Smoked Rainbow Trout

Print Recipe

Smoked Rainbow Trout

Smoked rainbow trout are a great and inexpensive fish to smoke. You can purchase whole rainbow trout from Costco for $3.99lb. They are about 1 1/4” a piece, which is pretty good sized. They will have to be brined for about 3 hours. Once brined, pat them dry inside and out. You can smoke them whole, or you can remove the heads and backbone, have them butterflied open flat, and smoke them that way. They will take no more than 2 hours to smoke if done headless and boneless; about 3 hours if done whole. Using a probe thermometer, internal temp should read 160 degrees.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time2 hours hrs

Brining Time3 hours hrs

Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Snack

Keyword: appetizer, electric smoker, fish, main course, snack

Author: Alex Gorgos

Equipment

• Electric Smoker

Ingredients

• 5 whole rainbow trout cleaned and gutted

Brine

• 4 cups water
• 1/4 cup sea salt
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

Wood Chips

• applewood chips
• cherrywood chips

Instructions

• Mix the brine ingredients together.
  
• Wash the rainbow trout inside and out.
  
• Brine the rainbow trout for 2-3 hours.
  
• When ready to smoke, pat the rainbow trout dry inside and out with paper towels. Place on the smoker racks.
  
• Preheat your electric smoker to 225 degrees according to the manufacturer’s directions. Smoke the rainbow trout for 2-3 hours. For ones 1lb and under, 2 hours is plenty. Ones over 1lb, smoke for up to 3 hours. The internal temp should be at 160 degrees.
  

Tips For Smoking Rainbow Trout

• Brine the rainbow trout for 3 hours. It takes a little more time for the brine to penetrate whole fish.
• Pat the rainbow trout dry inside and out with paper towels. This allows the smoke to stick to the fish.
• You can smoke the fish whole, or you can remove the head and backbone, butterflying it open and smoking it open-faced flat.
• Smoking the rainbow trout whole will take about 3 hours at 225 degrees. Smoking the rainbow trout headless and boneless will take about 2 hours at 225 degrees.
• Applewood, cherrywood, alder, and cedar are great woods for smoking fish.
• Since we want smoked fish cooked all the way through, smoke to an internal temperature of 160 degrees.