{"id":552,"date":"2017-01-26T17:56:17","date_gmt":"2017-01-26T22:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/three-little-pigs-bbq.com\/dev\/?p=552"},"modified":"2018-12-27T20:04:06","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T01:04:06","slug":"a-b-cs-of-smoking-fish-hot-cold-smoking-technique","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/three-little-pigs-bbq.com\/dev\/a-b-cs-of-smoking-fish-hot-cold-smoking-technique\/","title":{"rendered":"A B C\u2019s of Smoking Fish-Hot & Cold Smoking Technique"},"content":{"rendered":"

BBQ Smoking is Not Only For Salmon!!!<\/strong><\/p>\n

and\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0“Slow Smoked Catfish Fillets Recipe”\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

Fish takes on a deliciously moist texture
\nwhen slow smoked in a smoker. \u00a0The meat of the fish easily peels away in tender, flaky chunks as it is infused with all the flavors of sweet smoky wood. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this blog, I will discuss the simple methods and techniques on getting a great smoke on whether a Salmon or a Catfish.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Our goal was\u00a0an internal temperature of about 130\u00b0F to 140\u00b0F. \u00a0\u201cIf you cook a piece of salmon (or trout or char) at too high a heat, what happens is the muscle fibers in the meat contract so violently that they extrude a protein,<\/strong> if you\u2019ve ever seen fish \u2018bleed\u2019 a white, creamy<\/strong> substance<\/strong> that\u2019s a protein called albumin<\/strong>,<\/strong> which immediately congeals on the surface of the fish, It\u2019s ugly. \u00a0<\/strong>You prevent this by keeping your heat gentle.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The “hot smoke<\/strong>” process for smoking fish differs from the “cold smoke<\/strong>” process in a fundamental way. The “cold smoke<\/strong>” process requires that the fish never reach an internal cooking temperature (less than about 90 F), while the “hot smoke<\/strong>” process cooks the fish to the center (about 145 F or higher). Between those two temperature extremes are conditions that can create an environment favorable to the growth of food poisoning bacteria. Both products must be refrigerated.<\/p>\n

COLD-SMOKING Fish: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Cold-smoking is a method of preserving fish where the ambient cooking temperature stays in the range of\u00a068-86\u00b0F<\/strong>\u00a0(20-30\u00b0C) for 6-12 hours. The flesh loses some of its moisture and becomes denser without being cooked. The exterior of the meat remains soft rather than hardening as it would when cooked at higher temperatures. The obvious issue with cold-smoking is with the fact that the meat remains in the temperature danger zone (40-140\u00b0F) <\/strong>for several hours. The antimicrobial properties of dry-curing and smoking are what make the fish safe to eat, but this method may be best left to seafood processing experts with strict sanitation and safety measures in place to monitor pH and water activity to ensure the result is pathogen-free. I recommend a hot-smoking method that is safer and yields a moist, flaky result that doesn\u2019t disappoint.<\/p>\n

For my Electric Smoker Friends here is a link to the an Electric Smoker Blog on Cold smoking :\u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/www.electricsmokerguy.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

HOT-SMOKING Fish<\/strong>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hot-smoking takes place with an ambient temperature in the range of 215-<\/strong>\u00a0225 F<\/strong>, well above the danger zone. The fish is smoked until the internal temperature of the meat reaches your desired degree of doneness. The higher cooking temperature will kill any existing microbes so you\u2019re guaranteed that the salmon is safe to eat<\/p>\n

Fish Temps from Raw to Overcooked: \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In his book\u00a0On Food and Cooking<\/em>, Harold McGee<\/a>\u00a0outlines what happens to the fish at different temperatures during cooking, and its characteristics at those temps.<\/p>\n