Steelhead

[smokin65]

I'm looking to do my first fish smoke.  Salmon is still pretty expensive but our local QFC supermarket has fresh farm raised steelhead on sale for 2.99/lb.  They look to be about 4-5lb'rs whole.....I'm going to get one and have them block it for me (no charge).

If you've got a good steelhead brine and recipe for smoke....let me know. 

[azamuner73]

Wow steelhead here is more expensive than salmon.  Of course Nova Scotia is surrounded by the Atlantic.

I bet steelhead would be great.  I've seen it hot and cold-smoked.  As far as I know you can use any of the recipes that you use for salmon...although maybe some are better suited for trout than others.

I'm sure some pros will chime in soon.

[Mr Walleye]

Smokin65

Habs swears by Boutch's Trout recipe from over on the recipe site. I haven't tried it but I suspect it's good. Also I don't see any reason a person can't use Kummok's Salmon recipe as well.

Here's Boutch's Trout recipe....
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?p=695#post695

Here's Kummok's Salmon Recipe....
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?p=121#post121

Mike

[HawkeyeSmokes]

I smoked some steelhead from Sams Club last weekend using Kummok's recipe.

Worked great and will be making more the next batch.

[pensrock]

I have done steelhead using Kummoks salmon recipe. It came out great but next time I want to try Boutch's recipe for trout. Need to get some good Cognac though.

[Habanero Smoker]

Boutch's recipe is really good, you just need to be careful of the brining times with thinner fillets. The aroma of the brine alone, is tempting enough to drink. :)

Don't go cheap on the cognac, but you don't have to by top of the shelf either. I use Courvoisier VS cognac. Once I didn't have cognac and used brandy. Brandy worked alright, but it is not the same as using cognac.

[smokin65]

Thanks all.....but my plans got squashed.....I didn't get to the store and today we had Capt. Phil's memorial.....I didn't want to freeze the fish, but salmon/steelhead are usually easily available here in the Seattle area.

[Habanero Smoker]

I feel that freezing salmon or trout prior to brining makes the meat firmer.

[lumpy]

I would'nt know a steelhead recipe, I tossed this one back in:

[Buckeye]

I have put over 100 lbs. through my OBS in the past year using Kummok's recipe.  You can't go wrong with his recipe and it's virtually impossible to mess up.

I've also done some king and coho salmon.  Many of my friends actually prefer the steelies.  While I still prefer the kings, the steelhead is also very good.

BTW, I use the steelhead to make a killer trout spread.  If anyone is interested, I'd be happy to post the recipe.

[lumpy]

Please post the trout spread.... love to try it.
Lumpy

[Buckeye]

Don't have it on me right now.

I'll post it later tonight.

[Buckeye]

Here it is Lumpy:

Ingredients:
3# Cream Cheese, softened to room temp
2# Sour Cream
3# Smoked Steelhead, crumbled
8 Tablespoons (T) Red Onion, food processed fine, then drained of juice as best you can
8T Sweet Red Pepper, food processed fine, then drained of juice
8T Cabenelle or Banana Pepper, food processed fine, then drained of juice
1/4 Cup Green Onion, chopped
1T Garlic Powder
1T White Pepper
1T Cayenne Pepper
1T Worcestershire
1T fresh lemon juice
4T Sriracha (Thai chili/garlic sauce)

1.  Combine Cream Cheese, Sour Cream, Worcestershire, Lemon Juice, an 2/3 of the steelhead in a food processor.  Pulse til well mixed.
2.  Place above mixture in a mixing bowl.
3.  Fold in all other ingredients (except remainiing steelhead) and hand mix with spoon.
4.  Make sure remaining steelhead is well crumbled.  Fold it into mixture.

I then fill 8 oz. tubs and refrigerate overnight (it will set up or thicken a bit).

Serve on crackers or veggies.

You can adjust your ratio of sour cream and cream cheese to make final product thicker or thinner.

Enjoy!

[lumpy]

Sounds good, can't wait to try it

Thanks
Lump

[smokin65]

Ok, I think I mentioned that I didn't do my Steelhead back in Feb.  But, I bought some 10lbs on Weds, brined on Friday, smoked today.  I used a modified Kummocks (basically used the brine, just didn't brine it as long...I brined it for 9 hours instead, then I air dried it in the fridge on a rack overnight until noon today.  I also used a brine used by my neighbor, passed down from her father and it usually has good results when she smokes salmon.  So, I did two brine batches and one smoke batch.  I used Kummocks times and temps.  You'll notice toothpicks in some pieces of fish, that is so I can tell which brine is which.  The steelhead was on sale again at 2.99/lb and they average 5lbs each.  Because they were pretty thick I ended up keeping in the oven 6 hours, with 2 hours of smoke...I used alder and apple mix.

There are a couple pieces missing.....because I had to try one of each recipe.....they were both delicious