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Please respond to this to my email address, as I am not sure I can renegotiate my way back to this site. I really need an answer to this. It is 4:30 a.m. and I just finished a session of smoking mackerel in my "Big Chief" smoker. [I can send photos if you wish.] My results are usually dependable and excellent. Tonight, they are not and I am very, very upset. I caught & killed 5 very nice mackerel and have apparently wasted them. Here's the issue: I believe I may have a problem in the brining solution. I have been smoking fish for > two decades, but never with results like this. Recipe for brining per gallon of water: one cup Kosher salt, 2 cups dark brown sugar (Domino in this case), and a healthy addition of poultry seasoning. Fish were brined ovenight in a refrigerator, then smoked for >12 hours. (My smoking usually requires only 6-8 hours). woods used = hickory, mesquite & mangrove.
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Problem: the fish are not brown as ususal, and the salt taste is less. The taste is even a little "fishy" although though the fish were very fresh -- I caught them myself)They are so bland that I might as well be eating cardboard. I have NEVER had results like this. I have two areas of suspicion. 1- Can this relate to the use of "Kosher" salt, which I have never used before. All published references to Kosher salt that I have seen say it is coarse, but the one I used is not. Maybe it is ground up. But could it be that there is a more basic difference that I do not know? 2- I brined a lot of fish, perhaps 7.5 pounds of meat, in 1 1/2 gallons of brine.
Was this ratio perhaps too low? I never had this problem before, but is there something I should be considering? I will appreciate any help you can provide.
Steve, I feel your pain. Preparing and smoking fish is a great deal of work and time.
Although I don't have near the experience you have with smoking fish, I do fancy myself a bit of a troubleshooter. In trouble shooting problems you start by eliminating whats not wrong. I believe you are correct with your assumptions. You changed the salt. You put a fair amount of fish in to a gallon and a half of water.
Also it seems that you smoked a bit longer than usual. I assume because you were not seeing the browning that you wanted. The most logical explanation would be that the combination of the refined kosher salt and maybe too much fish for the brine hindered the ability of brine solution to penetrate the meat. That could be why the meat did not brown as usual.
The only way to really know is to go back to what you have had so much success with in the past and see what went wrong. I know that I am always trying to improve on things and sometimes I mess up a good thing by doing that.
You did not leave your email address in the body of your question so I do not know where to send this other than back to about.com
Good luck! I hope this helps.
Your friend, the fish Guy,
Greg
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Greg Shreenan
Expertise
I can answer pretty much anything you want to know about fish and seafood.
Experience
I was in the seafood industry for roughly 12 years. I caught / bought / sold and processed all kinds of fish.
Education/Credentials
12 years of on the job training.
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