Dad’s Tips for Smoked Fish (in his words):

I’ve been smoking fish since I was 15, so 50 years of experience helps lol.� Basically, I use just fruit tree wood that I cut or gather myself.� Every smoker has a different feel for it and depending on how the weather is outside it can determine how long you keep the fish in.� It’ll burn hotter on a warm day and it depends how thick your pieces of fish are, you just get a feel for it.� The basic brine recipe is 1 cup of canning salt to every quart of water, and I always add a cup of brown sugar.� Then, depending on how thick the pieces of fish are you can actually thin the brine down or brine it less time.� The standard time is 6 hours in the brine, but I adjust it to the thickness of pieces.� I smoke it around 3 hours but that depends on the temperature outside and the size of the pieces.� Your individual smokers are all different and it depends on the dryness of your wood.� I soak some wood in water for 6 hours.� I start my fire with 20 to 25 charcoal on a shovel and burn until white, then I put them on a couple of pieces of dry wood to start fire and put the wood you were soaking crisscross on top (after you shake the water off).� Then cover the smoker.� Check the smoker to add more soaked wood every 45 minutes and/or to stir fire.� Should be around 200 degrees.� I know this is a long answer but it’s like all other cooking, you get a feel for it.� This particular batch of fish I only soaked in the brine for 5 hours because I cut the fish a little thinner and the fire was hotter because of the warm temperatures outside.� They were done in 2 hour and 15 minutes.� I can just tell by looking at them, you want them done but not dried out.� The juice inside should be the oil from the fish but not dried out where the oil is gone.� I guess I can tell the way it shrinks up and the bones are just starting to stick out a little bit.� I have a Weber charcoal smoker, you only use charcoal to get the apple wood or cherry wood going.

In short:

• Basic brine recipe is 1 cup of canning salt to every quart of water, he adds 1 cup of brown sugar as well.
• Soak fish in brine for about 6 hours.
• If your pieces of fish are a little thinner than usual, you can thin the brine down or brine less time.
• Dad uses a Weber charcoal smoker (it uses charcoal just to get the wood going).
• For wood he uses fruit tree wood that he gathers or cuts himself (usually apple wood or cherry wood).
• He soaks the wood in water for 6 hours.
• He starts his fire on a shovel with 20-25 charcoal and lets them burn until white.� Then he puts the charcoal on a couple pieces of dry wood to start a fire.� He shakes off the wood he was soaking and puts it on top crisscross.� � Temperature should be about 200 degrees.
• Cover your smoker and check every 45 minutes to add more wood and/or stir the fire.
• He smokes the fish for about 3 hours, but that can vary depending on how thick your pieces of fish are and how warm it is outside.
• Fish should still be moist from the oil, not dried out.� You can tell it is done by the way that the fish shrinks up and the bones are just starting to stick out a little bit.
• Individual smokers can vary.