What have you smoked??

[al_neibling]

We bought a smoker and I decided to try different things in it. My best one so far was mushrooms with the stems pulled out, put minced garlic and a little butter in each one. I can tell you it is a taste sensation! anyone else smoked something a bit differnet that I can try??

[Jimmy_D]

Interesting Al - great idea. I'll have to give it a go. How long do you smoke the mushies for?

[al_neibling]

Just until the metho ran out Jimmy.

Mack we dont do things like that...............that is naughty [smiley=evil.gif]

[darren]

I used to have ice cream with my mushies got rid of the terrible taste but after a while it didnt matter what they tasted like

[sempre]

Had some Dart , it was great

[wiseguy67]

salmon, trout, deer, moose, to name a few. Best is moose and salmon, well brown trout marinated in orange juice, soyasauce, chilli pepper, course black pepper, and a few other spices comes up very nice on a natural low heat smoke for 6 or 8 hours.
Yummy, in canada I had a 8' x 3.5' x 3.5' log cabin with sod roof that worked a treat doing moose and deer. Those were the days.
Not many moose here #:(

you can smoke just about anything, a block of bega cheese for a few hours comes out like nothing you've had befor.

I prefer long low heat smoking. Metho spooks me; i used to use an old electric cooker with a cast iron frying pan, wet wood chips mixed with dry.
one day i will build a smaller version of what i had in canada and try some tailor and other oily fish. Its all good.

[wiseguy67]

any red meat will come up a treat. Marinating with dif spices works best left overnight.
I don't eat what you can buy in the shops anymore with whats in it so I stick to fish these days. But a nice smoked jerky is great pocket fuel.

[al_neibling]

Not sure how to get away from the metho as that is all that was provided with the smoker, so as far as smoking things for a slow long period I guess I am stuck unitl I can come up with something better.

I tried the brine thing, 1/2 cup salt and sugar to 1 litre water and it did make a really difference (I thought)

Wise, my hubbies family still have a proper smoker and every winter they make wurst, liverwurst and an assortment of mystery meat that taste great ( I never ask!!!) as for the cheese how do you think that homuli (sorry if spelling is wrong) would go? it is a cheese that you fry.


cheers
Al

[al_neibling]

Not sure how to get away from the metho as that is all that was provided with the smoker, so as far as smoking things for a slow long period I guess I am stuck unitl I can come up with something better.

I tried the brine thing, 1/2 cup salt and sugar to 1 litre water and it did make a really difference (I thought)

Wise, my hubbies family still have a proper smoker and every winter they make wurst, liverwurst and an assortment of mystery meat that taste great ( I never ask!!!) as for the cheese how do you think that homuli (sorry if spelling is wrong) would go? it is a cheese that you fry.


cheers
Al

[al_neibling]

sorry ::)

[oscar22]

I once smoked some bream that turned out awesome. Try redgum and bream for a buzz.

[fish2eat]

I smoked some chicken tenderloins on the weekend while smoking some mackerel on the other rack. Just standard brine with brown sugar and a shake of BBQ seasoning - fantastic

[DaveSue_Fishos_Two]

I smoked Flagship for 25 years and then they stopped producing it. Dr Pat now for me! ;D

Cheers
Dave

[Jimmy_D]

I don't use metho at all Al. I use an old webber with the normal heat beads that you cook with a webber. The main difference I think is that rather than using sawdust, I use small blocks of whatever wood you're smoking with that have been soaked in water. In theory, you could just keep adding heat beads and wood for ever although controlling the heat may be tricky - I've only ever smoked fish for a max of 2 to 3 hours depending on the size of the fillets.

[fish2eat]

It doesn't seem to have to get very hot to smoke fish. I have a thermometer in mine and it only tops out around 100c on the metho burner, but 20-30 minutes is fine for 2cm thick pieces

[snakecatcher]

i used to smoke cheese on a weber kettle bbq - tasted fantastic. You needed to use a max of 4 briquettes with some hickory chips on top - any more than that and the cheese starts to melt. Not sure how hot you smoker gets so it moght not work

[cooky]

jeez - that title had my interest ::) :P

[fish2eat]

settle down cooky, were only talking FOOD here :D

[Navi]

o.k guys I haven't smoked any thing in a long time but back then it was cigi's, I have often thought of buying one of these smokers the one my tackle shop has is called a kipper I think are they any good ??? or can you tell me what would be a good buy ???

Cheers Chris 8-)

[al_neibling]

Navi, the one we bought is a stainless steel one. We take it on the boat and smoke our tucker on the beach. I know you can get gal ones but with all the salt ours sees the stainless was a better option.

There are heaps out there and you can find them at the tackles stores, the camping stores or even bbq's galore. We have only had this one a little while so cannot really tell you to much except we are really happy with it and that the woolies brand honey beef snags come up a treat.

Al

[Haji-Baba]

Try smoking fish, beef, and sausages for a start in your hooded barby. Just place the sawdust on a metal tray and cover with foil to prevent flaring. Poke small holes in the foil to allow the smoke to escape. Probably one burner on the grill side will create the required smoke and the goodies can be placed on a mesh stand to allow free passage for the smoke. Dont forget the salt and raw sugar "brine" and allow to drain before smoking. You can do all this on wire trays in a camp oven or a big wok with a lid over the fire or gas barby. Dont over smoke the goods and avoid any strong pine sawdust. I use brigalow and sheoak as a rule.

Have fun Haji Baba

[Derek_Bullock]

These are a nice little stainless steel smoker. Made in Australia by http://www.southern-metal-spinners.com.au/smoker_new.htm

Pics below.


Derek

[Derek_Bullock]

Smoked snapper in mine.

[tshort]

Bone out a chook, lay flat and spread with stuffing, roll and tie just like a rolled roast. Great hot or cold.

[fish2eat]

Been tempted to try sausages.....do you brine them first as well or just put them straight in???

[jaybee]

With Chicken and Fish in the small smoker i use half sawdust (red) and half tea leaves. Chicken breast comes up a treat with just tea leaves. Most of the fancier restuarants use tea leaves for their chicken. Brine can be given an added flavour with fresh herbs. Have smoked oysters and muscles quite successfully as well. Stay away from olive oil if you intend to bottle them though as it solidifys in the fridge, try cotton seed or canola. hope this helps
cheers
Joe

[al_neibling]

just throw your snags straight in no brine, thats what we do anyway and they are really nice. when we go on picnics we just take sangs, the smoker, buns, cheese and sauce makes our hamper really light so we can get to more out of they way picnic spots.

happy smokin'
Al

Ps do you guys put chicken in the brine too?

[fish2eat]

Thanks al.....I'll try the sausages

I brine my chicken, 20- 30 mins, rinse off (just a really quick pass under the tap) then let sit on a rack for 20 mins until the shiny coating is formed (pellicle) then in the smoker
Cheers
Stu

[fish2eat]

Tried some beef last night, Thin BBq beef which is topside put through a mangler. Great flavour , but I'll try again using better quality beef.

[Panda]

Theres a lot of myth and folklore about smoking because people get confused between HOT smoking and COLD smoking.

Hot smoking is basically roasting in the presence of intense smoke so that the item has a lot of smoke particles clinging to it and has a smokey flavour.

Cold smoking is a lot more complex. It is basically the process of dehydrating the meat in order to preserve it. Often the meat/fish is soaked in a mixture of sugar and/or salt firstly to draw some of the water out of it and let the salt infiltrate the flesh. Salt is a good preservative. Then the flesh is hung in a smokehouse. The smoke producing fire is often some distance from the smoke-house so as not to be too hot when it surrounds the meat. The smoke can be channeled into the smoke-house via a pipe. The idea is not to cook the meat or fish. The heat of the fire causes the water vapour to be driven off and the smoke is very low in humidity. It is this very low humidity cool smoke that dehydrates the meat and concentrates the salt that has accumulated in the flesh during the preparatory soaking in brine. The whole process usually takes a few days. The combination of dehydration and concentrated salt in the meat is very unfriendly towards bacteria, and so the properly smoked meat can be kept for a long time without refrigeration. This is basically the process behind our smoked ham and bacon except these days they inject stuff like nitrate salts into the meat and don't bother smoking it long enough to dehydrate it since we all have friges now. So long as it has a salty, smokey flavour we are all happy these days. And lightly smoked and salted tastes better.

For HOT smoking the brine soaking isn't necessary at all but add a bit more mystique to the process.

To make a cheap and easy hot smoker that will last for decades, just go to Woolworths and buy a couple of large stainless steel bowls. Get a really big one for the bottom and a slightly smaller one that act as a lid when **inverted **and sit inside the big bottom one. Smoking sawdust is cheap and freely available these days. But I use coconut husk detritus as I live in the tropics (and it tastes good). Sprinkle a generous tablespoon full of the sawdust on the bottom of the bowl. Place fillets or what ever on a cake rack inside the bowl. The cake racks can also be purchased in a department store for little cost.
Then turn the smaller bowl upside down and sit it in the bigger bowl to act as a lid. Make sure there are a few tiny little air gaps around the edges where the bowls meet as you dint want an air tight seal that will exclude oxygen completely and stop the sawdust from smoking up.

The heat source is not important so long as it is low to medium. You can use a metho burner, a gas BBQ (turned down to a low flame), or even an electric stove top. The main thing is to have enough heat to make the sawdust smoulder but not so much heat that it will turn it to charcoal in a couple of minutes. I usually lift the lid and check how things are going after about 5 minutes. The loss of heat might add a few more minutes cooking time, but who cares. Still tastes good in the end.

I have to say, without a doubt, the tastiest fish to smoke would have to be the humble MULLET. I know most of the more cultured people these days wouldn't lower themselves to eat mullet, but I can tell you, you will be missing out on a real treat if you overlook mullet in the smoker. I have tried a lot of other fish smoked and only Taylor comes close to mullet in the smoker.

Anyone can get into hot smoking fish tomorrow at minimal cost. You dont need to buy one of those expensive smokers. My first smoker was a 4 gallon kerosene tin and the fish out of that tasted as good as any I have tasted since.

Enjoy.

[fish2eat]

Hi Panda,

we are all talking HOT smoking here, but I would love to play with cold smoking, except I live in an apartment, so starting a fire on the balcony would definitely be against the rules. My little galvanised smoker for $50 works well but I can easily see that the old kero tin would do just as good a job.

I think that the next one I get will be stainless, however, but still a small unit that can be taken anywhere.

[Panda]

The stainless steel bowls are multi-purpose, relatively cheap and easy to clean up with a bit of sand and seawater. We use them for all kinds of things when camping from smoking fish, to washing up to catching rainwater.

[Derek_Bullock]

Hi Panda,

we are all talking HOT smoking here, but I would love to play with cold smoking, except I live in an apartment, so starting a fire on the balcony would definitely be against the rules. My little galvanised smoker for $50 works well but I can easily see that the old kero tin would do just as good a job.

I think that the next one I get will be stainless, however, but still a small unit that can be taken anywhere.

The Southern Metal Spinners one on my post folds down to a very small package.


Derek

[rando]

Chicken, beef, pork, sausages, camembert, to name a few.

My favouite is fresh mackeral spinkled with fresh ground black pepper and with a nob of butter rubbed into it. only needs a short time and yum yum yum.
If you have any left over( unlikely) try this
put a small fillet of smoked mackeral in a food proceesor and wizz it with some(4-6) small pickled gerkins the tiny ones smaller than your little finger ,1 small fresh onion(chopped fine) the littlest ones; and a dessertspoon of capers, and a couple of spoons of "S&W whole egg mayonaise" (optional ; chopped italian parsley & or finely chopped chillies)
put this mackeral pate in a bowl in the fridge to chill and serve with something crisp, bickies, corn chips , pita bread, etc etc.

OH and heres a twist for the bizarre among you ;
lightly smoke some fresh pineapple chunks ( a nice sweet juicy one) spinkle with a small twist of pepper from the pepper mill and serve while still warm with vanilla ice cream. 8-)
and If anyone can beat that for original ill eat my hat ;D ;D ;D

[fish2eat]

I think the hat will be safe mate.... :o

[rando]

I played around with smoking food a lot when i had my restaurant .
For this kind of smoking Panda is right brine etc is unneccessary, just season the item to taste.
A film of oil or butter helps the smoke flavour adhere.
Dont smoke things for too long, most things only need 10-15 minute exposure to smoke to get a nice flavour.
One of the reasons food was smoked was to preserve it ( read prevent bacteria from growing) #thats because smoke is toxic and full of carcenogens and other nasties, thats why you should go light on the smoke and dont eat too much of the stuff.
Tastes great though ,dont it ;D ;D
rando

[fishsmith]

Caught some eel's dow3n the Ross River with the young fella the other day that we hot smoked on the Webber and they where pretty good i can tell you...there pretty easy to catch with pealed prawn,pilchard pieces etc anywhere along the bank in the fresh water sections of the River.....

[petelaska]

Hi Rando rather than eat your hat you may be better of smoking it.
i'm definately going to try the pineapple next time camping.
we use lots of the various master foods seasonings on our smoked fish.
these are great for taste competitions between camps.

[Haji-Baba]

Spot on Panda, we do our smoking in a big wok with a lid and it is also really good for steaming crabs and prawns.
Years ago we did our own smoking of bacon and hams in a cold smoker using corn cobs. The cobs were placed in a 44 gallon drum and the cold smoke went up a G.I. down pipe to the hessian lined smoke house.
From memory it took a week or more to cure a ham and side of bacon.
The raw meat was pumped and laid in a brine tank for days and then drained before smoking. We only killed in the winter and the meat was all ok. Fridges were yet to come.

Have fun, "Haji Baba"

[freddyfish]

Some blue mackeral marinating

[freddyfish]

smoking

[NeilD]

When camping we have used either a wok or camp oven. Almost anything will work. You can even use Banksia cones if you forgot the sawdust
Try a brush with Kejap Manis for a quick seasoning for fish

Neil

[jaybee]

Did a Turkey Yesterday 3.2 kg, never cooked one before, and it come up a treat, so much so, that 3 of us ate half the bird for dinner with vegies, i have been slowly picking through the other half today. Buurrrp. :)

[PeterT]

Don't muck around with metho, just sit the smoke cooker on the gas bbq grill. Trouble with metho is that if the meat is thick, like a 7 or 8lb salmon, the metho is never enough. Doesn't have to get very hot for the saw dust to smoulder.

With the barbie you can cook as long and slow as you like, but Panda is right, you are cooking rather than slow cold smoking.

Red gum shavings are my fav. Can't believe people pay money for hickory etc when we have such delightful tree flavours in Oz. Even woolworths sells red gum smoked ham these days. I brough a special red gum fence post up to darwin with me that I knock shavings off with an electric plane. Removalists thought I was nuts.

There is a particular Ti tree in Arnem land that has the most amazing flavour when cooked with meat I willI am going to smoke some buffalo backstraps shortly.

pete

[Panda]

One of the reasons food was smoked was to preserve it ( read prevent bacteria from growing) #thats because smoke is toxic and full of carcinogens and other nasties, thats why you should go light on the smoke and dont eat too much of the stuff.
Tastes great though ,dont it ;D ;D
rando

-----------

Hi Rando,
I too have read that the smoke particles adhering to smoked fish which give it that delicious flavour are potentially carcinogenic. Sh*t! Everything that tastes good seems to be bad for you now a days. :(

Re the the preservative qualities of smoking,-- it doesn't have anything to do with the toxic affect of the smoke, but rather applies only to the cold smoking method which relies on salting and dehydration.

[Zeeke]

fish

[lippa]

my brother made me smoke tea leaves once, i coughed for hours!!!!

[megan]

I have a stainless steel smoker and I use metho to smoke the food.

Chicken wings, american spare ribs and spare ribs come up a treat as well. I have also done trevally fillets marinated in just brown sugar. Superb!!

[fish2eat]

I did some chicken wings last weekend. I didn't think they were that great.

The flavour was fine, but the wings are very fatty and the temperature generated in the smoker is not enough to drain all the fat away as happens when roasting them.

I ended up double cooking.....smoking first then roasting.....much better

I think I would find the spare ribs the same

[rando]

Hi Panda
Yeah you might be right, Ive seen and eaten the Viand Seche'( dried meat) they make in the mountain regions of Europe and that stuff isnt smoked at all.

I cant remember where I heard it now, but I always believed the toxicity of the smoke chemicals was a contributer to preserving the meat.
Tastes good, thats all I know. :)
Cheers
Rando

[backhoe]

Were is the best place to get shavings from that are ready to use?

[megan]

Get shaving from BBQ places and tackle shops.

[megan]

The spare ribs with the bone in them are the best - as for the chicken wings fish2eat mine were delicious!!!

[skins4]

I asked my local butcher about their sawdust and he gave about 2kg of the stuff for free. They use heaps of it for doing hams and pork chops. Can't hurt to ask. I did offer to pay and will be happy top pay next time. far better than stuff I've purchased from tackle shops. Smoked some chopper taylor the othe night and it was lovely.

Steve0

[dorado]

Try smoked coral trout or smoked mullet. Oh yeah! :D

[fish-n-dive]

Salmon, Trout, Beef, Deer, Mushrooms, Cheese, Chicken, Sausages.

Cheers, 8-)

[al_neibling]

wow I never thought my post would get so much attention!!!! I tried holumi cheese a couple of week ends ago, it was beautiful...... My neighbours do chicken in a brine they get from the butcher I think it is the same as what they use for corned meat, turns out well will try to find out what it is called.

happy smokin'
al

[hussy]

try smoked turkey chops they sell them in woolies cheap $4-7 kg taste great

[young_315]

met an old fella up the cape last year who swore by it.
we bought one as soon as we got back.

tailor, barra, salmon, jacks, potatoes.

[mod5]

Off topic replies have been moved to This Thread

[stevedemon]

Hi all
ok if you are looking to smoke your own and using a brine then try this one
normally i use to smoke all my own Hams, Bacon, and Frankfurts i always used hickory saw dust

making the brine
Butcher course Salt, Pineapple juice, Honey and Brown sugar

i have also Smoked
Talior, Eels, Shark, Tuna, Mackeral, Australian Salmon and King fish and all taste great in hickory dust or as a mate uses hickory work cut in short strips

Cheers ;D ;D
Steve 8-) 8-)

[dogsbody]

ok enough is enough after reading all this one thing is certain im going out to get me one of these smokers. I think im missing out.

Dave.

[Brissyguy]

Have smoked the usual fish, prawns, oysters, scallops etc, but then experimented with some beef and chicken strips and also bacon.
Once tried eggs but ummm have to consider that one a failure lol.

Brine for the fish etc consists of brown sugar, sea salt, little honey and a splash of good whiskey lol.

I always try to leave in the brine for at least 6 hrs and pat dry before smoking.

As a kid growing up in South Australia my dad had an old housing trust home wood fire piped into a full size fridge and smoked whole snapper.
If you havent tried this then you havent lived...

Cheers,
Rich.

[nigelr]

If you can stand not using them for bait, try bonito. Comes up with a texture just like the most tender chicken, my personal fav fish to smoke apart from spotted mackeral, which would win by a whisker.
I'm keen to try slimies, reckon they'd be great.
Have tried bream, snapper, jew but prefer the oilier fish such as tailor and the abovementioned. Reckon sea mullet would be beaut also.
Hard decision, awesome bait or gourmet tucker!
I use an Anuka electric hot smoker, cheating perhaps but simple and damn effective!
Just the thought of smoked fish is giving me cravings!
Cheers!

[dags3777]

Just finish smoking some fresh Rainbow Trout out of Lake Burbury on Tassies west coast.

Fillited the trout then laid them in a salt/sugar mixture. 1 cup of sugar to 1 tablespoon of salt. Let them lie in the mix for about 4/6 hours.

Clean the excess mix off, put on the smoking tray and pour over a little Brandy or Jack Daniels. Smoked for about 15 minutes.

Beautiful on crackers or mix with some philidelfia cream chease, Pat"e to the stars.

Also had a fillet of rainbow with bacon and cream sause for tea.

Hope everybody is salivating, Darryl

[Wazzup01]

Coral Trout. Best smoked fish I have ever eaten. Only one problem. It doesn't last long.

[gladbream]

any type of crayfish.. both freshwater and salties. just cut the tails in half and go for it. a little garlic on the meat doesnt go astray either.