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Old 11-12-2017, 01:56 PM
Double-Eh Double-Eh is offline
 
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Default Whitefish in smoker coming out oily

So I've found a couple of recipes I like for smoking lake whitefish. One is a dry brine. One is a wet brine.
I find I like my wet brine recipe to be somewhat better tasting overall but it is oily/greasy.

The obvious solution is to tweak the dry recipe to find the flavour I'm achieving in the wet. But I just wonder if anyone has a secret to get that oil out of the equation for the wet brine? Or is it just how a wet brine goes?
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Old 11-12-2017, 03:08 PM
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SamSteele SamSteele is offline
 
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Are you cutting out the “mud line”? That can make them very oily if left in.


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Old 11-12-2017, 03:25 PM
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neilsledder neilsledder is offline
 
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I smoked some pike and white fish at the same time. Pike was better imo. I find with fish oily and fishy.


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Old 11-12-2017, 03:42 PM
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Bushrat Bushrat is offline
 
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Skin on or off? Skin the fillets, get rid of any grey/brown tissue found in the meat usually under the lateral line, it's fishy and oily, and cut off any belly fat.

Some people like the fishy oily taste, makes me wretch.
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Old 11-12-2017, 03:51 PM
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I suspect the culprit is more likely smoker cabinet temperature than it is brine issue.
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Old 11-12-2017, 05:45 PM
Crankbait Crankbait is offline
 
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not sure how oily you're getting but do you smoke tail up?
after we smoke, we let cool in smoker and then brown bag our fish and let rest for a few days. the brown bagging wicks off any extra oils which is usually very little. some people freeze their fish for a few days unwrapped before thawing and brining, we've never tried this but apparently the freezing makes the meat tenderized [can't think of a better word].
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Old 11-12-2017, 06:00 PM
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Red Bullets Red Bullets is offline
 
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Aside from the tips already posted I would suggest to smoke smaller whitefish. They are less oily. The bigger whites have way more fat. 2 lb. whitefish are ideal.
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Old 11-12-2017, 06:16 PM
curtz curtz is offline
 
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I wet brine and smoke with the skin on the rack, after it's done I take the fillet off the skin and remove the brown line. I then put it in brown paper bags and it sucks up the oil, sometimes I have to change out the bags. Did you try smoking it longer to dry it out a bit more ?
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Old 11-12-2017, 07:46 PM
Double-Eh Double-Eh is offline
 
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Both recipes are fillets with skin on, pin bones in and scales off.
They were smoked at the same time on the same rack, skin down.

That's why it's so odd one is oily and the other is not.

Maybe I didnt rinse it enough or I should have pat it dry yet again after it rested.

I dont know that I want to smoke it skinless. It helps keep it together and store it. And I find there's some flavour coming in from the mud/fat line.

When I hear fishy taste, I hear the flavour I smoke fish for to begin with.
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