Smoking Amberjack

[sharkbait]

Stringer:
You got the receipe man. Been using a similar one for years, that's the ticket. As far as bonging fish, not a good idea. But I'd be happy to lend you mine to confirm that notion! :-)
Sharkbait

[junior]

Damn, the fish smokers are coming out of the woodwork.

[Bob3]

mmmmm... smoked fish.
Here's a good write up on making your own smoker (has brine recipe too): http://www.angelfire.com/ca/divers3/food.html

[Steel Shootin']

I'm going to smoke some amberjack tomorrow using Stringer's recipe. One question: What temperature should the brine be? Is it supposed to be ice cold, soaked in a cooler, to keep the meat fresh?

[Marcus]

I was very happy with the recipe I tried recently. Simple and good.

Marinate the fillet minus the skin in Worsteshire shauce for at least 2 hours. Take out and rub with Brown sugar and a some salt. Then smoke whilst partaking in an cool refreshing adult beverage. Came out pretty rockin'!

[Steel Shootin']

Here is what happened with my AJ:

Financial Advis told me to not worry about adding extra ingrediants to the brine. All you need is water, brown sugar, and salt.

I had a lot of amberjack, and my goal was to make a huge batch of fish spread for neighbors, business contacts, and family. I used a giant pot that I used to use in college for breweing beer. I had about a gallon of water, 1.5 cups of salt, and probably three cups of brown sugar. I was not really following any recipe, just using the 3 magical ingredients in the approximate portions that FA described.

I then rearragned my fridge to fit the giant pot in there, and allowed the fish to soak in the brine for 24 hours.

I have a green egg smoker, which I will never part with. Anyway, I had soaked Hickory Chips over night, and used real lump coal for my fire. I got the temp down to a consistent 260 degrees, added the wood chips, and did the fish for 3.5 hours.

One thing unorxadox: I had a total brain fart and when I had cleaned the fish, I skinned it too. You normally leave the skin on fish you will smoke, and place it skin side down on the grill.

Result: This is the best smoked fish of any kind I have ever had. Next time, I will keep it to one cup of salt, as it was slightly too salty. However, after I made a batch of spread, the salt was reduced enough to allow the great smokey flavor to come through more. I added some finely chopped onions. When I give it away , I will give salt free crackers, also.

I'm telling you, this spread is so good I said "to hell with the crackers" and was eating it by the spoonful.

I still want to try Stringers recipe, but this worked out well as I had everything on hand.

[Stringer]

Any way you like it is good! I leave mine in the brine in the refrig overnight, then rinse off the brine and let it air dry until it glazes over before smoking.

Here's the recipe for fish spread I use:

Smoked Fish Spread Recipe

1 ½ lb smoked fish
2 ts minced onion
2 ts finely chopped celery
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 tb sweet pickle relish drained
1 ½ cup mayonnaise (I use no fat)
1 tb prepared mustard
1 dash Worcestershire ( I use a few dashes)
2 tb chopped fresh parsley


Put it on saltines, celery or your tongue! It's the shit!

[Marcus]

One thing unorxadox: I had a total brain fart and when I had cleaned the fish, I skinned it too. You normally leave the skin on fish you will smoke, and place it skin side down on the grill.

I normally remove all the dark meat on the AJ to get rid of the real fishy stuff. This entails skinning it. AJ is such a firm meat that it stays together real well on the smoker anyhow. Mullet is a different story, the high fat content underneath the skin is what makes it soooo good.

[Steel Shootin']

The smoker will be fired up again tonight, as i couldn't fit it all in one batch last night. But, you're right, no problems by skinning first. I cut the bloody-mushy part out, too.

Looks good, stringer.

[joel mcqueen]

brine in salt water that egg floats in prepare soy brown sugar worchestershire juice of real lemon fresh heat on stove till brown sugar is disolved brush on aj while in smoker twice once when first in once before you take them out this works on any fish melt in your mouth

[MarkD]

Damn you guys, making me hungry reading this. Smoked kingfish is great, but AJ is even better. Smoked fish dip, crackers, a little Crystal hot sauce, and a cooler full of longnecks. Now that is livin'.

Mark

[Vin]

epicurious.com

has an answer to any question....

Vin

[from the sea]

have any of you used botton wood chips to smoke with? it is kick ass i useually smoke a lot of fish at one time, like 30-40 ld and it takes all day at a temp of 150-160 degrese and it is nice

[subdude]

I marinate my AJ or mackeral in lime juice only overnight and then sprinkle with tony chacheres creole seasoning on both sides and smoke for a couple of hours at 150 - 200 using oak and pecan wood.

Below is my recipe for dip, it looks very similar to the others. I use cilantro instead of parsley.

2 C.smoked fish
1 C. mayonnaise or more to desired consistency
2 T. finely minced onion
2 T. celery finely minced
2 T. fresh parsley, chopped
2 T. pickle relish
1-2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 T. prepared mustard
dash of white Worcestershire sauce

Mix well and refrigerate for at least two hours for the flavors to marry

subdude

[munitionfishin]

Scott, what was your portioning and ingredients on the spread??...How much mayo, onion etc....?