Wholly Mackeral!!

[iahkaferoaster]

My Russian wife brought home 10 1lb mackeral for me to do this Saturday in my BS. I butterfly'd them taking out the spine. I did a basic "3Guys" fish brine and brined the fish for 6 hours. Lightly rinsed, and set the fish out to form a pellicle for 2 hours. Set them in the preheated BS. Outside temp at the start was 45F (w/o wind). The BS is in a semi enclosed (three sides have walls) area on the patio. Did 160F for 1.5hr, 190F for 1 hour, and 210F (mostly this last temp was because the wind kicked up pretty strong the last 20 min and the outside temp went to 35F fairly quickly). I had to put the 2 racks of fish on the 2 middle positions because my Maverick probe was being cantankerous and my sobriety/dexterity ratio was coming into play. I rotated the racks after 1.5 hours. Pulled the fish out and let them cool a bit.

My wife and her parents said well done, but maybe a tad on the salty side. I figure brine for a shorter period and/or rinse better. Overall we thought it was a good first effort. I had NEVER smoked fish of any kind before. Now maybe my wife will stop giving me grief for buying the BS ;)

[owrstrich]

i dont know anything about russia or fish... however i can say those sweeds across the way know a thing or two about fish and brine...

lutefisk and absolut... you know its good...

you gotta eat...

owrstrich

[Arcs_n_Sparks]

lutefisk and absolut... you know its good...

I'll stick with the latter..... 8)

Sparkler

[iceman]

My Russian wife brought home 10 1lb mackeral for me to do this Saturday in my BS. I butterfly'd them taking out the spine. I did a basic "3Guys" fish brine and brined the fish for 6 hours. Lightly rinsed, and set the fish out to form a pellicle for 2 hours. Set them in the preheated BS. Outside temp at the start was 45F (w/o wind). The BS is in a semi enclosed (three sides have walls) area on the patio. Did 160F for 1.5hr, 190F for 1 hour, and 210F (mostly this last temp was because the wind kicked up pretty strong the last 20 min and the outside temp went to 35F fairly quickly). I had to put the 2 racks of fish on the 2 middle positions because my Maverick probe was being cantankerous and my sobriety/dexterity ratio was coming into play. I rotated the racks after 1.5 hours. Pulled the fish out and let them cool a bit.

My wife and her parents said well done, but maybe a tad on the salty side. I figure brine for a shorter period and/or rinse better. Overall we thought it was a good first effort. I had NEVER smoked fish of any kind before. Now maybe my wife will stop giving me grief for buying the BS ;)

Good job!!!! You have to start somewhere and it seems you did!!! :)