Smoking Catfish

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Bubba
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Smoking Catfish

Post by Bubba » Fri Apr 06, 2012 02:50

When I moved down to Alabama I made a plan to move my frozen & vacuum packed "projects" as well, and so I gave the Engineers at work some samples of Boerewors, Csabaii, smoked Chicken and smoked Pork Loin (Kassler).
On my last trip from Atlanta I bought some smoked Salmon as well and they loved everything (aside from the smoked Salmon from the Polish Butcher being very, very expensive!)

Now they have asked if they line in some catfish, can I smoke it for them. A search on the Internet showed that it is being done.

Can anyone help with some advice to smoke Catfish please? All the recipes I saw on the Internet seem more or less the same, but I would really appreciate some input from the members here with a lot of experience.

:smile:
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Post by ssorllih » Fri Apr 06, 2012 03:34

I can tell you what I have learned in my quest for knowledge on this: Catfish has a fair level of fat 5 to 6% as I recall and as such should be a good candidate. When I catch some i intend to follow the recipe for smoked trout. I don't think I can do better than this: http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/fish
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Post by Butterbean » Fri Apr 06, 2012 04:02

I've never smoked catfish but have done a fair share of mullet. I think catfish would be good but I can't help but wonder if it wouldn't be best to leave the skin on which is not how one normally cleans a catfish but with the flesh being so delicate I can't see how you (I) could smoke it properly with it off. You've got me curious now and me with a catfish pond. :lol:
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Post by Chuckwagon » Fri Apr 06, 2012 05:32

Hey Bubba, I might be just a saddlebum and a dusty cowpuncher but I still can smoke a fish. I've smoked catfish from Utah Lake. I used a brining cure very close to Rytek's solution for brining salmon way back when. Why not try my recipe for "Chuckwagon`s Chokin` Smokin` Potion" http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?p=6961#6961

Our Member`s Recipe Index is at this link: http://wedlinydomowe.pl/en/viewtopic.php?t=5146 There are two more of my recipes and some more information listed under "fish".

Also, Stan Marianski has 22 fish smoking recipes available to us at this link: http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/fish/recipes

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill! :D
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Post by Big Guy » Fri Apr 06, 2012 14:17

Catfish are the best fish to smoke I prefer them over salmon. Here is what I do.
Filet fish but leave skin on. Make a brine, of 20 cups water, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup kosher salt. brine fish pieces overnight in the fridge, Place fillets in the smoker and bring temp up to 120F and allow fillets to dry for an hour before adding smoke. Smoke at 250F with your favourite wood until cooked, cool and eat. It's fantastic and that easy usually a couple of hours will do it.
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Post by Bubba » Sat Apr 07, 2012 01:19

Thank you for all the replies, here is a huge amount of information now.

Ross, I saved the link and also read through it. Then as Butterbean and Big Guy said, the skin will be on.

I'll use Chuckwagon's recipe for "Chokin' Smokin Potion".

With that I have a few more questions. In the recipe it says "heat the brine to 100 F then remove the pot from the heat and add the fish".
My queston:- is the brine cold or warm when I add the fish for 3 hours? (please keep in mind I have never brined / smoked Fish before, my ham brine is always cold, that's why I am asking) :smile:

The salt I have is Kosher salt so I would be ok.

Then my other question:- for the amount of brine made, how much fish can I brine in there?

I will probably do 2 batches, one with 1/3 apple with 2/3 Hickory and the second with Beech wood.

They are fishing next weekend and I will post photos when I do this project in about 2 to 3 weeks. :smile:
Ron
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Post by ssorllih » Sat Apr 07, 2012 01:53

I should think that with a bit of stirring by hand you could have a gallon of fish in a gallon of brine. There is far more salt in the brine than you want in the fish.
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Post by Butterbean » Sat Apr 07, 2012 13:49

I normally make 50% of the weight of the meat in brine and this normally works out fine so a gallon should be enough for 16 lbs of fish.
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Post by vagreys » Sat Apr 07, 2012 21:50

I've never smoked catfish, but I grew up eating them. It seems to me that whether you leave the skin on would depend on where your friends are fishing - pond/lake or river. Mud cats from ponds can have really muddy-tasting fat, and you might want to skin those and remove the silver/gray fat. In my experience the river/channel cats don't have that problem anywhere near as much. YMMV, and those who have smoked catfish may have a different opinion or solution for muddy fat.
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Post by ssorllih » Sun Apr 08, 2012 03:53

This is off topic sorta but maybe still of interest. :???:
Last night I was surfing and found a reference to a smoked shrimp pizza. Well I had made some dough to wrap sausage in for pigs in blankets so I had some to spare tonight. I thawed and cleaned a couple of dozen small shrimp and while they were still wet I put them in my smoker over some pear wood smoke. Meanwhile I saute`d some onion and mushrooms and rolled out some dough. I put the dough into the skillet and slathered on some marinara, i arranged the shrimps neatly and applied the onions and mushrooms. Then some more sauce and a very generous handful of mixed cheeses and baked it at 425°F until the crust was bottom browned and the shrimp had curled and the sauce was bubbly. About fifteen minutes was enough time to give a nice light smoke flavor to the shrimp. Cold smoke. Air Temperature about 55°F
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Post by Bubba » Sun Apr 08, 2012 17:20

I think the first time I smoke the Catfish will be a small sample, and noted where it was caught. Let's see how it turns out, if there is a muddy taste or not.

If I do not try, I will not be able to venture :)

Hi Chuckwagon,

Would appreciate your help, please could you have a look in my previous posting, I'm not sure what temperature the brine should be in your recipe.
Thank you for helping.
Ron
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Post by Chuckwagon » Sun Apr 08, 2012 23:19

I'm not sure what temperature the brine should be in your recipe. Thank you for helping.
38°F is the target. (should not vary more than +2° or -2°)

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill! :D
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Post by Butterbean » Mon Apr 09, 2012 03:23

If at all possible I'd suggest getting flatheads. They only eat live fish and are not exactly scavengers so as a rule they do not have a muddy taste no matter how large they are.

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Post by Bubba » Tue Apr 10, 2012 02:58

Chuckwagon wrote:
38°F is the target. (should not vary more than +2° or -2°)
Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon
Thank you!
Ron
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Post by Butterbean » Mon Apr 16, 2012 16:32

Bubba, you and the Colonel inspired me to give the smoked catfish a try. I went fishing this week and caught a few out of the pond. I decided to do an experiment and left the skin on some of the fish and took the skin off the others. My daughter had also urged me to smoke some salmon so I decided to kill two birds with one stone.

Since the meat is so delicate I decided to make a 30 degree brine so the fish wouldn't be too salty.

Here is the brine recipe I used.

1 gallon of water
3/4's cup of canning salt (7.7 oz)
1 cup brown sugar
2 TBS Black Pepper
1 tsp of Cayenne Pepper

Soaked the catfish and one salmon in the brine for about six hours. Took fish out and let dry at room temp hoping to form a pellicle for smoking. After taking them out I dusted them lightly with black pepper and chipotle pepper. Ok, maybe it wasn't so lightly. I like things zesty.

Image

I smoked the fish in a heavy pecan smoke at 175F till the flesh became flakey. Note: It would be a good idea to arrange fillets by size since the larger ones take a longer to cook.

Image

The finished product was outstanding. The saltiness from the weak brine was dead on and I believe soaking them longer would have had no ill effects on the flavor. I won't be leaving the skin on them next time though cause the skin tended to stick to the rack moreso than the flesh itself and cleanup was a pain. Of course, next time I will definitely use some cooking spray like Pam.

The resulting fish was fantastic. I will be doing this again and like BigGuy said, its better than salmon. I don't think you could go wrong by trying this recipe. Oh, and to me, they are even better once they've cooled and sat in the fridge overnight. I had them for breakfast and they are now all gone so its back to the pond.

Thanks for the inspiration. It was well worth the trouble.
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