Fly fishing for trout is one of my absolute favourite ways of relaxing in the outdoors. Recently it seems to have become somewhat taboo for fishers, fly fishers especially, to take trout from the water. For me responsibly ‘harvesting’ fish within the bag limit and size restrictions to turn into delicious meals for my family adds considerably to outdoors experience.

My favourite trout to eat, brook trout, aren’t even really a trout but are a char

smoked trout on a rack
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Smoked Trout

This is my go to method for smoking whole trout. Eat this warm from the smoker, or use it as the star ingredient in other dishes
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time2 hours
Brining time2 days
Total Time2 days 2 hours 15 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: smoked
Keyword: smoked, trout
Servings: 4

Equipment

  • smoker I use an upright Pro-Q (for now)

Ingredients

  • 2 trout my favourite are brook trout (which aren't a trout at all but a char)
  • 4½ litres water
  • 50 grams brown sugar
  • 65 grams salt flossy, sea, kosher or any other foodgrade salt without anti-caking agent

Instructions

  • Place the water, salt and brown sugar in a large saucepan. Stir, over a medium-high heat, until the sugar and brown salt are throughly dissolved. Take off the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
  • Once the brine has cold to room temperature, place the trout in a large non-metallic container, and pour over the brine. Ensure the trout are fully submerged. Cover the container and place in the fridge for at least 24 hours. I often leave trout for as long as 72 hours and believe the longer brining time results in a more moist fish.
  • Remove fish from the brine, wipe dry with paper towel, and place back in the fridge on a cooling rack to fully dry for a couple of hours.
  • Prepare your smoker to run at 95°C (200°F) while soaking two handfuls of wood chips in water.
  • With the smoker stable at 95°C (200°F), hang the fish or lay on the grate, and add a handful of wood chips to the fire.
    If laying your fish on a grate, prop the stomach cavity open, with toothpicks or the woody part of rosemary srigs.
  • Smoke for two hours, adding more wood chips as necessary, while resisting the urge to open the lid and look at them.
  • Eat warm from the smoker on a bagel, or toasted bread, with a smear of cream cheese and capers. Or allow to cool before refrigerating for later on.

Smoked trout bagels make a fantastic brunch, especially if the trout is still warm from the smoker. But most of the smoke trout in the house gets eaten in pasta in a variation on the classic carbonara.