wildfowler.250 Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 Now I'm not really a 20 a day man so I could use some advice.. The old man has a Bradley smoker,(I think) which hasn't been used that much. If got 15 mackerel in the freezer and some pigeons to clean. Any advice on how to smoke either of them? ps I was told I could freeze the fish straight away without gutting them..how reliable is that info? Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pole Star Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 Gut your fish as soon as possible ! I do mine at sea or when the boat comes in & remember a lot of sea fish have guts full of worms especially cod & I am told if they are not done as soon as possible the worms make their way into the flesh & I did see fine hair like worms in mackerel flesh once . Anyway as they say , no extra charge for the meat . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holly Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 is it a hot or cold smoker ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildfowler.250 Posted August 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 Cheers pole star I froze them entire as quickly as possible.. hoping they should be fine. I'll gut them on the trip home next time..it's a good idea! Holly, I believe I can hot or cold smoke them. Any suggestions for either? Many thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pole Star Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 (edited) Cheers pole star I froze them entire as quickly as possible.. hoping they should be fine. I'll gut them on the trip home next time..it's a good idea! Holly, I believe I can hot or cold smoke them. Any suggestions for either? Many thanks! Cheers pole star I froze them entire as quickly as possible.. hoping they should be fine. I'll gut them on the trip home next time..it's a good idea! Holly, I believe I can hot or cold smoke them. Any suggestions for either? Many thanks! Hot smoked mackerel are fab hot or cold , is what I do is marinade then in cider vinegar & rub the inside of the belly cavity with honey & I ***** the fish with the fillet knife so the marinade can penetrate the fish & sprinkle mixed herbs & black pepper over & in the cavity , leave over night in the fridge & next morning let them drip/drain for an hour & then hot smoke for about 30 or 40 mins . Tasty hot or cold . ATB Pole Star ps it seems the word to describer a stabbing motion has been removed from the text of the recipe for some strange reason , most odd ! Edited August 31, 2013 by Pole Star Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pole Star Posted August 31, 2013 Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 Hot smoked mackerel are fab hot or cold , is what I do is marinade then in cider vinegar & rub the inside of the belly cavity with honey & I ***** the fish with the fillet knife so the marinade can penetrate the fish & sprinkle mixed herbs & black pepper over & in the cavity , leave over night in the fridge & next morning let them drip/drain for aqn hour & then hot smoke for about 30 or 40 mins . Tasty hot or cold . ATB Pole Star ps it seems the word to describer a stabbing motion has been removed from the text of the recipe for some strange reason , most odd ! pps but you know what I mean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildfowler.250 Posted August 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2013 (edited) Hot smoked mackerel are fab hot or cold , is what I do is marinade then in cider vinegar & rub the inside of the belly cavity with honey & I ***** the fish with the fillet knife so the marinade can penetrate the fish & sprinkle mixed herbs & black pepper over & in the cavity , leave over night in the fridge & next morning let them drip/drain for an hour & then hot smoke for about 30 or 40 mins . Tasty hot or cold . ATB Pole Star ps it seems the word to describer a stabbing motion has been removed from the text of the recipe for some strange reason , most odd ! Thanks very much! Really helpful and ill give it a go ps it took me some time to work out what the edited word was Edited August 31, 2013 by wildfowler.250 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill425g6 Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 I do a few mackerel hot smoked in the Bradley for other people as I dont like them much as they come back up on me. I think you should follow Pole stars recipe on this one as it sounds excellent.The Bradley smoker I have a lot of experience. First of all you want to get hold of a Bradley instuction manual and a Bradley recipe book,they normally come with the smoker but any outlet will send you them. I dont know which one you have as there are a few problems with them. If it has a slide control below the door you have to watch that fat or liquid doesnt run out the door and onto the element as it will burn out.The one I had I glued a channel above it and the fat run into a tray.If it doesnt have the slide you will be ok but the liquid will still run out the door. I have the latest digitial one and it still runs out the door. The heating element inside make sure you dont place anything on the trays above that will drip onto it as it will blow. Make sure that the tempreture is well above what you want to cook the fish at as when you open the door and put the fish in it will drop a lot. The more you put in the smoker the more the tempreture drops and the longer it takes to heat back up. The digital one is really good for this as you can set time and tempreture the others are trial and error.If you are serious about smoking a good book is Keith Erlandson home smoking and curing about £7 Amazon.Buy a spare element as you dont want it to go in the middle of smoking especially if you cant get the meat or fish easy. You have to watch depending on the model that the biscuit advance is working. It should advance a biscuit every 20mins. When starting you should push the red button twice and leave it. As for the pigeons it will tell you everything in the book.Pigeon is lovely smoked I use hickory, fish I prefer Oak then Apple. Anyhow good luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pole Star Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 I do my hot smoked mackerel in a Woodmans smoker & I should have said you can add some lemon juice to that recipe if you like , note I have no experience of the Bradly Smoker & the woodman smoker is a stainless steel cylinder that you stand on the cooker & it will do 2 mackerel at a time . Pole Star Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holly Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 my smoker is the type that sits in a frame with two spirit burners underneath , when i was working down at dungeness power station a few summers back on a night after work a few of us would head down to the beach at the back of the station with fishing rods and said smoker we would catch the maccys and get them into the smoker on the beach i just hot smoked them using cherry wood and we had plenty of hangers on for the finished product , they were exellent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildfowler.250 Posted September 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 Cheers guys! I'm going to clean the pigeons now,(thankfully they're in an old fridge ). I understand it you salt the meat for 6 hours before washing, dry and into the smoker? Great info and will pass it onto the old man Mackerel need to defrost so I'll give them a go second.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pole Star Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 (edited) I can't say much about smoking hot mackerel from defrosted fish as I have only ever used fresh , if you do defrost & smoke can you give us an up date on them . ATB Edited September 3, 2013 by Pole Star Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildfowler.250 Posted September 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 I can't say much about smoking hot mackerel from defrosted fish as I have only ever used fresh , if you do defrost & smoke can you give us an up date on them . ATB Will do! Ability to do a good job maybe be the problem rather than the fish being frozen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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