Smoked Halibut/Ling

JWS

Crew Member
I did a search and couldn't find anything here...Has anyone tried smoking Hali or ling before? Im quite pleased with my smoked salmon, and have a fair bit of white meat, so was thinking of trying something new.

If so, how'd it turn out? Would you do it again? Any recipes you care to share? Did you do anything different than you do with salmon?

Thanks!
 
I've had smoked sablefish/black cod before. It was amazing! Give er a shot, I'd like to hear about the results!
 
I've tried smoking rockfish before many years ago. Didn't turn out very well. After that I wouldn't dare waste good Hali or ling by experimenting. I think the meat is just too lean to produce a good product. Maybe I'm wrong and others have experimented and turned out a good result.

Sablefish is excellent when smoked, but it is one of the oiliest fish I've eaten.
 
It's a waste of nice fish

Sablefish has some oil in it's flesh while the other 2 don't
 
Smoked white meat is so tasty , lots of salt touch of sugar , smoke with alder or the sharper woods hic /msq ...

fish dries out a bit , a great old timer showed me a way on making it so moist i thought it was kinda gross but tried it and it was unreal ...

milk in a pan put some dried or fresh herbs in the pan of milk , bring milk up to warm place smoked cod in the milk , it removes a lot of the salt and re hydrates the fish
trust me it doesn't taste like milk . so it's for after its frozen and thawed . the flesh becomes so moist like it was just caught . smoked cod eegs benny

cover the fish with milk.. pretty much poaching the fish

simmer for 15min or when squishy tender

herbs tyme ,bayleaf , etc oh and a touch of butter
 
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I did up a batch of Candied smoked Ling and Rockfish a couple weekends ago. It was a hit. I had one guy trying to tell me the ling was white spring.

4 cups brown sugar
1 cup coarse salt

Brine for 12 hours
Smoke for 6-8 depending on temp and thickness of fish. I used maple chips and it was very nice. Brought the big chief up to 145f and kept it there for about an hour, then brought it back to down to between 105f-110f for the last 5-6 hours. On the last pan of chips, I brushed them all with maple syrup.
 

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I did up a batch of Candied smoked Ling and Rockfish a couple weekends ago. It was a hit. I had one guy trying to tell me the ling was white spring.

4 cups brown sugar
1 cup coarse salt

Brine for 12 hours
Smoke for 6-8 depending on temp and thickness of fish. I used maple chips and it was very nice. Brought the big chief up to 145f and kept it there for about an hour, then brought it back to down to between 105f-110f for the last 5-6 hours. On the last pan of chips, I brushed them all with maple syrup.

That looks smokin' good :cool:. I am going to try some ling cod again using this method.

I have to ask how you control the temperature on the big chief? I used to own one previously and except for the rack on top with the box over it for cold smoking I couldn't figure out how to control the heat.
 
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I have an older style big chief, the one with a front door and not just a box that lowers over the racks. What I do for the first run of chips, is use a cardboard box with about the same profile as the smoker. I lower the box over on to the smoker and insert a meat thermometer into one of the small holes in the smoker. After the first run of chips I pull the box off to bring the temps down. If I still want a little less heat I pull the smoker door off and leave it sitting on the ground at an angle in front of the smoker so as to leave a gap an inch and a bit at the top of the smoker, and a little airflow at the bottom as well where the door is sticking out and sitting on the ground.
 
I found the info below on an Alaskan fishing site. Can't say if its works well, as I've never tested it out. Might be worth a shot.


"I have had great success with smoking my white species (halibut, cod, rockfish, kelp greenling) with similar applications as my salmons, but with these two differances: skin is off and fish is basted twice and flipped once with a coating of clear salad oil.
Make sure any layer of darker fat is pared away (strong fishy flavor) in this process."

"The white flesh will be of less fat, thus the oil to prevent it from becoming rubbery in texture. Wipe the excess smoky oil off as you conclude your smoking."
 
Smoked white meat is so tasty , lots of salt touch of sugar , smoke with alder or the sharper woods hic /msq ...

fish dries out a bit , a great old timer showed me a way on making it so moist i thought it was kinda gross but tried it and it was unreal ...

milk in a pan put some dried or fresh herbs in the pan of milk , bring milk up to warm place smoked cod in the milk , it removes a lot of the salt and re hydrates the fish
trust me it doesn't taste like milk . so it's for after its frozen and thawed . the flesh becomes so moist like it was just caught . smoked cod eegs benny

cover the fish with milk.. pretty much poaching the fish

simmer for 15min or when squishy tender

herbs tyme ,bayleaf , etc oh and a touch of butter

I've done this with ling and rockfish. Cold smoked and poached in milk. Its awesome.

CP
 
I've tried smoking rockfish before many years ago. Didn't turn out very well. After that I wouldn't dare waste good Hali or ling by experimenting. I think the meat is just too lean to produce a good product. Maybe I'm wrong and others have experimented and turned out a good result.

Sablefish is excellent when smoked, but it is one of the oiliest fish I've eaten.


x2 fully agree
 
Again not my info, copied from an Alaskan fishing forum:


OK so I just got done smoking some Halibut and it turned out really good as usual.
Lots of people at work asked for the recipe I used and so I figured I would post it here as well.
I got this recipe from a book and modified it slightly. Super simple to use and turns out a great product.
I use my Big Chief smoker with the blanket they sell for them around it. To fill it up I needed to make 2 and 1/2 batches of this brine.
This is a hot smoked fish recipe.

1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup salt
3 teaspoons black pepper
2 cups water
3 pounds halibut

In a large glass or plastic bowl mix soy sauce,brown sugar,garlic,salt,pepper, and water until well dissloved.
Cut Halibut into slabs not to exceed one inch thick.
Place halibut in sauce and refigerate for 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours,Stirring occasionaly.
Remove halibut and pat dry. Let stand at room temperature for 45 minutes, or until a tacky glaze forms on the fish.
Meanwhile heat smoker and have chips burning. Smoke fish for 6-8 hours, or until done.
 
Your welcome, I was looking for a few new ideas for smoking and came across it.

I personally always prefer a dry brine for my salmon and Sablefish. Although I could see why you might want to use a liquid brine on halibut or ling. A dry brine may remove to much moisture from a lean fish, and that may lead to a finished product that is too dry.

If I was using the recipe I posted above I might consider substituting white wine in place of water. I always like to add some wine or rum to my smoking recipes. It always gives smoked fish an extra special flavor.

If you smoke any Hali or Ling, be sure to let us know how it turns out.
 
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I tried a small piece of halt and ling. Used pretty much the same method as I do for salmon (salt/brown sugar dry brine), but with a little less salt, a little less brining time, and a little less smoking time. It turned out ok, but I don't think I'll do it again...at least not using the same method. The recipe TheBigGuy posted above might be worth a shot, though
 
Cowichan Seafood was serving up samples of smoked halibut one day in the Victoria Public Market. It was great. It tasted like they used very very little salt and went for more sugar and a short smoke. It tasted like maybe the marinade was honey. The pieces were quite small to allow a quick brine and smoke. FYI- CS is currently moving to Oak Bay Avenue sometime this month.
 
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