Smoking Fish

When a friend announced that he was going fishing for pike but he didn't like to eat them, I asked him to bring them to me. A few days later, seven fish arrived, packed in ice. I built a cold smoker last year to cure some large bass from our pond and it took 24 to 48 hours of cool smoke to cure them. Guidance from the department of Alaskan fisheries suggested that cold smoked fish subsequently be brought to a high internal temperature to kill any parasites. An alternative: freezing for more than a month also works. But we didn't want to wait to make our own version of "White Fish Salad".

Smoke Chamber Reusing a Dishwasher Shell in Action

This year, instead of having a remote generator that fed smoke through four feet of stove pipe, I made a compact smudge pot out of a one gallon stainless steel vessel and mounted it inside the smoke chamber, an old porcelain enameled dishwasher body. That way its heat also warmed the fish enough to kill any internal parasites. It also was more efficient in making smoke so it took only 24 hours to cure fish.

Adequate Smoke Volume Exiting Chamber

Earlier in the spring I had trimmed some apple trees and had many branches that were easy to cut with a hand clipper into little pieces (0.5 to 1.25 inches long). It took me an hour to fill a five gallon bucket. I made a hole in the bottom of the smudge pot for lighting it and admitting air. I covered the top with pieces of aluminum that could be adjusted to let out a modest amount of smoke. The smudge pot covered the hole in the bottom of the dishwasher that allowed the apple wood to be ignited with a torch. It took about an hour to establish the tiny slit in the cover required to choke the flow from the smoldering wood boosted by the chimney effect of hot gases rising and pulling in air for combustion. 

A Bit Too Much Smoke!

After eight hours of smoking, the filets of the fish with skins easily peeled away from the ribs and backbone with halves ready for the final smoking. Using hooks made from stiff stainless steel wire, I hung them all around the smoke spot at the center and suspended a stainless steel colander near the top for the pieces that were too small to hang individually. I refilled the smudge pot with apple twigs three more times: late afternoon, at 11 PM and again at 6 AM. When the smoker cooled mid afternoon the next day, I removed the fish, peeled off the skins, picked out bones and packaged all but one portion for freezing in zip-lock bags. There is lots of room in the freezer this time of year so it is a good place to store them, though the low temperature is probably not needed. They have quite a powerful smoky smell and my wife would complain if I kept them in a cupboard, or worse yet, on a counter!

Whole Pike Smoked for Eight Hours