolas. those look incredible. i'm going to be trying smoked trout soon. did you use a brine?

i can't speak for our texas bros, but wood plank grilled, often cedar or alder wood, is sort of what it sounds like.

you put the fish on a plank of the desired wood that is a good bit larger than the fish. it'placed over hot coals so the plank burns and smokes, giving flavour to the fish resting upon it but not actually burning the fish.
by closing the lid, the hot smoke circulates and cooks the fish via the ambient temps.


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## Selkie (May 9, 2011)

I am so jealous of your smoked trout!!! Drool!!!!


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## Bolas De Fraile (May 10, 2011)

Thanks for the advice Tom, I use chunk of old Jack Daniels Whisky barrels that I soak in water then add to the burning charcoal to make the smoke.
The planking method, is this to stop the salmon sticking to the grill more than smoking the fish as it seems a more complex and risky method.
Ps we hope to pick up some bigger Mackerel today and I may buy some farmed salmon to plank, I will then have to find a suitable plank which may mean chainsawing a piece of next winters  firewood.


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## buckytom (May 10, 2011)

thanks bolas mate, hey you said tom without mate. our first lovers quarrel...lol.

btw, i should have added that a plank can be  1/64 to 1/4 inch thick ( don't you love avoirdupois?) depending on how quickly you want to cook it (depending upon the ambient temp of the stove, broiler, or grill-the higher the heat, the smaller the wood) and how many times you might use the plank.

oh yes, there is no sticking at all, and unless you flip the fish, the skin will be, for better lack of a term, kinda ooky. if cooked properly, the meat will slide off the skin easily for plating.

i find it's best to cook the fish to desired temp/texture through (my guess is you like mediym rare) peel off the still soft skin, chop and fry the skin. fried fish skin is delicioso.


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## Bolas De Fraile (May 10, 2011)

Darling you are so insecure, to your trick question Avril Du Pois is just a friend, I hope that removes the weight of worry from your mind mate.
Ps I am the David Nash of wood cutting.Nashers the beast of Blaenau Ffestiniog taught me how to sharpen my chain.


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## justplainbill (May 10, 2011)

Chain saw chains are lubricated with an oil that may leave undesirable oil residue in the wood being cut.


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## Bolas De Fraile (May 11, 2011)

Thanks for the heads up Bill mate, I did not think of that. Stilh oil is very expensive over here. I have a electric hand held panel saw but it scares me.When I buy a box of Manx Kippers the wood of the box is about a 1/4" thick and because of the cold smoked herring inside it smells very smokey, would that do.


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