A few years back, when I was still trying to perfect my lake trout fishing skills, I started to practice vertical jigging. This technique of fishing is so fun and interactive and tests the angler’s knowledge of his sonar to the maximum. This technique was very effective, but I would mostly catch whitefish with the odd lake trout mixed in. In Quebec, whitefish is a very unpopular fish because it’s “bony” and I used to throw it back all the time until I gave that fish a taste. Wow! It is very good! And, from what I learned at the time, it is very good on a smoker. I do not own one, but after a little research on the internet, I found a way to smoke fish on a BBQ.
The BBQ technique involves the use of a smoke box and soaked wood chips to generate the smoke and cook the fish with smoke on indirect heat. Although I have done this recipe on the BBQ, it can easily be done on a smoker real smoker instead. It would be a lot more of a ”hands off” method. I still have some experimenting to do with this method. So you are welcome to improve it yourself or leave a comment with your own suggestions.
Back to the fish: I like to cook the fish until it is pretty dry and becomes almost like jerky. It concentrates the flavor and can be enjoyed by itself. The sweet maple-Teriyaki glaze balances any fishy taste and makes those special treat very addicting! I use this recipe with lake trout, salmon and whitefish. I would usually freeze a good amount of fish and do it all together once I get about 4-5 pounds of fillets. Then, there is some for everyone!
Delicious BBQ Hot Smoked Trout
Difficulty: Medium6
servings45
minutes4
hours28
hoursIngredients
- Fish + brine
3 pounds of fish fillets
1 cup sugar (or brown sugar)
1/2 cup kosher salt
1 cup of soy sauce
2 cups of water
2 tsp. of garlic powder
1 tbsp. of sriracha
- Maple-Teriyaki glaze
2 tbsp. of soy sauce
4 tbsp. of maple syrup
1 tsp. of paprika
1/2 tsp. of ground dried ginger
1/2 tsp. of sesame oil
- Smoking tools
1 pound of hickory wood chips
Smoke box (Ex: https://www.amazon.ca/-/fr/fumeur-barbecue-copeaux-fumeurs-accessoires/dp/B0813XW8JK/ref=dp_prsubs_3?pd_rd_i=B0813XW8JK&psc=1)
Directions
- Brining the fish
- Rinse the fish fillets under cold water and pat them dry with a paper towel to remove any excess fish slime.
- In a large container (ideally a plastic bowl or ziploc bag), mix all the brine ingredients and the rinsed fish.
- Cover the container with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for a minimum of 12 hours (adjust depending on the thickness of the fillets) to a maximum of 36 hours
- When ready to smoke, remove the fillets from the brine and pat them dry with a paper towel and place them on a baking sheet to dry the surface for at least 1 hour. ***This step is very important as a dry surface allow for the smoke to better infuse the fillets.***
- Turning the BBQ into a smoker
- Take a large handful of wood chips and place them in water to soak for 30 minutes.
- Move one of your grill to allow access to the heat deflector above the burner that is to an extremity of the grill. When the wood chips are soaked, place them in your smoke box and place the closed smoke box on the heat deflector.
- Now, turn all the burners to the max and close the lid of the BBQ. When you start seeing some smoke, turn all the burners off, except the one below the smoke box. This will be the only burner left on for the entire smoking process and you will control the temperature in the BBQ with that burner.
- Let the temperature of the BBQ come down to about 200-250 F. You may need to adjust your burner to achieve this. You will need to keep the temperature of the BBQ around this temperature for the whole cooking.
- Smoking the fish
- Now, place the fish in the BBQ over the burners that are off get indirect cooking and a slow smoking. Depending on the thickness of the fillets, the smoking process will take 2 to 4 hours.
- Every 15 to 30 minutes or so, you will need to add wood chips to the smoke box to keep a constant smoke. I recommend leaving the chips in the water and removing them to air dry at least 5 minutes before adding them to the box to not extinguish the fire.
- In a small bowl, mix all the glaze ingredients to make your maple-Teriyaki glaze.
- When the fish has smoked (2 to 4 hours), apply the glaze on the fish with a brush and let smoke for an additional 15 minutes. I like to repeat this process twice to obtain a thick glaze.
- Taste the fish. If you are happy with the consistency, you are done the smoking! I like to let it cool for an additional hour on a baking sheet.
- The smoked fish is now ready to enjoy! I like to serve it on bagels with cream cheese or by itself with a fresh salad
SUBSTITUTIONS – Since we do not always have success when going outdoors or not everyone practices hunting, fishing or picking. here are a few ideas to substitute the harvested ingredients:
- The fish fillets can be replaced by store bought trout fillets or salmon fillets. Adjust the brine and smoke time depending on the thickness of the fillet.
Hey! I am an outdoor enthusiast who loves cooking natural ingredients and share his passion… About Me
