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SMOKING YOUR OWN

© Louis Bignami

Shad, panfish, spring salmon and other species tend to come in bunches during early summer. Then, as waters warm tastes can fade. Fortunately, smoking fish is very simple, and doing it yourself lets you "fine tune" flavor and texture to your taste. Electric, propane and charcoal smokers all heat wood chips to smoldering, some models also work as barbecue grills, moist cookers or smoke pots.

I currently own three sizes of Luhr Jensen smokers, a Brinkman Smoke Kettle and a big homemade smoker. All work. All that's needed to smoke anything is a smoke tight container and something to heat water-soaked wood chips. In the Canadian bush we've used canvas containers, cardboard boxes and more. Tent some foil over a cast iron skillet on the Coleman stove and lay a few trout on a rack and you're set. In the old days they used to hang fish and such in the fireplace flu.

You can make a pretty good smoker out of a new metal garbage can or old fridge. Just make sure the racks aren't cadmium-coated. Add a thermometer to monitor interior temperatures and you're set.

First cut fish into pieces of uniform thickness to smoke evenly. Then brine them in one cup of brown sugar and one cup of(non-iodized) salt per gallon of water for three to six hours or until fish form shiny pellicles or coatings. Then rinse with water, pat dry with a paper towel and air dry on racks one to two hours to avoid a soggy "steamed" result after smoking.

While fish brine, soak chips in water or, for more flavor, wine or beer. Hickory is most common wood for smoking; any "nut" or "fruit" wood adds its own subtle flavor. We also use trim from our raspberry bushes and fruit trees. Just don't use pine or processed wood like particle board that produces some exotically awful tastes.

Next, set up your smoker and coat its racks with vegetable oil or pan-spray coating to reduce sticking. Fill racks with slightly separated pieces; overlapping pieces smoke unevenly and stick to each other. For less than great-tasting fish like truck trout consider stacking some rosemary stems or other herbs on the rack under the fish. Then add chips to the pan - if you make your own use steel or cast iron not, aluminum that can melt -- and start the smoker.

Smoking time depends on your smokables and your taste. For example one-inch thick fish slices take four to six hours. You may also need to add additional chips every two or three hours. For a drier, smokier result just increase smoking time. Temperatures vary with smoker type and size--see manufactures instructions. In some cases of extremely dry fish - most white flesh species -- you can add a water bath over the chips to keep things moist. Some dump wine, beer or seasonings into the water container.

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