Smoked Bluefish

[mikemontauk]

Good Morning. I will be smoking Bluefish today.We caught these yesterday and took great care in the process. Fillets look great, and they are big.  Pics of the process to come. My quick question is on temp. Some people go 200 for an hour then bring it down to 150. Others stay at 150 for the duration. Still others go 150 for 2 then bring it up to 200, thinking that the lower temp will allow more smoke.
Here is what I would like to accomplish. A nice crusty outer layer that will, when broken up by flaky. Please chime in if you have an opinion.
For people not familiar with bluefish. They are an oily fish.
Regards,
Mike

[ragweed]

I am by no means an expert, but I smoked some N. Pike a while back and I liked the way it turned out. Sorta like you're looking for.  Kinda followed Kummok's recipe with the brining and pellicle formation.  Then smoked using alder.
100 - 120* F for 1 hr.
140* F for 2 hrs
175* F for 1 hr

[Habanero Smoker]

It looks like you tried to upload your pictures directly from your desktop.

For forums you need to upload your pictures to a photo hosting site such as Photobucket. The below link will walk you through setting up a Photobucket account, and how to post pictures from that account.

Posting Pictures

[mikemontauk]

Thank you for the pic posting tutorial.
I did one batch in Teryaki/Agava, Powdered Ginger& Garlic. The second batch a more traditional: Water, Brown Sugar, A touch of kosher salt, soy, worcestshire, crushed bay leaves.
Both soaked from Midnight to 6am.
Cherry was what I had. (Research said strong fish, strong wood, fruity better?)
Started both batches hot: 200 for 1 hour.
Brought them down to 150 for 4 hours.
They were both moist, and the teryaki had a nice glaze on top.
I put some paprika on the fillets of the traditional brine.
I liked the consistency and the dip that they made was great.
Handed a ton to neighbors and froze some.

This site has been very helpful most importantly encouraging the experimental.
Thanks
Mike