"Don’t pay extra for smoked fish at the store when you can make it at home. This smoked trout is delicious crumbled over salads. You can also swap it for clams in your next chowder or turn it into a pâté. Special equipment: You’ll need a charcoal grill to turn it into a smoker (or better yet, if you have a smoker, use it). You will also need long heatproof tongs, matches or a lighter, newspaper, 1 disposable aluminum 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, 1 disposable aluminum 8-inch square pan, a baking sheet, 2 oven mitts, 2 buckets of water (one to soak the wood chips and the other to refill the aluminum loaf pan), and an oven thermometer. A chimney starter, which looks like a large beer stein, is handy for lighting charcoal. They can be purchased at hardware stores or online. Lump charcoal is preferred because the charred pieces of wood burn hotter and cleaner than briquettes, the uniform black pillows made from carbonized wood and a starchy binder. If you do buy briquettes, avoid the self-lighting ones, which are laden with chemicals. Buy pure, resin-free, bark-free wood chips. Choose your wood chips based on the origin of the ingredient you are smoking. For example, use cedar chips for Pacific salmon and hickory chips for Southern catfish. For this recipe, we recommend hickory chips, but any wood will do. Wood chips can be... read moreDon’t pay extra for smoked fish at the store when you can make it at home. This smoked trout is delicious crumbled over salads. You can also swap it for clams in your next chowder or turn it into a pâté. Special equipment: You’ll need a charcoal grill to turn it into a smoker (or better yet, if you have a smoker, use it). You will also need long heatproof tongs, matches or a lighter, newspaper, 1 disposable aluminum 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, 1 disposable aluminum 8-inch square pan, a baking sheet, 2 oven mitts, 2 buckets of water (one to soak the wood chips and the other to refill the aluminum loaf pan), and an oven thermometer. A chimney starter, which looks like a large beer stein, is handy for lighting charcoal. They can be purchased at hardware stores or online. Lump charcoal is preferred because the charred pieces of wood burn hotter and cleaner than briquettes, the uniform black pillows made from carbonized wood and a starchy binder. If you do buy briquettes, avoid the self-lighting ones, which are laden with chemicals. Buy pure, resin-free, bark-free wood chips. Choose your wood chips based on the origin of the ingredient you are smoking. For example, use cedar chips for Pacific salmon and hickory chips for Southern catfish. For this recipe, we recommend hickory chips, but any wood will do. Wood chips can be purchased at most hardware stores and grocery stores during the summer months, or online. This recipe was featured as part of our smoking project...."
INGREDIENTS
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Smoked Trout Recipe
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By Jill Santopietro
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32
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Email
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SAVE TO PROFILE 56
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Difficulty: Easy | Total Time: 3 hrs | Active Time: 25 mins | Makes: 3 to 4 whole smoked trout
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Don’t pay extra for smoked fish at the store when you can make it at home. This smoked trout is delicious crumbled over salads. You can also swap it for clams in your next chowder or turn it into a pâté.
•
Special equipment: You’ll need a charcoal grill to turn it into a smoker (or better yet, if you have a smoker, use it). You will also need long heatproof tongs, matches or a lighter, newspaper, 1 disposable aluminum 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, 1 disposab
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A chimney starter, which looks like a large beer stein, is handy for lighting charcoal. They can be purchased at hardware stores or online.
•
Lump charcoal is preferred because the charred pieces of wood burn hotter and cleaner than briquettes, the uniform black pillows made from carbonized wood and a starchy binder. If you do buy briquettes, avoid the self-lighting ones, which are laden w
•
Buy pure, resin-free, bark-free wood chips. Choose your wood chips based on the origin of the ingredient you are smoking. For example, use cedar chips for Pacific salmon and hickory chips for Southern catfish. For this recipe, we recommend hickory ch
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INGREDIENTS
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2 cups water
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1/3 cup plus 4 1/2 teaspoons fine salt
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1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
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1 bay leaf, crumbled
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1 teaspoon black peppercorns
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1 1/2 pounds boneless, skin-on whole trout (about 3 to 4), rinsed and butterflied
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2 cups hickory wood chips
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8 quarts lump charcoal, plus more as needed
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Vegetable oil, for coating the fish
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INSTRUCTIONS
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Place water, salt, brown sugar, bay leaf, and peppercorns in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
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Pour the cooled brine mixture into a large resealable plastic bag. Add trout, seal, set the bag in a dish (to catch any leakage), and refrigerate for exactly 2 hours.
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After 2 hours, remove the fish from the brine, rinse, and pat dry with paper towels. Refrigerate while you prepare the grill.
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Meanwhile, soak the wood chips in a bucket of water for at least 15 minutes.
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Prepare the grill: Remove the cooking grate and set it aside. Fill a chimney starter halfway with charcoal, then pour the unlit charcoal onto one side of the charcoal grate. Using tongs, stack the charcoal in a slight slope against the side of the gr
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Carefully pour the lit charcoal onto the pile of unlit charcoal on the grate. Use tongs to stack the lit coals on the pile. Top the lit charcoal with the remaining 1 cup drained, damp wood chips. Set the empty chimney aside. Place the 8-inch square a
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Brush the trout all over with a thin film of oil. Place the fish on the cooking grate over the drip pan (not over the flaming charcoal). Cook, covered, making sure the lid’s vent is over the fish (not the fire), until the trout is amber in color an
