Why doesn't the fish dry in the smoker ?

[DenMan]

Hello,

I'm Dennis from Holland, and i like fishing on trout.
When i try to smoke them in my Bradley Smoker i can't get a nice color on the fish, i think this is because the fish is wet during the smoking process.
I do it like this

1 ) i catch them
2 ) i clean them
3 ) i give them a salt bath for 10 to 15 hours
4 ) then i rinse them with clean water
5 ) i dry them with paper towels and let them hanging for 1 hour so they are really dry.
6 ) i turn on the smoker
7 ) i hang the fish in the smoker and close the door.
8 ) i smoke on 180 degrees fahrenheit for 80 minutes
9 ) i let them cool down
10 ) i vacuum them

When i check the fish when they are 20 minutes smoking the fish is wet (it doesn't drip off the fish but is is a little wet), and then the fish won't get its golden color.

When i did it the old fashion way the fish was dry and it gets the nice golden color.

So who has an answer or an solution for me ??

o i forget the 11) this is where i eat the fish, and they might not have the nice golden color, but they taste super.

Greetings Dennis

[ExpatCanadian]

Hello Dennis from Holland....  I'm Tyson from London, so pretty close to you... welcome to the forum!

I smoke a lot of salmon in the Bradley, and I do get some nice colour on it, but of course salmon is already a nice pink colour so it's not a huge difference.

I guess my first question is are you leaving the top vent open when you smoke?  You need to make sure there is plenty of airflow through the smoker, this will help to remove surface moisture from the fish.

Second point is to make sure you have a good pellicle on the fish....  it sounds like you already let the fish dry before smoking...  but you can extend this even longer to really make sure this happens.  This helps to form a sticky surface for the smoke to adhere to, and also helps to slow moisture loss from inside the fish to the surface.

Third point is that it may help to start the smoking at a lower temperature, like 100-120F (you'll get that using JUST the smoke generator without the main element) and then start the main heater and slowly move the temperature up to 160-180F to finish it off at your desired texture.  There is a fantastic recipe for hot smoked salmon here:  http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?105-Excellent-BRADLEY-Smoked-Alaskan-Salmon. You can ignore the recipe (or try it of course :)) but the smoking times Kummok gives will work for your trout.  I would advise using the lower times and temperatures, since your trout fillets are probably a lot thinner than salmon.

Let us know how it turns out, and post some photos!

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi DenMan;
Welcome to the forum.

I smoke trout in my smoker and always get a nice color. As above, make sure after drying that the fish feels tacky to the touch, use lower cooking temperature and apply more smoke.

Here is the recipe I use for trout:
Smoked Trout

[DenMan]

thanks for the advice i will try them both.

here are some pictures i made from my old smoker, where the colors are super on the fish.

[Habanero Smoker]

I generally smoke fillets. If you don't want to fillet them you may have better results cutting the trout in half lengthwise, and smoke them either hanging or on trays skin down. The few times I smoked whole trout, I cut up a 1/4" dowel into small pieces to wedge the cavity open. After they were smoked and fully cooked they were very moist.