10 Dec Smoking Kokanee on the pellet Grill
Here’s my recipe for smoking your Kokanee on your pellet grill.
First off I like to fillet my Kokanee. Even with 10-15 inch fish I prefer the end product you get with fillets over just de-heading and gutting. The brine gets more surface area to soak and the fillets are easier to manage when enjoying.
After you have your filleted catch I like to brine it overnight or 6-8 hours. For a brine I usually just do a simple dry brine, nothing fancy. One part salt rock salt or kosher salt, 2 parts brown sugar. Usually doing half a cup to one cup of salt and a cup to two cups of brown sugar (depending on quantity) for this recipe I did half a cup of salt, 1 cup brown sugar. I like to do this in a big tupperware container. This mixture will eventually turn in to a liquid state, make sure it is evenly spread throughout the fillets.
After your Kokanee is brined go ahead and pull it out of the brine and proceed to rinse all the fillets. Once rinsed I like to pat dry with paper towels and let dry in the fridge for a few hours. Rinsing the brine will help eliminate that white build up when smoking.
(Optional step) After your fillet’s are brined, rinsed, dried I like to add some coarse black pepper to add a little spice to my fillets.
After your fillets are dry they are ready for the smoker. Any pellet grill/ pellets should work fine, I personally use a Camp Chef XT with Alder pellets. First I’ll smoke my Kokanee at 160-180 degrees for about 3 hours. Then I’ll finish the fillets off with 2 more hours at 225 degrees. If you prefer your Kokanee a little more cooked add another hour at 225.
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