Halibut Smoking

[Captainslug]

A buddy of mine gave me 6 fillets of Sockeye and 7 pieces of Halibut to smoke for him. He was fishing off the west coast a couple of weeks ago.  I will be using Kummok's recipe for the Sockeye but any suggestions for the Halibut? 

Also, everything is frozen in vac packs.

Also, I was thinking of switching white pepper in half the amount of the cayenne.  He doesn't like anything spicy.   Any comments?

[stillsmoking]

Captainslug, I smoke halibut from time to time but regret that I don't have a specific recipe to pass along.  Halibut is delicate white meat fish and needs to be treated differently from salmon or some of the other stronger flavored fishes.  Not sure what size halibut your meat came from but I can tell you the smaller halibut are much sweeter and delicate as far as brining/smoking process goes.  I like to use apple juice or white wine as a base for my brine and then add other flavors as desired.  From my experience you can't go wrong with garlic, onion, dill, chipolte and freshly ground black pepper in the proportions that please your palate.  Not very specific I realize but the truth is that halibut takes on flavors quickly but can also be oversmoked or overcooked very easily.  I like apple and alder mixed to keep things light, obviously larger halibut offer larger fillets and take more time than the smaller fillets.  Recipes for other white meat fish such as catfish, walleye, perch and so on are somewhat transferable but halibut when it is properly harvested offers a sweetness that the others can't match and is easily overdrove by too many spices and too much time drying in the smoker.  Hope this helps in some way pardner, please share the result of what you ultimately decide to do!

[Captainslug]

thanks for the info.  From what I understand the fish were in the low 40's for weight.  the steaks are about an inch and a half thick.  I'll experiment and let you know.

thanks

[Slamdunk]

Smoking is more difficult with halibut meat than it is with salmon, due to its ultra-low fat content. Eaten fresh, the meat has a very 'clean' taste and requires little seasoning. Halibut is also noted for its very dense and firm texture, akin to chicken.

I just had some on the W/E - my friend and his son caught a 172 LB'r and a 96 LB'r as well as some smaller "chickens" which offer the best meat in my opinion.

Don't over cook it. It will be done when the meat can be separated, or flaked, with a fork or knife.