bolo wrote:
I saw that episode on Alton Brown Good Eats last night. If you want to spend some money the Weber Smokey Mountain is affordable and works really well.
I talked my dad out of a cheap $49.00 smoker last month nd told him to just start saving his $$ for a real deal ... It will make the difference between not being able to wait until your next smoke and getting so frustrated you will never want to smoke another thing again...serious !
Dont mess around - the hardest part to smoking is keeping the temps low and constant for sucha long time....Fish are easy, they smoke fast...but other things require hours and hours of consistency. the WSM has a superiour design and GREAT fit to the parts allowing for a tight seal and giving the smoker the option to control airflow, thuis controlling temps.
I got lucky in that a really good friend who knew I'd enjoy it, gave me a WSM when he outgrew it... I recommend them 110% With a little practice and good weather, it is possible to start a smoke before you go to bed, level out the temps, sleep and awake to really great chow !
The ONLY knock on the WSM is that you cannot do massive amounts of food at one time, but then again with a little planning it is easy to smoke enough for parties of up to 20-30 people if you stage it correctly.
I know he still secretly misses his WSM too....lol
Things about King Dip -
Mayo and ( fresh ) Lemon juice....The amounts depend on how dry or not you smoked your kingfish. Personally I smoke these super hard and fast as to get smoke flabvor while leaving moisture inthe fish. I do not brine fish for the smoker. That is a preference only. You want to use enough lemon juice so that the acid 'brigtens' up the flavors you are creating not overpowers them...You do not want to taste much lemon if at all in the final product....in these salads it is an enhancer not a flavor agent...the real superstar flavors here are smoke and fish.
Mustard ( a T to the final salad assembly always helps )
Herbs - I prefer chopped Dill ( fresh )
Pepper - I like using fresh cracked Black, but my wife hates heat...so if you like heat do not be afraid to fine dice a Jalapeno or Datil or Tobasco or something like that...do not overpower the smoked flavor with heat !
I am not a cream cheese fan...some are...use as you like...
Vegtables - Fine diced onion and celery are standard for me....I have also lately been playing W adding Diced apples, raisins and toasted walnuts with success....not too much however...
This is an easy one guys - think tuna Salad, chicken salad and substitute smoked fish then flavor in such a way as to enhance the smoked fish and keep it moist - after that it is all preference!!
Bolo - Thanks so much for the smoker last year dude...it has gotten a workout and will for so much longeer into the future !