Smoked Trout - The Way a Fishing Guide Does It

Step 1

Combine the brine ingredients in a food safe container.

Step 2

Place your fish fillets in the container, and then liberally sprinkle the brine over your fish. Every nook and cranny of the fish fillet should be covered with your dry brine. Once the fish is adequately covered cover the pan with saran wrap and place the whole pan in your refrigerator.

Step 3

Let the fish brine for at least 3 hours, and up to 6 hours. Any longer and it will be too salty.

Step 4

After the trout has been brined, rinse each of the fillets thoroughly, and then pat dry.

Step 5

Place the fish on a grill rack, and then put the rack on the sheet pan you were using before, and back in the fridge with the fish! If you don't have room in the fridge, you can put the fish in a cool, well-ventilated area. The fish will need to sit out for at least three hours. This step produces a tacky film on the surface of the salmon, called the pellicle. The pellicle will help your trout or salmon hold more of that smoke flavor you're looking for, and keeps the fish from cooking too quickly.

Step 6

Set your smoker up to cook with indirect heat at around 140 or 150 degrees, and then place your trout or salmon fillets on the grill grates.

Step 7

Combine the glaze ingredients in a small bowl

Step 8

Stir the ingredients until the honey and brown sugar has dissolved, and then set aside.

Step 9

At the end of each hour, brush your fish with the glaze.

Step 10

After two hours, increase the temperature in your smoker by 20 degrees. Repeat this process every two hours.

Step 11

Smaller trout only take a few hours to smoke, but larger lake trout and salmon can take several hours. Check the temp of your fish with a good meat thermometer after a few hours, and when the fish has reached an internal temperature of 145 degrees, you can pull the fish from the smoker.

Step 12

When the fish is done smoking you can eat it warm, or let it cool for about 60 minutes before putting it in an airtight container in the fridge.