Smoking fish (goldeyes) without a smoker/smoke house

[spinN'flyfish]

Hey guys, while I'm thinking of a trip to the red deer river in September, I'm planning to keep some of the goldeyes there, I usually prefer CnR but with generous limits and a abundance of the species, it'd would be nice to bring a few home. I know of the famous smoked goldeyes, and I love smoked foods. However I don't have a smoker and have heard that you can do somehow without one (true?), I've only prepared the odd stocked trout I keep sometimes and simply cook them in the fire or on the grill, sometimes pan frying with butter, but I have never tried smoking fish. Would you need to fillet it and then soak in brine then smoke it or just gut the fish and soak then smoke (whole fish). Or if you have any other great ways of preparing goldeyes I would like to know :)
Cheers

[NewAlbertan]

Hey guys, while I'm thinking of a trip to the red deer river in September, I'm planning to keep some of the goldeyes there, I usually prefer CnR but with generous limits and a abundance of the species, it'd would be nice to bring a few home. I know of the famous smoked goldeyes, and I love smoked foods. However I don't have a smoker and have heard that you can do somehow without one (true?), I've only prepared the odd stocked trout I keep sometimes and simply cook them in the fire or on the grill, sometimes pan frying with butter, but I have never tried smoking fish. Would you need to fillet it and then soak in brine then smoke it or just gut the fish and soak then smoke (whole fish). Or if you have any other great ways of preparing goldeyes I would like to know :)
Cheers

Fillet and brine.
You'll need a low temp smoke.
It can even be done over a green fire without a house. But figure in playing smokerman for 6-8 hours depending on the set up, wind, amount of fish.
Google traditional smoking. Many omit brining but this is best for food safety and flavor.

Don't try to do it in a bbq. Too hot.

[aulrich]

Typically we smoked whole gutted and scaled, find yourself a big cardboard box and a hot plate and you have a smoker. Mind you a big chief smoker is not that pricy

[KegRiver]

Hey guys, while I'm thinking of a trip to the red deer river in September, I'm planning to keep some of the goldeyes there, I usually prefer CnR but with generous limits and a abundance of the species, it'd would be nice to bring a few home. I know of the famous smoked goldeyes, and I love smoked foods. However I don't have a smoker and have heard that you can do somehow without one (true?), I've only prepared the odd stocked trout I keep sometimes and simply cook them in the fire or on the grill, sometimes pan frying with butter, but I have never tried smoking fish. Would you need to fillet it and then soak in brine then smoke it or just gut the fish and soak then smoke (whole fish). Or if you have any other great ways of preparing goldeyes I would like to know :)
Cheers

I tried smoking fish but my papers weren't big enough plus they kept getting wet.


Okay okay, I'll get serious. :)

I don't know about Goldeye but I've smoked a fair number of Suckers.
It's nothing too complicated.

I'm not sure if you'd need to fillet the Goldeye. You do have to at least split Suckers, so the brine can penetrate the thicker portions.

Goldeye are such a thin fish you might get away with simply soaking them in brine for 24 hours. Then smoking them.

Smoking meat is more about drying to preserve then about the smoke.
Smoking evolved from drying meat. It was a way to keep flies off while the meat dried. It was found that too much smoke made the meat bitter while just enough imparted a pleasant taste.

The trick to smoking is to not let the smoke linger on the meat. You want just enough smoke to keep the flies off. And you don't want a lot of heat, unless you want a cooked meat.

I've seen meat, fish and moose, smoked on open racks, in well ventilated re-purposed refrigerators, in unused graineries and in purpose build smoke houses.
The purpose build smoke houses ranged from little more then tall boxes to something along the lines of a small garage.

One of the better smoke house I remember was a old out of service grainery with large gaps between the wall planks.
A flock of sparrows could fly right though the thing without slowing down.
But it did a beautiful job of smoking fish. Which was the only thing I ever saw it used for.

The wood you use to make the smoke plays a big role too. Never use spruce or pine or your meat, whatever it is will taste like spruce, or pine.

The best local wood are Willow, Fruit tree (Saskatoon ext.) or any dry hardwood such as poplar and birch.
Willow and fruit wood can be used green or partially dry but hardwood have to be well cured and you MUST remove the bark from birch if you wish to use it.

Or you could just buy chips selected for smoking.

You could also buy a smoker, or you could build your own, or even simply make a frame to hold a few old refrigerator racks and stretch a trap over it to keep off the sun and rain.
To generate smoke you could use a hot plate, and old electric fry pan or a small fire.

It's up to you how much you want to spend and if you want something permanent or a one time setup.

Simple or complicated, free or costly, all will do the job if you follow the guidelines.

Thin meat to speed drying and so the brine can penetrate, soak in brine- to draw out moisture, light smoke to keep off flies and impart a subtle flavor, allow plenty of air circulation, dry until leathery.

[spinN'flyfish]

Thanks for the tips , I will consider them all :)

[huntsfurfish]

Leave em outside for a couple days.