the Lackster
Senior Member
Some of yall asked for it so I'm gonna do my best here. Today we are talking smoked trout going in a dip.
- start off with the cleaning process, for me I fillet the sides off. I cut through the pin bones but leave the rib cage on the carcass. I prefer to leave skin on as it helps the fish to lay flat on the smoker grates, and my pups love the smoked skins as a treat. Don't worry about the pin bones I will show you how to manipulate that later.
- next we need a brine and this is super simple. For a couple pounds of fish you need a gallon bag, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, half a cup kosher salt, teaspoon of smoked paprika, a few dashes of liquid smoke, and enough water to cover your fish. Mix this in the gallon bag and add the fish. We are gonna let this sit over night but longer definitely will not hurt. Once you are done soaking lay the fish out on a baking pan, if you have a cake cooling rack this works well too, it let's the brine drip off better. While you are waiting go ahead and fire the smoker up to about 185. After a short while the fish will get tacky and you are ready to go on the smoke.
- lay those fillets on the smoker "skin side down" and like everything else give them space to breath. I prefer to smoke mine over apple wood. It compliments the fish without over powering. As far as time here that is souly dependant on the thickness of the fish. Trout fillets like this are probably going to be done in 4 hours or so. You can always crank the heat up a little but if you aren't careful you will have jerky! I go by feel, you want the meat to be firm and pretty much dry to the touch. When it's ready take it out and let it cool.
- Now that you got those fillets cooled down let's talk pin bones. The easiest method I have found it to just run your knife above and below that strip of bones, we are going to discard that little strip. Some people pull them and on big fish that's definitely the way to go, but here we are talking stocker sized trout with microscopic pin bones. Once you have cut those bones out go ahead and peel that skin off. It comes off very easy and mine gets set to the side for the dogs. They absolutely love it.
- once the bones and skin are removed go ahead and crumble that fish up in a bowl. You are ready to run it through the food processor now. I pulse it a few times to break it down and then grind on a low speed until the consistency resembles a course saw dust. Depending on the size of your processor and amount of fish you may need to do this in a couple batches. Remove and place in a large mixing bowl.
- next you need 4 stalks of celery and about half of a medium onion. I chop it just enough to help it into the food processor. Similar process, pulse a couple times but grind until it resembles applesauce. You don't want any celery strings in your dip.
- it is now time to put this thing together. Pour the fish and celery/onion mix together. I just mix mine with a fork. Once that is mixed together add a block of softened cream cheese and start cutting it in. Make sure you turn it over a few times so you don't end up with a glob of cream cheese. Now that all that is mixed in let's livin this thing up a bit. Start with about 3 heavy tablespoons of "Dukes" mayonnaise, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, juice from 1/2 a lemon, and a few dashes of worcherstire. This is a base seasoning, you can add or subtract however you like but this is an all purpose go to. You can also skip the whole thing and just add some old bay or blackening seasoning you have laying around. It's a picture, paint it how you like. Be mindful of your liquid imput though, you don't want it to get soupy on you. If that happens you can fix it by adding more fish, if you have any leftover. I like to garnish mine with a sprinkle of smoked paprika and dried chives.
- when you have all that mixed up you are basically done apart from quality control and putting it away. I package mine in these little bowls that my wife buys online. They are cheap so if I send them out the door and they don't come back, it's not a big deal. When it comes to eating this stuff it's up to you what kind of crackers. Ritz are good but I believe that the club crackers have less influence on the tast of the dip.
I
- I hope this was detailed enough and helpful in some way. If I can answer any questions just holler at me. Enjoy
Ingredients
- 2 lbs fresh fish
- 4 stalks celery
- 1 medium onion
- 1 lemon
- 1 8ounce block cream cheese
- kosher salt
- smoked paprika
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- black pepper
- cayenne pepper
- worcherstire sauce
- dried chives
- Dukes mayonnaise
For brine
- brown sugar
- kosher salt
- smoked paprika
- liquid smoke
- start off with the cleaning process, for me I fillet the sides off. I cut through the pin bones but leave the rib cage on the carcass. I prefer to leave skin on as it helps the fish to lay flat on the smoker grates, and my pups love the smoked skins as a treat. Don't worry about the pin bones I will show you how to manipulate that later.
- next we need a brine and this is super simple. For a couple pounds of fish you need a gallon bag, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, half a cup kosher salt, teaspoon of smoked paprika, a few dashes of liquid smoke, and enough water to cover your fish. Mix this in the gallon bag and add the fish. We are gonna let this sit over night but longer definitely will not hurt. Once you are done soaking lay the fish out on a baking pan, if you have a cake cooling rack this works well too, it let's the brine drip off better. While you are waiting go ahead and fire the smoker up to about 185. After a short while the fish will get tacky and you are ready to go on the smoke.
- lay those fillets on the smoker "skin side down" and like everything else give them space to breath. I prefer to smoke mine over apple wood. It compliments the fish without over powering. As far as time here that is souly dependant on the thickness of the fish. Trout fillets like this are probably going to be done in 4 hours or so. You can always crank the heat up a little but if you aren't careful you will have jerky! I go by feel, you want the meat to be firm and pretty much dry to the touch. When it's ready take it out and let it cool.
- Now that you got those fillets cooled down let's talk pin bones. The easiest method I have found it to just run your knife above and below that strip of bones, we are going to discard that little strip. Some people pull them and on big fish that's definitely the way to go, but here we are talking stocker sized trout with microscopic pin bones. Once you have cut those bones out go ahead and peel that skin off. It comes off very easy and mine gets set to the side for the dogs. They absolutely love it.
- once the bones and skin are removed go ahead and crumble that fish up in a bowl. You are ready to run it through the food processor now. I pulse it a few times to break it down and then grind on a low speed until the consistency resembles a course saw dust. Depending on the size of your processor and amount of fish you may need to do this in a couple batches. Remove and place in a large mixing bowl.
- next you need 4 stalks of celery and about half of a medium onion. I chop it just enough to help it into the food processor. Similar process, pulse a couple times but grind until it resembles applesauce. You don't want any celery strings in your dip.
- it is now time to put this thing together. Pour the fish and celery/onion mix together. I just mix mine with a fork. Once that is mixed together add a block of softened cream cheese and start cutting it in. Make sure you turn it over a few times so you don't end up with a glob of cream cheese. Now that all that is mixed in let's livin this thing up a bit. Start with about 3 heavy tablespoons of "Dukes" mayonnaise, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, juice from 1/2 a lemon, and a few dashes of worcherstire. This is a base seasoning, you can add or subtract however you like but this is an all purpose go to. You can also skip the whole thing and just add some old bay or blackening seasoning you have laying around. It's a picture, paint it how you like. Be mindful of your liquid imput though, you don't want it to get soupy on you. If that happens you can fix it by adding more fish, if you have any leftover. I like to garnish mine with a sprinkle of smoked paprika and dried chives.
- when you have all that mixed up you are basically done apart from quality control and putting it away. I package mine in these little bowls that my wife buys online. They are cheap so if I send them out the door and they don't come back, it's not a big deal. When it comes to eating this stuff it's up to you what kind of crackers. Ritz are good but I believe that the club crackers have less influence on the tast of the dip.
I
- I hope this was detailed enough and helpful in some way. If I can answer any questions just holler at me. Enjoy
Ingredients
- 2 lbs fresh fish
- 4 stalks celery
- 1 medium onion
- 1 lemon
- 1 8ounce block cream cheese
- kosher salt
- smoked paprika
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- black pepper
- cayenne pepper
- worcherstire sauce
- dried chives
- Dukes mayonnaise
For brine
- brown sugar
- kosher salt
- smoked paprika
- liquid smoke
