Smoked Fish Aboard?

[Chef to Sail]

Originally Posted by Soft Air

Chef to Sail, thanks for that info, have you used the Camerons smokers?

I am trying to make a decision between Camerons and the Bradley you are recommending.

Thanks in advance

I have used the Camerons little stove top smokers and the smoking bags and they are OK. They are inexpensive enough to do small ammounts of smoking but if you are considering smoking whole sides of Salmon then I would go for the Bradley.

The Bradley has A LOT of space and like I said it will provide continuous smoke for up to 8 hours. I use a Barrel smoker at my house but sometimes it is a pain to continually keep checking it to see if I need to add more hardwood.

If you have the space on your boat/ at the house/ wherever then the Bradley makes a lot of sense. I think I purchased mine for around $275 and it was a GREAT investment!

[Chef to Sail]

Originally Posted by Soft Air

Is the liquid smoke just another "chemical" that does the trick? Will it be healthy as well?

I am still trying to make a decision between Bradley and Camerons

rcmpegasus ship some smoked tuna asap so I can make a decision lol

From a Chef's point of view I say NO NO NOOOO to liquid smoke!

Some people add it to Soups, Chili, etc. but there is nothing that can add the amazing flavor to real smoked meat and fish like real hardwood smoking.

Another thing I might add is that the Bradley smoker can also act as another oven for the boat. It has a max temperature of 320 Degrees, not extremely hot but it will get the job done!

I have the Original Bradley Smoker

[knothead]

Originally Posted by Chef to Sail

From a Chef's point of view I say NO NO NOOOO to liquid smoke!nal Bradley Smoker

I can understand that. But I'm not doing any cooking. Just drying.

Originally Posted by SweetSurrender

How long does it need to soak?

Depends on how dark you want it to be and how much smoke flavor you want it to have.
I really don't know if the stuff is bad for you or not. It probably is. Isn't everything?
You can dry the fish to the same consistency using soy sauce or something I would imagine.
I just remember that it was very reminiscent of beef jerky and really easy to make. My wife didn't like trying to store fish in the fridge for more than a day or so and drying was a good way to use it up.

[Chef to Sail]

If anyone is unsure of smoking on a boat, another great way to extend the life is to cure. I cure Salmon and Trout all the time and and it is very easy to do.

After curing, you can bake it in the oven and make "Fish Jerky" which I have eaten and kept unrefridgerated for over a week.

[Soft Air]

Thanks for your replies Chef to Sail, I will go Bradley then

Can you explain the curing procedure? Thanks in advance.

[Chef to Sail]

Originally Posted by Soft Air

Thanks for your replies Chef to Sail, I will go Bradley then

Can you explain the curing procedure? Thanks in advance.

Curing basically takes the moisture out of the fish.

Just as an example say you are going to cure Salmon. You will need to make a mixture of Salt and Sugar. The general rule is to use 2 parts Salt to 1 Part Sugar but if you like yours a bit sweeter then add more sugar. You can also add any herbs or spices that you might like during this process because while the salt draws out the moisture, the Sugar and spices will infuse into the fish.

Here is a simple recipe:

1 Side of Salmon
2 cups Kosher Salt (Always use Kosher Salt)
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Chopped Fresh Dill

1) Mix together the salt, sugar, and dill.
2) Sprinkle 1/3 of mixture evenly over Baking sheet.
3) Lay Salmon skin side down onto baking sheet.
4) Cover Salmon with the remainder of the salt mix.
5) Place in fridge for 24 hours.
6) Remove fish from fridge and rinse under cool water, removing all of the salt/ sugar mixture.

* Now some people make a Brine with the Salt mix by adding 1 gallon of water but it does not make sense to me to soak the fish in water if you are trying to remove moisture in the first place! *

After you have cured the Salmon there are a couple things you can do with it.

A) Cold Smoke- I like to smoke Salmon using applewood @ 70F. Every hour or so I will brush the Filet with Maple Syrup for a sweet touch.

B) Make Gravlax- After curing you can soak the Salmon in a mixture of equal parts Lime Juice, Olive oil, and Vodka! The acid in the Lime juice kills off any remaining bacteria and actually cooks it. Soak in the solution for 1-2 hours and cover filet with Chopped Dill before slicing.

B) Dehydrate- Food dehydrators are GREAT! You can slice the Salmon and dry it for 4-8 hours and make fish jerky. Dehydrators are fairlt inexpensive, use little energy and you can dehydrate just about anything.

If you plan on taking any of these products out for a long cruise I would also recommend buying a Food Saver for vaccum packing and in turn freezing. Feezing will kill any bacteria that may have survived through any of the above mentioned preserving methods and the Vaccum packing will keep the food Fresh for much longer.

Ok Im done

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by SweetSurrender

Thanks so much for the reply. We took a look at the Fagor Pressure Cooker and ultimately decided upon something much more basic. We found the Ball Home Canning Basics Kit which appears to have everything we need for canning.... less the possibility of blowing ourselves up with a real pressure cooker. It was much more affordable and is likely to suit our needs just fine.

But then there's the risk of botulism. Low-acid foods such as fish need to be processed in a pressure-canner in order to achieve a temperature of 116 degrees C to destroy C. botulinum spores. We have a Fagor pressure canner and it's pretty foolproof.

[Mariposa]

You can can fish using a pressure cooker. Beth Leonard has good instructions and a video on www.bethandevans.com/articles at the bottom of the article downloads page.

JoAnn on Mariposa

[Ramblin']

Remiunds me of some cruisers we met in Mazatlan who made fish jerky (marinated in soy sauce & spices) and then hung all the pieces on their shrouds until they were "jerked". I believe they brought them all in at night (in case of moisture) and re-hung the next day - the Maz sun can do jerky pretty good, but imagine it would work in any sunny clime? The boats name is "Boatbums" and they are happy cruisers, but can't remember where they are right now. I imagine they are still following the same jerky path in all the countries they are visiting, since they loved to fish.

[Cheechako]

In mexico we caught a lot of fish. We used to make fish jerky all the time out of bonito and sierra mackeral. We just cut the fish into strips, brined the fish as usual (salt, sugar, soy sauce) and layed it out in the sun on little wire oven grates (like the ones you cool cookies on). It lasts a long time and doesnt even need refrigeration! It's tough like beef jerky when done.

[GordMay]

Dependable solar dehydration (jerking) of foods requires 3 to 5 consecutive days when the temperature is 95 - 100 degrees F. and the humidity is very low.

The food must be protected from insects and covered at night. Be sure to bring the jerky indoors at night, if the temperature drops more than 20 degrees F. Dew and sudden temperature change put moisture back into the food and lengthen the drying time.

Any lean meat can be jerked. Beef and venison are especially good; fish and poultry dry well, too. Be sure to use fresh, lean meat and cut off all fat and connective tissue. Fat becomes rancid easily and will spoil the dried meat.

The flavour of jerky can be varied by marinating the strips in mixtures such as teriyaki sauce, sweet and sour sauce, hot chili sauce, or your own favorite marinade. The marinade should not contain oil because oil will become rancid and spoil the meat.

See also:

Drying of fish: basic principles

Excerpted from “Fish handling, preservation and processing in the tropics”


Fish handling, preservation and processing in the tropics: Part 2 no. G145: Drying of fish: basic principles

[svBeBe]

I have not canned fish but have a French friend who does it all the time. She refuses to use her 2 freezer lockers and cans (in half-pint jars) all the fish they catch so can be stored without refrigeration. She has served appetizers of the canned mahi-mahi and it tasted great. The real problem is obtaining the proper canning supplies when cruising. Those jars, lids and rings and incredibly hard to find.

Judy
S/V BeBe
Amel SM2 #387

[George Elliott]

Yeah, we've also smoked fish on the bbq using tinfoil and wood shavings/sawdust, works well. But fish jerky is really good, easy too. The best fish is something we never normally ate, bonito. Fillet, thin slice and marinade in something really disgustingly strong, ketchup, hot sauce, soy sauce and worcestershire with extra salt. Tape a black plastic garbage bag to the foredeck and put the racks on it. Takes about one good hot breezy day to dry to jerky. Great with beer. George