fish hangers?

[DocZ]

Hello Fellow Bradley owners! So, I've ordered my 6 tier Bradley. I am very excited about putting it to work on my stores of vac/frozen salmon. A problem in using this machine compared to my (now deceased) reach-in frig conversion smoker is that I will not have the horizontal space for the occasional whole fillets!! (These make a great statement for those holiday presentations, eh?) While I will have the vertical dimension for the job, I am dealing with 4-7lb headless fillets. My question is how to hang these larger fillets without too much aesthetic compromise but confidence that the fish will stay hung?  Obviously I should be able to secure the "hangers" to a tray at the top rack position, but I am curious if anyone has solved this problem with any commercial products designed for this application or invented a usable alternative. Your feedback is greatly appreciated-Rich <`))>><

[Duster]

Docz, Welcome to our family
The guys and gals here will be able to answer your every smoke question :)
One thing I have seen done with sausage is to cut some hardwood dowel rods and place across the top of the cabinet where the top rack would normally set. Remove the rest of the racks so you have plenty of vertical room to hang your fish in. I hope this helps and if not I'm sure others will have different ideas.

[LilSmoker]

Hi and welcome DocZ, i smoke a fair ammount of fish, hot and cold smoked, now with cold smoking, hanging the fish isn't a problem.

I have done this in the past with good results, i use one of the Bradley racks inserted at the highest position, but upside down to create a little more height.
I then hang the fish using meat hooks, and carry out the smoke as usual, this is quite a good method of cold smoking with the Bradley, as it allows the smoke to penetrate the fish from all angles.

However, for hot smoking this isn't always suitable, especially for large heavy pieces/fillets of fish, because as the fish cooks, it obviously becomes more tender, and will usually tear away from the hook.

I have had some success hot smoking in this way, but about halfway through the smoke, i have to removed the fish from the hooks, and place it on the racks, to complete the smoking process.

I've found that leaving the head on whole fish, and hooking through the head will get a firmer hold, and sometimes prevents the fish from tearing.

I recently did some small rainbow trout in this way, and even though small, one of them tore away from the hook as it was cooking  ::)

The only way i think this might work with hot smoking, is if some kind of fish basket, or mesh was used to support the weight of the fish.

Anyway, for cold smoking it will work great.  ;)

LilSmoker

[DocZ]

Thanks for that. I consider my favorite recipe (based loosely on Jack Whelan's book/my bible) to be kippered, as opposed to barbequed or cold smoked. I smoke near 100F, then after three or four hours, I gradually increase the temp to 170-175. You may consider that hot smoked? I was also looking at stainless bacon hangers. See http://www.askthemeatman.com/bacon_hangers.htm. Sharpened enough to penetrate the skin side of the fish I would have 8 points of weightbearing over nine inches. What do you think? Unless someone comes up with a better mousetrap this is probably my best shot?

[iceman]

A little simple trick too is to invert the top rack and use curtain hooks to hang the fish. They are cheap and have nice sharp hooks to go through the skin. Just a thought and alot less than the bacon hooks.

[DocZ]

I wonder if you have used this system for your fish that are brought to 175f to finish, or if you cook your fish at a lower temp? The weight of the fish your hanging would be a factor too, right?  Thanks for the feedback. Rich <`))>><