queensland Fish Smoker keg

[davostephens]

I have made this in the last 12 months. 

The  smoke generator on the side is from NZ called a SMOKAI. 150$ therebouts.

Awesome contraption. U can attach them to anything realy. You can even buy an attachment that hooks strait into the weber Q range.

 

Anyway my smoker came together remarkably well.

Split a keg. Hinge it. Some metal feet to stop it rolling. 

Its funny but the smokai shaft fits exactly into the keg hole. And it sits nicely on the weber BBQ. 

I turn the BBQ on full which gets the keg to around 80 deg celcius/ Just rite for fish. It seems as though I fluked the whole thing.

They do a great job. One canister of a mix of chips and sawdust gives an hr n half smoke, And the fish comes out cook nicely.  Can definitely recommend SMOKAI.

 

I mainly bought it to smoke Mac frames as i thought such a waste to bury them, Also the wings do up extraordinarily well.

Now I am going to experiment on turning TRASH fish (bludger trevally/ Mac tuna etc) into something special.

 

At the end I just water blast it out. Does a good job. Cheaper than a Bradley

 

Any questions hit me.

 

 

[Drop Bear]

They look delicious. Well done. 

Do you cook the fish for 1.5 hours or just cook them a bit and then smoke? 

[davostephens]

Heat 1-  1.5 hrs. Or atleast until Smokai is empty. Open hood and see with a fork if fish is cooked. 

Smoke and cook at same time.

[Drop Bear]

1 minute ago, davostephens said:

Heat 1-  1.5 hrs. Or atleast until Smokai is empty. Open hood and see with a fork if fish is cooked. 

Smoke and cook at same time.

Nice thanks. What brine do you use? 

[davostephens]

dry.

layer in bake dish.

Salt, Brown Sugar. Fillet.... Topped with honey, soy,pepper, OL Bay seasoning(lightly) Scotch, Dill.. Then more salt and sugar. then next fillet/layer.  It will all go to liquid in 24 hrs.. Then rinse FW,  and put under a fan for an hour or so. If you can hang in the beer/bait fridge for a day dripping onto newspaper.  Hot and fresh strait out of the smoker is best. My mac frames I scrape the meat off and in a bowl I add wholegrain mustard, Egg mayo or greek yogurt, lemon, olive oil, red onion, parsly etc... whatever you reckon realy.... Mash it up and on a biki with a beer is the go. Better than burying frames for the worms

[Drop Bear]

26 minutes ago, davostephens said:

dry.

layer in bake dish.

Salt, Brown Sugar. Fillet.... Topped with honey, soy,pepper, OL Bay seasoning(lightly) Scotch, Dill.. Then more salt and sugar. then next fillet/layer.  It will all go to liquid in 24 hrs.. Then rinse FW,  and put under a fan for an hour or so. If you can hang in the beer/bait fridge for a day dripping onto newspaper.  Hot and fresh strait out of the smoker is best. My mac frames I scrape the meat off and in a bowl I add wholegrain mustard, Egg mayo or greek yogurt, lemon, olive oil, red onion, parsly etc... whatever you reckon realy.... Mash it up and on a biki with a beer is the go. Better than burying frames for the worms

Now you are making me hungry... Pro tips there thanks. 

[davostephens]

Any fish frame would be worth a try. I did a bit of shark other day. Seemed ok

 

[davostephens]

HAHA. I aint no pro. But got a few ideas for the next trash fish.. Nova Lox with a light smoke for mac tuna and or bludger trevally, Brassy trevally. Gotta be able to turn that stuff into treasure somehow,

 

Oh ESTUARY COD  are superb smoked. you know those golden orange spot ones.

[davostephens]

Another tip.. In the bottom of keg, throw some old teabags (non milked) lemon peel, orange peel, Kaffir lime leaves...Just some things you can smolder to give a different taste. Not all at once.. But the ideas there to try flavours. 

If I did a soy base marinate with ketchup manis, salt Brown sugar.. then Id roll fish in dry chilli flakes maybe a smear of ginger and before smoking.. Kaffir lime leaves in bottom of keg..

Then I just water blast the ash out.

 

Experiment.

[Drop Bear]

4 minutes ago, davostephens said:

If I did a soy base marinate with ketchup manis, salt Brown sugar.. then Id roll fish in dry chilli flakes maybe a smear of ginger and before smoking.. Kaffir lime leaves in bottom of keg..

Then I just water blast the ash out.

STOP IT!!! I am supposed to be on a diet. haha

OK I need to do this. Thanks. 

We have loads of kaffir lime and other citrus as well as lemon myrtle

 

[davostephens]

Wish I had a lemon myrtle.. Oh lemon grass is a good smoker too. Even eucalypt leave have a great smell/smoke.

Diet,,, hahah.. fish is good for you. Its all the other junk we eat.

[davostephens]

When I do my next round of smoking with the trash to treasure range of fish I will post the results and recipe if worthy....

[Drop Bear]

1 minute ago, davostephens said:

Wish I had a lemon myrtle.. Oh lemon grass is a good smoker too. Even eucalypt leave have a great smell/smoke.

Diet,,, hahah.. fish is good for you. Its all the other junk we eat.

True.

If you are ever near Wynnum drop me a PM and I will give you a few branches. 

[kmcrosby78]

Had some mullet fillets straight out of the smoker at dad's yesterday - amazing the difference straight out of the smoker compared to frozen, thawed and microwaved! 

[davostephens]

too true. Yet I have smoked a few pieces of defrosted MAC.. I cant tell the difference

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Once again Davo, thanks for the detailed tips on smoking. I hope it goes good for you with other fish.

Cheers Hamish