Another 8lb fish yesterday evening to Geoff Handleyand two lost. Other fish seen.
Reliably informed that the algae on the lower river is no longer present.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some of you may not have seen this picture before
Record Wye salmon???? Found dead and somewhat decomposed. Length 57" girth 26" and weighed 42 lbs. Estimated to have weighed between 65 and 80 lbs in real life
SMOKING FISH.
Mentioned
recently Chew valley lake and other Midland reservoirs and the excellent trout fishing they can provide. I was sent a picture recently of five lovely
fish from Chew all between 2.1/2 and five pounds, as bright as a fresh salmon
Not
everyone likes trout but many like smoked trout and it’s a fairly simple matter
to turn a basic trout into a luxury item by cold smoking them. I used to do this years ago with Wye salmon
for various people around Erwood and also for reservoir trout I caught. I have to say towards the back end of the
season I was given some pretty disgusting salmon to smoke by people who should
have known better, but that’s another story.
It’s
a pretty simple exercise. First of all
you need something to contain the smoke..Something like a 6ft tall object a
couple of feet square. Built mine from
breeze block lower half and wooded top section with a door top and bottom but
you could convert the corner of a shed or some other building. This is so you can hang the fish away from
any vestige of heat. It had a concrete
block base where you could creat the smoke.
This was done by using fine oak sawdust.
I stress oak though some other British hardwoods can be used but many
woods can give a tainted taste so be careful.
Many sawmills will supple you sawdust free of charge. Simply put a good pile, about a bucket full
into the base and light the leading edge with a gas blowtorch. When it's glowing really well close the door and
check for a while until you are happy its going well. The pile will slowly burn back and if done in
the evening will last all night. You
don’t need masses of smoke and a few small holes near the top of the smoker
will ensure it does not get too heavy. The dust does not give off much heat and the
fish must on no account be subjected to any heat whatsoever. Fit a couple of poles across the smoker as
near the roof as you can on which you can hang some butchers hooks.
Next
to fillet the fish. A fairly simple task
contrary to some chefs you see farting about.
First gut the fish and remove stoumach contents and clean out the blood
along the bottom of the spine. Lay the fish down and with a good sharp
knife insert it into the flesh just where it joins the tail. Lay the knife flat, keep it pressed against the back bone and with a sawing
action cut towards the head. On reaching
the anal fine you may need to lift and hold
up the belly flap to continue unhindered to the head. Go past the gill bone but do not under any
circumstances remove this. Do the same
on the other side.
You
now have two fillets. With scissors cut
away the pectoral, anal and dorsal fins including the bone to which they are
attached. With the sharp knife remove the rib bones on both side.
Next
you will need some sort of container or bin in which to place the fish during
the curing process. This is done by
using salt, dry or wet. I always used
the wet brining system where you dissolve 2lbs 10ozs of salt in a gallon of
water. Simply put the prepared sides
into the brine and move them around from time to time. How long to do this brining is the
question. Bear in mind that really rich
flesh will take longer for the brine to penetrate than something more insipid
so a lot is trial and error and personal taste.
I
used to soak fresh salmon in the brine for three hours and good quality trout
for about 2 ½. You then hang them up to dry somewhere and
this can take some time depending on conditions but they must be dry to the
touch before putting in the smoker. To hang them up I used strong wire, bent
into a horseshoe shape then turn up the ends into another horseshoe shape and
these legs could be inserted into the fish underneath the gill bone hopefully
still attached . Then hang them on the
hooks in the smoker. You can also do
your own kippers this way too, plus other things such as bacon, hard boiled
eggs cheese etc although the latter are
not salted of course, simply smoked. In
the latter case use a wire mesh rack to rest the food on.
How
long you smoke the fish is a matter of personal choice. I used to think overnight was long enough but
it’s really up to you. The only other
task is to remove the pin bones on both fillets
with a small pair of flat nosed plies –they make a pair specially for
doing this.
Only
other task is to eat it yourself or wrap
them in cling film and give them to your friends having turned a basic trout
into an item that compares very well to smoked salmon –god knows what a farmed
one is like.
I
never had any complaints and as mentioned some of the back end fish I was asked
to smoke I was hesitant to do so. I wouldn’t have given them to a cat. One well
to do guy used to give me some crap to do and seeing him later asked how was
his smoked salmon. Lovely he said. Im not sure he had ever had decent
stuff. A back end fish is not a
‘smoker’ as they used to say but a fresh one certainly is.
May
sound a lot of trouble, its not really and the end result is worth it.
G
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.