Smoked Fish

Eric,

Salmon, tuna and larger trout are all awesome fish for smoking (on a cedar plank!) You want an oily fish because the oils will absord the smoke flavor better and withstand the longer cooks than the white-flesh fish.

To answer your questions
Lent fish sales are relative to your restaurant location & format (ie. an Italian restaurant in Garden City will probably see an increase while an Steakhouse in let's say Great Neck will not). I am actually going to do a Friday night fish fry at my new place (Garden City) and I am hoping it will carry past lent (I love going to them when we are in WIsconsin). Alot of fish work well for smoking (depends on your taste) some popular ones are salmon, trout, sturgeon, sable, tuna & whitefish. I see you beat me to the punch Barry.

Cold and windy here but at the "Beerguy" restuarant with seating for two (me and my bride) we will be having smoked salmon on my new ALDER planks i just got this week. Just waiting for the boss to get home from work. i really like alder so i hope the planks bring out the flavor. Did cedar planks a bunch, time for a change.

BigBarry said:

Eric,

Salmon, tuna and larger trout are all awesome fish for smoking (on a cedar plank!) You want an oily fish because the oils will absord the smoke flavor better and withstand the longer cooks than the white-flesh fish.

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Absolutely big guy! Oily fish like Bluefish and Mackerel are considered by many to be a culinary rung or two down the proverbial ladder from other whiter fleshed fish but it's a whole different ballgame when they're smoked properly! I'll take all the bluefish I can get, brine 'em and fire up the smoker. JUst break apart the flesh, add some celery, chopped olives, capers, little dijon, mayo and a drop or two of balsamic and you have a fish salad to die for.

For some time now my son and others keep asking me when I am going to start smoking fish; I need to go to school on this post and others and try and get it into my skill set. Stopped by Willie B's earlier tonight for some pulled chicken and he was starting to get low on the rest of the cluckers; still lots of ribs et al going out the door so not sure what the demand would be for the lenten season.
P.s Eric, I will send you my frito pie recipe.

barfly said:

Absolutely big guy! Oily fish like Bluefish and Mackerel are considered by many to be a culinary rung or two down the proverbial ladder from other whiter fleshed fish but it's a whole different ballgame when they're smoked properly! I'll take all the bluefish I can get, brine 'em and fire up the smoker. JUst break apart the flesh, add some celery, chopped olives, capers, little dijon, mayo and a drop or two of balsamic and you have a fish salad to die for.

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Chris,

WOW! I forgot all about bluefish! When I get fishing this season, I will be smoking a few big blues!

motoeric said:

Hey,

I was wondering how many of you who cater or have restaurants go out of your way to offer fish on Fridays during lent to attract people who can't eat meat.

If you already offer fish, do you see a spike in sales?

What's the best type of fish to smoke?

Thanks!

Eric

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I just smoked some amber jack yesterday....pretty hot for just long enough to cook through... Squezzed a lemon, some chopped cilantro, corriander, and celery seed mixed with a little white wine and salt and pepper. Marinated for a couple hours smoked 'er up !! good chit maynard:mrgreen:

I'm definatley partial to salt water fish....I like the slightly oily fish , I'm not into the bluefish so much but, a nice big King Mackrel is a diferent story....I gre up on the Gulf coast, Born with a rod -n- reel in my hand. I really like to take big Red Snapper filet with skin and scales on, put scale side down drizzle with concotion above and a little cayenne smoke high temp till done and eat out of the " shell" that's formed from the scales and skin.....it's an outdoor beach thang:wink:

To answer the restaurant question ....I'm not in the biz at the moment but whin I was , back in South east Texas we offered fish on Fridays, but here in Atlanta I don't think the market merits a special offering on Fridays....I agree location make s all the difference in the world!

i lightly sprinkled a bit of our cockadoodle rub over shrimp and smoked them for about 20 min. i used hickory and it came out really good.next time maybe im gonna try a different wood with the fish though