Need a generic recipe

[terrilb]

Hi everyone...so I gave a Bradley Smoker as a christmas gift. Now, I am looking for a basic Brine for Wild Game....please help....I just want something that every one would have in the kitchen..nothing with wine or anything like that in it....Just omething to enhance the Deer Meat flavor.

So I am also going to ask about Smoked fish, mackerel actually..has any one done this?

[Gizmo]

Try the Recipe site.
[url][http://susan.rminor.com/forums//url]
Click on the "Our Time Tested and Proven Recipes". 
There is a section on Brines and on smoking various type of meat.
Kummok has a recipe for smoked salmon.  I have used it on salmon and yellow fin with excellent results.  I believe it is worthy of any type of fish you would like to throw at it.  You could also modify it to taste.  There are many folks here that will help out as well if you don't find something already here.

[terrilb]

yes & thanks  I searched the site...but...I am looking for something less flashy!  Very basic...so you still get the tase of the fish & deer but with the smoke flavor too....not the flashy brine or cure...any suggestions are welcome

[LilSmoker]

Hi there, this is a very basic brine mix:

1/4 cup kosher or deiodised salt
1/4 cup demerara sugar
4 cups water

Otherwise you can knock up something to suite your personal taste, i do mine as follows, i work out how much water i will need, i use warm water as the salt/sugar dissolves easier, but you will have to cool the brine in the fridge before use.

Ok, pour the water into a suitable and large enough plastic container, gradually add your salt, stirring all the time, take a fresh egg, place it into the salted water, once the egg floats that's enough salt.
Now add demerara sugar to suit your taste, i usually do 50/50 salt and sugar ratio, but you will have to experiment over time with that.
You can add other stuff, garlic powder, worcester sauce whatever to add flavour, but the basic is just salt and demerara sugar.
Personaly i keep my brines fairly simple as i don't like to cloud the natural flavour of the fish/meat too much. Although some flavoured brines are very nice, it's all down to preferences really.
Anyway hope this might help some ;)

Good luck...........LilSmoker

[Oldman]

Mullet / Mackerel  do not need a lot to make it a good fish for smokin'. I like smoked mullet better than mackerel.

However below is an idea you can adjust to your taste.

1 cup Old Bay Seasoning.
1 gallon of water.
* Soak Mullet / Mackerel in this mixture no longer than one hour.
* Rinse and pat dry the Mullet / Mackerel .
* Place Mullet / Mackerel  in refrig for a couple of hours uncovered.

Mix the following together.
paprika,
black pepper,
cayenne pepper,
garlic powder,
onion powder
Just a bit of tarragon
* Mix the above items and sprinkle on fish -- do not coat the Mullet / Mackerel  like a dredge through flour.
* Oil the skin side of the Mullet / Mackerel  then place on rack.
* Smoke at 225 -240 F for 2 hours. (Suggest using oak wood.)

Note: Small Mullet / Mackerel  are better than the big ones... more oil in the meat thus they smoke better.

[terrilb]

thanks these are perfect...will be giving them a try very soon!

[iceman]

That old bay brine sounds interesting Old's. I take it that it's best for an oily fish. I'll have to figure out what fish I can get locally for a decent price and try that.

[Oldman]

I've used Old Bay on flounders before.... and they are not oily at all, but not as a brine.  As seasoning when cooking.