First time for Lake Trout

[curtis.venne]

I am extremely new to this. I have a small 2 lb laker that i would like to try in my smoker. Wondering if anyone has a tried and true brine recipe as well as total time in the smoker? I have Hickory/Apple and Mesquite pucks. Assume Apple would be the best here.. Also, must you filet the fish to smoke it? Right now i cut out the belly and removed the head. Can it be done like that?

Thx

[tailfeathers]

Curtis-First let me say hi and welcome, you've come to the right place to ask questions. Lots of friendly people more than happy to try and help in any way they can. (We like pictures by the way). I have never smoked a laker or a whole fish, but have done salmon, rainbow trout and paddlefish all using the brine recipe by Kummock and it turns out beautifully. His recipe can be found in the "sticky" post at the top of the fish section of the forums, it is right above your post. I would use his brine recipe and smoke technique as a good starting point. I personally like to smoke skinless filets because I think they pick up more of the brine flavor when it doesn't have to penetrate the skin. And yes, apple would probably be peferable to either hickory or mesquite for fish. Alder is good as well.

[pmmpete]

Lake trout smoke up very nicely.  Any recipe for salmon brine will work fine with lake trout, and Kummok's recipe is an excellent recipe to start with.  I recommend that you fillet your lake trout, because it produces a slab of fish with more even thickness.  If you try to smoke a whole 2 pound lake trout, the shoulders will still be mushy when the tail end is crispy.  Another advantage of smoking fillets is that it exposes the meat better to both the brine and the smoke.  I leave the skin on lake trout fillets.  With a two pound lake trout you can smoke each fillet in one piece.  With bigger lake trout, the fillets are so thick that it is better to cut the fillets up into pieces a couple inches wide, so the brine and smoke can get at the meat better, and so the meat will dry out more quickly.

[Tenpoint5]

This link will take you to the best recipe we have found in a while for Salmon. I have used it many times on Lakers. Exact times are hard to predict not know or having the exact same size fillets every-time.

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=107.0

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi curtis.venne;

Welcome to the forum.

For trout I use the recipe included in the below link. It makes some great smoked trout.
Smoked Trout

I forgot to mention, if you go the route of smoking them whole; when I smoke them whole, I will insert a piece of bamboo skewer in the ribcage area to keep the fish open while it is smoking/cooking. With them pried open, you can set them on their bellies, instead of their sides.