Lake trout is the most exclusive and prized game fish in North America. This is because these fish manage to hide themselves in the deepest parts of the water, hence you’ve got to be very lucky to manage to catch one. Eating a trout (a big one) all at once can actually be difficult, so what the fishermen do is, they smoke the trout they catch. If you want to know how you can cook the smoked trout then simply follow the instructions given below.
Complexity level: Moderate
Time Required: 5-9 hours (it depends on the size of the catch)
Estimated Cost: $7 – $8 per pound
Resources Required:
- A large pot
- Water – 2 gallons
- Coarse sea salt or pickling salt – 2 1/2 pounds
- Dark maple sugar – 1/4 pound
- Onion powder – 1 tbsp
- Garlic powder – 1/2 tbsp
- Black pepper (coarsely ground) – 1 tbsp
- Honey (optional) – 1/4 cup
- Lake trout fillets – 15 pounds
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Large plastic container with lid
- Plates
- Paper towel
- Baking sheets
- Aluminium foil or film wrap
- Wire cooling racks
- Smoker
- Wood chips (either alder or apple)
- Instant read thermometer
Instructions:
Preparing the brine:
- Begin by placing a large pot on your stove. Fill this up with 2 gallons of water. Add sugar, salt and the rest of your seasonings and bring the entire mixture to a boil. Once you find that the sugar and the salt have dissolved, remove this from heat and let the entire brine cool down.
Preparing the trout:
- Place the fillets on the cutting board and check to see if the bones have been removed. If you find bones, use tweezers to pull them out.
- Trim the rough edges off the fillet along with the fins. Also if you find that the pieces are too big, you can chop them off into smaller portions.
- Put these fillets in a plastic container and cover it with the brine till they are at least an inch deep in the brine.
- Place it in the fridge for around 8 to 10 hours. This depends on how much flavor you want in the trouts.
Smoking the trout:
- Drain out the brine from the trout and replace this with cold water. Let the trout soak in this for around 10 minutes and then drain it off and pat it dry.
- Line the baking sheets using the aluminium foil or the wrap and then put the cooling racks on the sheets. Space the fillets and put them on the racks so that air can flow. Place them in the fridge again for at least a few hours, or even overnight, but make sure that it is uncovered and that the racks are dry.
- Prepare the smoker using the wood chips.
- You need to smoke the trout at about 175 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit till an internal temperature of 145 degrees is reached. You can check this by using the thermometer.
- Cool and keep the trout in the fridge. You can either use this immediately or you can wrap it up and save it for future use.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What seasonings should be used with the trout?
The following seasonings can be used with the trout:
- lemon pepper
- garlic pepper
- cracked pepper blend
- Cajun spices
- brown sugar or mustard paste
Quick tips:
- If you want a smoky flavor, you will have to cook the trout slowly at a very low temperature.
- If you want a smoked flavor which is mild, you need to use lesser chips while maintaining a higher temperature.
Things to watch out for:
- Make sure that you do not reduce the quantity of salt which you use in the trout.
- Make sure that you use enough of salt and sugar since they prevent moisture accumulation and hence prevent harmful bacteria and other micro organisms.
