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Smoking your Own Marlin

Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Saltwater Fishing
Forum Name: The Work-Up
Forum Description: Game fishing related topics here
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=36927
Printed Date: 29 Mar 2024 at 10:00am


Topic: Smoking your Own Marlin
Posted By: TM.
Subject: Smoking your Own Marlin
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2009 at 7:24pm

Hello all....this is something I have been thinking about doing for a while now as my various crews and I are not in a position to be spending big bucks on smoking fish with it in the vicinity of $2.50 - $3.00 per kilo green weight these days....

I know your saying tag them then.....(and we regularly do)  but we like doing contests and that invariable means a respectable fish will be weighed (as we like prizes too)
 
Its bad enough with the increased petrol prices then the realisation after landing a nice marlin that there is another hefty bill on the way....we landed a good blue a few years ago and got NO change out of $500...thats just nasty
 
I have done a bit of research and have built a nice smoker about the size of a port-a-loo using steel cover sheets from the local roofing manufacturer and untreated 50mmx50mm
which probably owes me less that $150...thats a bargain......and I have a good source of manuka to burn.....
scored a large LPG bottle and cut the top off and that will be the fireplace....have done a test burn and it works a treat...
 
I would like a bit of advice from those who know on the actual preparation and smoking of the fish.....
 
I favour the soaking in brine method as its easy and quick compared to rubbing each piece with salt and sugar which leads me to my first question.....
 
what ratio of salt and sugar and how much of each should I use in the brine......I have a large  fish bin to put the chunks into but want to get the mix right....
 
secondly what about the smoking process......I have heard about and will probably use the 1,2,3 method ie dry for one hour,  cook  for 2 hours,  smoke for three hours (as you have guessed I am not going to use a cold smoke)
 
I have eaten fished prepared and smoked using this method and the results are awsome
 
any advice on the subject would be welcome along with your preferred methods
 
I am sure there are others out there who would like to give it a go as from what I have seen its dead easy and a lot of fun not to mention cheap


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Team 'Wild Bill'

2006 Tutukaka Small Boats Heaviest Marlin

2007 Blu Heelers Contest Heaviest Snapper

2008 Tutukaka One Base 2nd Heaviest Marlin

2009 Bay of Islands Small Boats Heaviest Marlin



Replies:
Posted By: Dohboy
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2009 at 7:54pm
TM where are you based?
If in auckland go to mitre 10 mega in henderson and get  a book called 'The Kiwi Smoker" its only 32 pages long but has a very good brine mix as well as some very good tips.

I dont know about the 1,2,3 thing but when i do my fish it takes up to 12 hours and all depends on how much i keep away from the meat. If you can keep the heat down for a long time and then only in the last 1-2 hours bring it up to around 70c you will end up with very nice fish the is well smoked but NOT cooked..
Dean


Posted By: Marligator
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2009 at 8:21pm
TM, we use a 2 brown sugar to 1 salt mix in our brine. The other thing we do is only smoke what we want at the time and freeze the rest in big chunks and then smoke them as the need arises. The other thing we do now is make marlin jerky, cut the marlin in to thin strips about 5 - 8mm thick and put onto a skewer making sure they do not touch and smoke for about the same langth of time as you would a normal peice of fish (we normally smoke marlin for about 4 to 6 hours), these come out unbelievably nice, especially with a beer or two, we are finding that we are smoking most of our marlin and tuna this way now.
With respect to the amount of brown sugar and salt required for about say 7  or 8 kilos of fish we would use about 3 cups brown sugar and 1.5 cups salt in about 15 litres of water, and leave the fish in the brine overnight. Also when we smoke the fish we jsut get the fire going nice and quietly using either manuka or pohutakawa and keep it going for 4 to 6 hours until the fish is done, generally we don't use saw dust as the fish brown up nicely with a good strong smokey flavour as it is over this length of time.


Posted By: Marligator
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2009 at 8:22pm
TM forgot to mention that we have smoked fish that has been in the freezer for almost a year and it comes up just as good as if you had just caught it. So you do not need to smoke the whole lot at once.


Posted By: GAMFSH
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2009 at 8:25pm
Tony there are a couple of options here, there is a big difference between brining and curing marlin, a brine will ad flavour and a cure will cure the meat, goto www.bradleysmoker.co.nz, there is a whole section on curing and how to get the best out of your fish and meat, to give you an example, i managed to smoke some blue marlin the other day and brined some and cured some, slowly smoked them at 70C for 5-6 hours the diffeerence was chalk and cheese, the brined fish was grey where the cured fish was still pink and will preserve the meat better, on the website is how to do and a huge database free to all with downloadable recipes and tips, as long as you can controll the temperature you are on a winner, also as you have a gas burner try different types of woods, you will be very surprised, the reason bradley released the cures was so people can create a wide range of flavour and to be honest the next marlin i catch will be done in different flavours rather than 150kg all the same and no you don't need a bradley to use there recipes or process but they have been doing it for 20 years and have given all there successes, good luck catching a fish this season


Posted By: kaveman
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2009 at 8:27pm
Good advice there Vance, we vacuum pack fish and smoke it as needed.

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www.kavemantackle.co.nz


Posted By: GAMFSH
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2009 at 8:29pm
Marligator you are right on experimented the other week with marlin jerky and it was fantastic using the same process in a dry rubThumbs%20Up


Posted By: K_N_B
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2009 at 8:35pm
Marligator you say you will freeze in large chucks. Do you then let the chucks thaw out in the brine or do you brine before you freeze?


Posted By: GAMFSH
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2009 at 8:45pm
KNB defrost then brine or cure, don't brine before hand, chunks should stay fresh when frozen


Posted By: stef da maori
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2009 at 8:48pm
2:1 sugar to salt. Rubbed on then put back into the chiller for a day or 2. Then smoked. Tino rekaThumbs%20Up
Like the idea of freezing.Just done a load of puka and bluenose wings that we kept frozen over 4 weeks of fishing for them. Come out just as good as fresh.
The other thing i'd like to add is the availability of better household vacuum packers. This makes smoking your own fish a more attractive thing to do. Gamfsh has one of the best on the market that i have seen for the price you pay.


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Tama tu, tama ora. Tama moe, tama mate.Maranga mai, me hiika tatou i nga wa katoa.


Posted By: Fishb8
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2009 at 5:39am
Questions:- What sort of vacuum packer is that and where did you buy it?
Is blue marlin as good as stripy, to eat smoked as I heard it wasn't?

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Be yourself; everyone else is already taken


Posted By: Marligator
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2009 at 5:58am
Roy, generally blue marlin is not as good as striped marlin, but every now and then you get a blue which is really good, I think a lot has to do with how the fish fights, blues often go crazy and burn themselves out and I would suspect there is a bug buildup of lactic acid in these fish and they almost cook themselves and are not as good to eat.
 
Weighmaster should be able to make some comment on this as he was the smokey at Toots for a number of years.
 
The 313 kg blue we got last year smoked up very well, it was a fish that never jumped at all and so was in good condition for smoking.
 
Kevin and Stef I like the idea of vacuum packing and will be looking into getting one for myself or between a group of friends.
 


Posted By: kaveman
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2009 at 7:00am
Roy..........the big blue we caught was Sh#t compared to a stripy, they are not as fine in the flesh as stripies,very coarse.

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www.kavemantackle.co.nz


Posted By: GAMFSH
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2009 at 7:45am

Roy vaccum packers are on there way at present and will be here in a few weeks, they are available from any of the bradley smoker dealers on the website

Kaveman, Marligator has a theroy but is is also how it is prepared, the blue marlin i did the other week, i used a maple cure with maple syrup to infused the flavour and smoked it in a really mild wood (alder), the outcome was nobody could tell me what marlin it was so different brines and cures along with smoking it makes a huge difference, it didn't last long eitherThumbs%20Up



Posted By: GAMFSH
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2009 at 7:49am
I wil go a bit of topic here to give you guys a bit of insite, the other week we caught a bin of albacore so while i was up at toots we smoked it after brining it and to be honest it was ho hum as you could still taste the amonia slightly, took some fresh home and actually cured it in a liquid cure and the result was it tasted like chicken, the cure removed all the amonia and added more flavour so it has alot to the way fish with a monia present it prepared, have a look in the kitchen and see what kezza has done with his albacore recipe and technique, i used the same and it was stunning result


Posted By: Bushpig
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2009 at 8:32am
Interesting result on the blue. All the Blue marlin I have ever had tasted like crap, no exception.

If your Albie tasted like chicken then it may have been a little over done, as that's when they take on that taste


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I would rather laugh with the Sinners, than cry with the Saints


Posted By: GAMFSH
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2009 at 8:42am
Graham certainly wasn't overdone, still very moist but great flavour, i was surprised also about the result of the blue marlin, but brines with alot of salt have a tendency to draw the moisture out, why aren't you at the whakatane tuna tournament, weather down here today is variable and sunshine, hopefully the tuna will show today


Posted By: Bushpig
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2009 at 8:55am
Tuna are bait fish for Marlin.  I am keeping my powder dry for an assault on Waihau Bay in 2 weeks.




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I would rather laugh with the Sinners, than cry with the Saints


Posted By: Weighmaster
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2009 at 4:39pm
Marligator you are right about 1 in 7 blues were fantastic, i'd put this down to age of the blue not fight time as such, as one of the best over 200kg i did was a longer fight than most and a small quick 120kg specimum was glug.
 
i never was a fan for brown sugar, only used it on very special requests 90% time all salt only. 6 - 10 hours in the shed depending on vollume my sheds held 140kg, 180kg & 220kg of green meat for smoking on trays all manuka and kanuka for wood although i used to get gived all the storm downed pohutukak from the council for special ocasions.
 
there is nothing like a tuna tastey (jerky style) with a beer watching a one dayer.
 
marlin and tuna smoke better when chilled for a day or more in large blocks then broken down and salted in smaller user friendly chunks overnight the smoked early on the day so they cool down in the cooler afternoons and removed the next morning cold.  my sheds had milk factory temp gauges on the to monitor temp and a temp spreading plate over the fire pit to stop hot spots..
 
i would recomend to all to smoke at least some of your own fish as when i have to i will not mind paying $3 per kg for a good smoked, packed ready to tansport chilled lot,  with no waste to get rid of (ground up for berly) tails, wings, bills, blood and smell.
 
blue on a barby is nice with a yoghurt and mayo spiced up coating.
 
s/m and tuna as sushimi, raw fish, sushi, cerviche, barby cooked, smoked chunks or jerked strips bloody awesome do try it.


Posted By: fitty
Date Posted: 21 Jan 2009 at 9:21pm

I reccommend that you keep the backbone and wings of any large fish you intend to smoke.Brine the same way Marligator reckons .Leave in brine for around 8-12 hours.

 Smoke on a low heat the next day and wash down with a cold beer.
 
This meat is often the best to be had on a large fish.


Posted By: Marligator
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2009 at 3:30am
Welcome aboard Karl, I was wondering whether this thread would be the one to finally get you to start participating on here.
 
Weighmaster, I was not meaning the length of fight time more the type of fight from the blue marlin. My suspicion was that blues that went crazy may not smoke up as well as one which fought a more dogged fight i.e didn't expend large amounts of energy in a short period, hence possibly less lactic acid build up, only a theory no proof on this, but is logical I feel.


Posted By: biggear
Date Posted: 22 Jan 2009 at 6:35am
What are you doing up at 3.30am sir???

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Dont let the grey hair fool you!


Posted By: ILEX
Date Posted: 05 Mar 2009 at 1:28pm
A few tips for smoking marlin or any fish firstly waterblasting or scrubbing is important the slime and bacteria on all fish has the potential to give you a crook guts we have used a recipe for years 1kg of plain salt (not iodised) 2kg of brown sugar to 35 litres of fresh water brining bins are 120 litre new wheelie bins which are hygenic and easily cleaned 1 bin holds approx 1 average marlin note -important that super dry white tea tree is used as wet wood or green wood when burnt creates black creosote (bad for you) fish are left in brine in chiller for 24 hours any longer makes no difference can be left for 5 days when gutting make sure to remove dark blood line in spine starting wood is usually old dry totara fence post a moderate fire in our smoke house seems to take approx 3-4 hours to cook fish check often if meat peels off skin fish is cooked best left overnight in smoke house to cool before packing preferably vacuum packing


Posted By: Adam Scott
Date Posted: 05 Mar 2009 at 2:00pm
Ken Wrights secrets revealed!! The above post is gold.Thumbs%20Up
 


Posted By: stef da maori
Date Posted: 05 Mar 2009 at 5:45pm
Proven recipe that one too ZaneThumbs%20Up Couple gone through that smokehouse

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Tama tu, tama ora. Tama moe, tama mate.Maranga mai, me hiika tatou i nga wa katoa.


Posted By: ILEX
Date Posted: 05 Mar 2009 at 5:57pm
Yes stef after 750 we have learnt a few tricks to share with ewes fullas


Posted By: TM.
Date Posted: 05 Mar 2009 at 6:51pm
thanks...have done my first one along those lines and the result is pretty good...a bit of fine tuning as you would expect but everybody I have given it to love it...personally I cant each much of the stuff

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Team 'Wild Bill'

2006 Tutukaka Small Boats Heaviest Marlin

2007 Blu Heelers Contest Heaviest Snapper

2008 Tutukaka One Base 2nd Heaviest Marlin

2009 Bay of Islands Small Boats Heaviest Marlin


Posted By: manoftheland
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 7:22am
I kno this is an old topic but i thought i would start it up again. I caught a big feed of albies at whitianga on the weekend and thought i would hav a crack at smoking them in my new smoker. I put the fish into brine yesterday but im not quite ready to smoke them yet. Will leaving them any longer then 24hrs do them any harm? Or will it they go off? Thanks


Posted By: Marligator
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 7:36am
Stickface, have you got the fish in a cold brine i.e. fridge temperature, if so another 24 hours shouldn't hurt, if not smoke as soon as possible. The way we keep them chilled is to put frozen water bottles in the brine.


Posted By: manoftheland
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 8:32am

I have them in my chilly bin which i put in the freezer to keep it cool. I just take it out before it freezes. I bought a nz smoke generater off trademe a guy in napier makes them but the courier hasnt delivered it in time so thats where the problem is. Theres more then one way to make smoke tho so i might just do it without my new gadget. I would hate to give everybody food poisening!



Posted By: Kezza
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 9:27am
smoking up Team Tagit's spearfish today - never done one of them before but don't foresee any issues.

Dry rubbed chunks with Bradley Maple Cure (anyone wanting a fool proof way of curing fish/meat this is the product for you - even a hack like me has gotten it 100% right) yesterday
Left in the chiller over night
rinsed chunks under a medium nozzle flow this morning
dried chunks with paper towel
put racks in Bradley and set to 60degrees without smoke for 1 hour
dried chunks with paper towels
rubbed chunks with maple syrup
and is now smoking away at 80 degrees with maple bisquettes

will add some photos as this progresses today.

in the meantime below is some scungy ol' albacore I did last week with the above method:



The key I believe with albacore is to de-gill and gut them through the gills as they come on board and liberally pack the gut cavity with salt ice.....you'll be surprised how "warm" the gut cavity is of a fresh caught tuna and will begin to deteriorate very quickly if left in even in a salt ice slurry.....try it this way next time you get some albacore - superb!! 










Posted By: [email protected]
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 9:47am
YUM YUM YUM YUM  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Did I say YUM enough times -  YUM YUM YUM YUM
 
Jeez that reminds me of the Muppets - " MA NA MA NA ........do doooooo do doooo do


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http://www.blackbillsportfishing.co.nz/" rel="nofollow">


Posted By: Tagit
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 11:40am
Lance - see what owning a launch has done to you LOL. Unfortunately I don't think the desease is reversible.


Posted By: Bushpig
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 11:40am
The key to albies is to cut through the gills, also put the knife in just behind the peck fin. if you do both the result is way better

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I would rather laugh with the Sinners, than cry with the Saints


Posted By: Tagit
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 11:57am
Kezza - looking forward to the progress reports, and then to the actual results! Thank you kind sir for your efforts.


Posted By: Reel Magic
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 12:29pm
Just to deviate off the subject slightly, I smoked some Mako in the Bradley the other day and the flesh feels slushy as opposed to firm and flakey like any other fish I have smoked.
Is this normal for Mako flesh. It was in the smoker for 5-6 hours.
I brined 1/2 of it and dry rubbed the other 1/2 (maple cure) to see if there was any noticeable difference (I have not tried the brined stuff yet)
Is there any benefit to brining it over dry rubbing it ?


Posted By: Kezza
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 12:32pm
Most welcome Dave - consulting the diary and will get back to you ASAP!!



Cured and rinsed



After an hour in the smoker without smoke @ 60degrees - back in the chunks go with a liberal jacket of maple syrup or at least maple flavoured syrup



After an hour @ 80degrees with Maple wood flavour



3 hours @ 80 degrees the 'chuka' is cooked. so back down to 40 degrees for a couple of hours to evenly brown up the chunks by regularly rotating the racks around and from the sneaky taste test just now - BOOOOOOOOOOM!

to be continued.....


Posted By: Kezza
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 12:35pm
Reel Magic - I've never done Mako or actually ever eaten it, so sorry i don't know but have heard the the texture and flavour is akin to striped marlin? cerantly doesn't sound 'right' thou.

as far as brine vs dry rub - I've only used brine method on pork hams and bacon where it requires a long time to cure - all fish I've done has been a dry rub.

If anyone bowls over a small mako and is willing to risk me having a go at smoking it please let me know....keen as!!


Posted By: Fishb8
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 1:46pm
What say we drop off a couple of of stripys, Kezza? Those pics look awesome and I bet they tastes as good!! Change of career?

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Be yourself; everyone else is already taken


Posted By: Kezza
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 1:55pm


sorry Team Tagit but your spearfish appears to have turned putrid in the last couple of hours, so I've taken liberty and biffed it in the offal pit to save you guys from a visit to the chemist for extra strength dia-stop!!...Tongue....

In all seriousness - Boulder and I will vacuum pack and will be distributed on the morrow - so make sure you have in your respective larders Vogels toast bread, vine ripe tomatoes, some kind of waaanky cheese, cracked pepper and some garlic!!

PS: just to make this relevant to the thread - spearfish has a very similar texture and density to the striped marlin I've smoked using the same method as above....


Posted By: Kezza
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 1:57pm
Roy - a couple of striped one's might be a bit taxing on resources but if you are slabbing up a fish our two and you put aside around 40-50 'chunks' around the same size as the above pixs I'll be more than happy to do them for you.


Posted By: Tagit
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 2:16pm
Originally posted by Kezza Kezza wrote:



sorry Team Tagit but your spearfish appears to have turned putrid in the last couple of hours, so I've taken liberty and biffed it in the offal pit to save you guys from a visit to the chemist for extra strength dia-stop!!...Tongue....

In all seriousness - Boulder and I will vacuum pack and will be distributed on the morrow - so make sure you have in your respective larders Vogels toast bread, vine ripe tomatoes, some kind of waaanky cheese, cracked pepper and some garlic!!

PS: just to make this relevant to the thread - spearfish has a very similar texture and density to the striped marlin I've smoked using the same method as above....
 
Wheres Moggy when you need him LOL Now, the big question is can I get this home tomorrow past the hungry gannets in my office?????


Posted By: Boulder
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 2:57pm
It shall be delivered hot off the bagging plant Dave

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http://www.boulderguiding.co.nz">

http://www.boulderguiding.co.nz">www.boulderguiding.co.nz



Posted By: Bushpig
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 3:00pm
The chucka we had smoked in Whangarei a couple of years back and the one Boulder brought to Whangaroa was better than s/m IMO.
 
 


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I would rather laugh with the Sinners, than cry with the Saints


Posted By: Tagit
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 3:09pm
Originally posted by Boulder Boulder wrote:

It shall be delivered hot off the bagging plant Dave
 
Thanks Boulder. I can see the office gannets circling over my head as I type this. Make sure you don't get dive bombed as you come through the door.


Posted By: Catchelot
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 6:51pm
Originally posted by Marligator Marligator wrote:

Welcome aboard Karl, I was wondering whether this thread would be the one to finally get you to start participating on here.
 
Weighmaster, I was not meaning the length of fight time more the type of fight from the blue marlin. My suspicion was that blues that went crazy may not smoke up as well as one which fought a more dogged fight i.e didn't expend large amounts of energy in a short period, hence possibly less lactic acid build up, only a theory no proof on this, but is logical I feel.
 
 
Top comments Vance, is this not similiar to the BTS (Burnt Tuna Syndrome)?
 
Where as, an energetic tuna burns itself to bits and its flesh ends up being fit only for burleyDead


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"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." - Jacques Cousteau


Posted By: Catchelot
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 6:54pm
Originally posted by ILEX ILEX wrote:

A few tips for smoking marlin or any fish firstly waterblasting or scrubbing is important the slime and bacteria on all fish has the potential to give you a crook guts we have used a recipe for years 1kg of plain salt (not iodised) 2kg of brown sugar to 35 litres of fresh water brining bins are 120 litre new wheelie bins which are hygenic and easily cleaned 1 bin holds approx 1 average marlin note -important that super dry white tea tree is used as wet wood or green wood when burnt creates black creosote (bad for you) fish are left in brine in chiller for 24 hours any longer makes no difference can be left for 5 days when gutting make sure to remove dark blood line in spine starting wood is usually old dry totara fence post a moderate fire in our smoke house seems to take approx 3-4 hours to cook fish check often if meat peels off skin fish is cooked best left overnight in smoke house to cool before packing preferably vacuum packing
 
 
Great tips there thank you ILEX I have learnt something new today.ClapClap


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"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." - Jacques Cousteau


Posted By: Catchelot
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 6:58pm
Originally posted by Kezza Kezza wrote:

smoking up Team Tagit's spearfish today - never done one of them before but don't foresee any issues.

Dry rubbed chunks with Bradley Maple Cure (anyone wanting a fool proof way of curing fish/meat this is the product for you - even a hack like me has gotten it 100% right) yesterday
Left in the chiller over night
rinsed chunks under a medium nozzle flow this morning
dried chunks with paper towel
put racks in Bradley and set to 60degrees without smoke for 1 hour
dried chunks with paper towels
rubbed chunks with maple syrup
and is now smoking away at 80 degrees with maple bisquettes

will add some photos as this progresses today.

in the meantime below is some scungy ol' albacore I did last week with the above method:



The key I believe with albacore is to de-gill and gut them through the gills as they come on board and liberally pack the gut cavity with salt ice.....you'll be surprised how "warm" the gut cavity is of a fresh caught tuna and will begin to deteriorate very quickly if left in even in a salt ice slurry.....try it this way next time you get some albacore - superb!! 
 
 
10 out of of 10 Kez, Gold that is all...
 
No make that 11 Clap


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"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." - Jacques Cousteau


Posted By: Catchelot
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 7:09pm
Originally posted by Kezza Kezza wrote:

Reel Magic - I've never done Mako or actually ever eaten it, so sorry i don't know but have heard the the texture and flavour is akin to striped marlin? cerantly doesn't sound 'right' thou.

as far as brine vs dry rub - I've only used brine method on pork hams and bacon where it requires a long time to cure - all fish I've done has been a dry rub.

If anyone bowls over a small mako and is willing to risk me having a go at smoking it please let me know....keen as!!
 
 
If I can just add 10 cents worth... Kez you will not regret smoking Mako...do try it.
 
I have not done it myself personally, but I have tasted others that have and it was just DEVINE.
In fact two species of shark that I have found to be great smoked are Tope/School  Shark and Mako.
 
The trick being to soak the fillets/meat in saltwater and all the stinky...sharky...ammonia smell is gone, so I reckon the soak in the brine should do this... and the rest well you know what to do Kez as your recipes and Bradley skills are just great.Clap
 
Sorry all to talk about smoking shark and take it away from Marlin.Embarrassed


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"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." - Jacques Cousteau


Posted By: craysee
Date Posted: 16 Feb 2010 at 9:53pm

That looks great can almost smell it.

I normally brine large fish ie tuna/marlin and salt rub all the smaller ones.
I find it easier to handle that quantity of fish by chunking and layering in a big chilly bin. 2 or 3 -1 sugar to salt ratio. instead of adding water i put 3 or 4 bags of ice over it.
this gradually melts and you can smoke the next day or even longer if using a iceytek or similar thats well insulated.
only thing i dont like about brining is it takes a long time to dry the flesh out before you start a decent smoke.
I think its a well known fact that the dryer the flesh the better it will accept the smoke?
 
 


Posted By: GAMFSH
Date Posted: 17 Feb 2010 at 12:36am
Originally posted by Kezza Kezza wrote:

Roy - a couple of striped one's might be a bit taxing on resources but if you are slabbing up a fish our two and you put aside around 40-50 'chunks' around the same size as the above pixs I'll be more than happy to do them for you.

Come on Kezz, you need a challengeLOL, i know where you can get your hands on a unit to do thatWink


Posted By: the demon
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2014 at 8:22pm
Originally posted by ILEX ILEX wrote:

]A few tips for smoking marlin or any fish firstly waterblasting or scrubbing is important the slime and bacteria on all fish has the potential to give you a crook guts we have used a recipe for years 1kg of plain salt (not iodised) 2kg of brown sugar to 35 litres of fresh water brining bins are 120 litre new wheelie bins which are hygenic and easily cleaned 1 bin holds approx 1 average marlin note -important that super dry white tea tree is used as wet wood or green wood when burnt creates black creosote (bad for you) fish are left in brine in chiller for 24 hours any longer makes no difference can be left for 5 days when gutting make sure to remove dark blood line in spine starting wood is usually old dry totara fence post a moderate fire in our smoke house seems to take approx 3-4 hours to cook fish check often if meat peels off skin fish is cooked best left overnight in smoke house to cool before packing preferably vacuum packing

Just a couple of questions,Once vaccy packed what is the expected shelf life in the fridge,and what temp is it inside the smoker at the time of smoking .
Kezza ,did  you do a mako in the end ?




Posted By: Fishb8
Date Posted: 16 Jan 2014 at 10:48pm
I had some 2010 vac packed frozen  smoked marlin and it was still great.

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Be yourself; everyone else is already taken


Posted By: mangre 2
Date Posted: 17 Jan 2014 at 9:10am
4 years  thats good


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Beautiful is better than ugly, Explicit is better than implicit, Simple is better than complex, Complex is better than complicated.      http://oceanmobilemap.blogspot.co.nz/


Posted By: Kezza
Date Posted: 17 Jan 2014 at 9:16am
Originally posted by the demon the demon wrote:

Just a couple of questions,Once vaccy packed what is the expected shelf life in the fridge,and what temp is it inside the smoker at the time of smoking .
Kezza ,did  you do a mako in the end ?



Not yet….had one up next to the boat just before xmas that would have made the grade but bit through the trace just as it's fate was being decided….


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Posted By: ELEVAR
Date Posted: 17 Jan 2014 at 5:39pm
I smoked a mako on sunday.... was mint!! feel sorry for any wee makos that come near my boat again...


zac


Posted By: Fishb8
Date Posted: 17 Jan 2014 at 10:01pm
Regret releasing our small mako last weekend - would have been tasty as!

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Be yourself; everyone else is already taken


Posted By: skidoggg
Date Posted: 18 Jan 2014 at 11:38am
best smoked marlin ive ever had was done by mark from Bradley smokers . cheers mark . chunked and soaked in 2 cans of Bradley maple syrup mixed with a cure . smoked slowly for 13 hours , sweetness n flavour cured right through the meat delish .....
when out the barrier at the Hilton we don't always have time to allow cure to soak in so have incorporated the use of a marinade seringe to get a slightly thinned version of cure /syrup into the centre of chunks    hardest part is getting a consistant even heat as cant just push a button like a Bradley !


Posted By: the demon
Date Posted: 19 Jan 2014 at 7:32pm
Got our fish back from Greg Ross on thursday and fired heaps of txts out  to lot of buds to  met us at chances north shore on friday at 4pm .Filled the joint and off loaded 26 vaccy pacs .Big Thanks to Greg for a great  smoke ,nice and moist and taste superb.Going to take 6 vaccy pacs to the south Island for the old mans 74th bday at Waikaia ,bottom of the sth island.He doesn't know I'm coming ,will find him in the local at 4pm this friday so will put some  smoked stuff up on the bar  for the locals as they wouldn't have it often. 
And yip cold steel for the next mako.


Posted By: mangre 2
Date Posted: 19 Jan 2014 at 7:55pm
Mako is nice, kill it, gut it, finn it, take out the blood line, put on Ice.

very moist flesh.


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Beautiful is better than ugly, Explicit is better than implicit, Simple is better than complex, Complex is better than complicated.      http://oceanmobilemap.blogspot.co.nz/


Posted By: Fishb8
Date Posted: 19 Jan 2014 at 10:15pm
Originally posted by the demon the demon wrote:

Got our fish back from Greg Ross on thursday and fired heaps of txts out  to lot of buds to  met us at chances north shore on friday at 4pm .Filled the joint and off loaded 26 vaccy pacs .Big Thanks to Greg for a great  smoke ,nice and moist and taste superb.Going to take 6 vaccy pacs to the south Island for the old mans 74th bday at Waikaia ,bottom of the sth island.He doesn't know I'm coming ,will find him in the local at 4pm this friday so will put some  smoked stuff up on the bar  for the locals as they wouldn't have it often. 
And yip cold steel for the next mako.
Awesome treat for your old man!!Thumbs Up

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Be yourself; everyone else is already taken


Posted By: [email protected]
Date Posted: 17 Apr 2014 at 4:03pm
What shelf life would you expect for Brined/Smoked Marlin thats been vacuum packed and left in the fridge ?

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Posted By: Catchelot
Date Posted: 17 Apr 2014 at 4:52pm
Maybe like any smoked fish vac packed at fridge temp about two weeks, I had some fish in maybe 3-4 weeks and it was becoming mouldy so was destined for the burley pot.

Thinking back no different to old day of smoked fish plastic bag...same time no more than a fortnight.


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"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." - Jacques Cousteau


Posted By: Fishb8
Date Posted: 18 Apr 2014 at 10:25am
Originally posted by BlackBill BlackBill wrote:

What shelf life would you expect for Brined/Smoked Marlin thats been vacuum packed and left in the fridge ?
6 weeks

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Be yourself; everyone else is already taken


Posted By: Lethal
Date Posted: 18 Apr 2014 at 10:52am
fridge/freezer

fridge,
yeah 6weeks,

freezer,
ive had some that is 12mths old and still was fine,
a lot depends on how it was brined i would have thought,
a 24hr brine done right should just about cure it proper to the extent it would last quite a long time in the freezer....




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Thanks for everything you did for us Eric. may you rest in peace, You were one of the real legends of NZ recreational fishing


Posted By: Fishb8
Date Posted: 18 Apr 2014 at 11:29am
Had some from freezer dated 2011 last week and was still perfect.

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Be yourself; everyone else is already taken



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