Newbie Q's

nwringneck · July 07, 2005, 09:52:42 PM

Just registered here today. Love the smoker but....

I've had the BSSS for a year or so and have smoked fish in it many times. I can not keep the fish skin, mostly whole Kokanee or Whitefish fillets, from sticking to the racks. I have both the original and non-stick racks. I use PAM on them before the fish is loaded. I rotate the racks after each hour. I'm cooking 100+ for the first hour and 150-175 for the second hour then cool down again to finish. When i try to remove the fish they are stuck to the racks. Most seem to be stuck in the first hour when I rotate the racks I try to turn them over. This tears up an otherwise beautiful smoked fish. Makes them look bad.

I searched some of the foums but was not able to find help.

Any suggestions??

Brad/nwr

Oldman · July 08, 2005, 01:30:19 AM

nwringneck,

There a many fish smokers on this board. However, this is posted in the wrong forum and they may not see it. There is a Fish forum

I'm going to post on the correct forum your request with a link back to this posting...

EDIT Ok the link is posted. Now you will need to check both this thread and the one I created.

Its link is: http://www.bradleysmoker.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2022

Olds

nwringneck · July 08, 2005, 02:24:37 AM

[:I]Sorry, thanks for the help. I'll watch over there now.

Brad/nwr

jon s smokhouse · July 08, 2005, 04:19:46 AM

I have the same problem when smoking with skin on, but when I smoke larger fish and smoke without the skin there is no problem... Just wondering how the fish would turn out if smoked with the skin up....

nwringneck · July 08, 2005, 04:53:25 AM

Thanks jsm, never thought of that (meat side down on fillets) but the main fish I smoke is Kokanee, landlocked Sockeye Salmon. They are small (12 to 14 inches)and I smoke them whole so I need to figure out a way to keep them from sticking. I though that the non-stick(sp) coated racks would solve the problem but there is no differance in the sticking from the original racks. Any other ideas?

Brad/nwr

MallardWacker · July 12, 2005, 09:17:22 PM

nrw,

Are we talking RING NECK DUCKS?????

SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know. But...

Habanero Smoker · July 12, 2005, 10:48:27 PM

I have used one of Bill's tips: placing thinly sliced lemons or onions on the racks, then laying the fish on that. The only down side is that the smoke does not penetrate the bottom of the fish, but that is not a problem if you smoke with the skin on.

nwringneck · July 12, 2005, 11:41:29 PM

MallardW, yes we are. They are one of my favorite ducks so I used that over on a duck hunting forum. Don't get as many as 10 years ago due to the ongoing drought here but get a few every year along with the Scaup, Redheads and Cans.

Thanks for the tip Hab-Smoker. May try that if all else fails.

Brad/nwr

nwringneck · July 12, 2005, 11:42:07 PM

MallardW, yes we are talking BlackJacks. They are one of my favorite ducks so I used that over on a duck hunting forum. Don't get as many as 10 years ago due to the ongoing drought here but get a few every year along with the Scaup, Redheads and Cans.

Thanks for the tip Hab-Smoker. May try that if all else fails.

Brad/nwr

Phone Guy · July 13, 2005, 12:35:03 AM

I'll bet a person could take the lemon rounds and remove the pulp so the smoke will get to the under side of the meat.

Oldman · July 13, 2005, 12:39:49 AM

Interesting when I smoke mullet (scales on) it never sticks...

Olds

Habanero Smoker · July 13, 2005, 07:11:31 AM

I think my fish sticks due to the sugar in the brine recipe that I use. I usually use Kummock's recipe, but the same thing happens with any brine with a lot of sugar. As the sugar melts it wraps around the wire mesh, and adheres to it. Because the sugar completely wraps around the wire then hardens; even the non-stick coated racks don't prevent the salmon from sticking. It's funny that I don't have this problem with poultry or red meat.

I just received my order of Hole-E-Smokes (silicone grilling mats), but it may be a while before I can test them on fish. It takes 2 mats to cover about 85% of the rack. There is about 1/2" – 3/4" uncovered area the length on each side of the mats, but I don't believe that will cut down on the amount of fish you can place on each rack.

MallardWacker · July 15, 2005, 09:38:16 PM

Ring,

Are you over on the "Fuge". My handle over ther is Duck 30 Fly-By. We normally get our Jacks on the Arkansas River, one of my favorite river birds, the decoy very well....Great, another Duck Hunter around here...

SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know. But...

nwringneck · July 16, 2005, 03:27:00 AM

Yep, on the fuge with the same name, nwringneck. On the diver, decoy and Wa State forum mosly.

The fishing went bad here so I haven't be able to get a couple of dozen to try some of the suggestions. I'll report back ASAP.

Thanks again to all.

Brad/nwr

Kummok · July 16, 2005, 07:32:12 AM

Hab, you've got your finger on the pulse of this one.....the sugar carmalizes and turns to sticky "candy" and glues the skin to the rack. The skin, in turn, is "unglued" from the meat with heat and is easily seperated from the meat.

With the salmon I smoke, it's not a problem because I no longer smoke with the skin on anyway. The Pam on non-stick racks (from ChezBubba.com[;)]) works GREAT for me...one tap on the side of the rack and all the meat shakes right off the rack!

I CAN see how it would be a problem for the fish smoked whole with skin on though....some of the local smokers/grillers spray Pam directly <u>on their fish</u> AND the racks before putting the fish on the racks. I haven't done that, so I can't speak to it personally but they tell me that the Pam doesn't affect the taste/texture of the meat[?]

35 years of extinguishing smoking stuff and now I'm wondering WHY!
Kummok @ Homer, AK USA