Wood Spinner
Guest
OK Happy It sounds as if you know how to do it rite.
So tell us ! I have a smoker and lots of wood.
Don't Worry Be Happy
Bill
So tell us ! I have a smoker and lots of wood.
Don't Worry Be Happy
Bill
~~~ FRESH WILD BLUE MARLIN ~~~
- Thread starter Wood Spinner
- Start date
A
azbeachboy
Guest
Wow, Happy can be normal...
Bill, you hooked another fish fish... :fish: ~ :fish: ~ :fish: ~ :fish: ~ :fish: ~ :eek3:
Bill, you hooked another fish fish... :fish: ~ :fish: ~ :fish: ~ :fish: ~ :fish: ~ :eek3:
It makes sense, with all the netting and longlining taking place lower in the Sea of Cortez this year, I wouldn't be surprised to see stores with marlin to sell for $5.99/lb and showing up at restaurants! Unfortunately, it is rapidly destroying the fishery, and can assume that buying it is only supporting this activity. Many are saying this is the worst billfish year on record, and by a large margin from just the last couple of years. I hope they understand that once they are gone it will not only ruin the sportfishing industry that we love so much, but also the commercial industry. I'll be south fishing in a couple of weeks, and plan to release any billfish. Okay, end of rant...I just want to enjoy catching some nice feesh for years to come! 
InkaRoads
cronopiador
~~~HAPPY~~~ it is funny you say "WAH SO" in Peru we say, or at least we used to say "uasu", I think that Basha's has the hook on us with that blue marlin for $5.99/lbs and most defenitely your recipe got me hooked, I just have to get a hold of a smoker or someone with one!!! hint, hint!!!!
PS: I mostly like the Tecate touch on it!!!!!!!
PS: I mostly like the Tecate touch on it!!!!!!!
B
bahiatrader
Guest
I watched Alton Brown on the Food Network make a dandy looking little smoker out of a cardboard box and a hot plate. Maybe you could go to foodnetwork.com and see how it's made. I've had a couple of those Little Chief smokers that are fairly inexpensive. I prefer a cold smoke on fish, but if you freeze hot smoked fish it should last. Vacuum pack it if you can.
B
bahiatrader
Guest
By "cold smoke", I mean where the smoke is generated about 20 ft. or so away and cools in a chimney before it gets to the meat. This can take three or four days sometimes, and the meat is preserved by smoke only. Cold smoked meat will keep longer without refrigeration than hot smoked. Different kinds of wood provide different flavors. Alder and cherry are fairly strong flavored. Mesquite and hickory are a little less strong with apple and vine maple providing a more delicate almost sweet flavor to the meat. Almost any hardwood is OK for smoking with. I've even used Mountain Mahogany. Recently I've seen apple, hickory, mesquite and vine maple chips sold for use in a smoker. They're all good. It's a good idea to let the chips soak in water for a couple of hours before using. You can never go wrong by adding pepper and garlic to almost any smoked meat (according to your taste, of course).
One trick I learned a few years ago, with hot or cold smoke, is to place some green grape leaves over the coals which I think gives a great flavor to fish. We made our own ham and bacon from pork and bear meat. We smoked red meat, fish, foul, sausage, and jerky. One time we smoked the meat from six whole deer in our smokehouse at once. "Squaw candy" is fish that's smoked so long that it becomes almost like jerky. I'm told it will keeep forever, but it disapeared so fast, I never had a chance to find out. Another good trick is to smear some honey on the meat before you smoke it. A few years ago I smoked some tuna using an old recipe for vine maple honey-cured salmon. It was smoked fish to die for!
PS - For making jerky out of red meat, always use tender cuts. Grind the tougher stuff up for making sausage with.
One trick I learned a few years ago, with hot or cold smoke, is to place some green grape leaves over the coals which I think gives a great flavor to fish. We made our own ham and bacon from pork and bear meat. We smoked red meat, fish, foul, sausage, and jerky. One time we smoked the meat from six whole deer in our smokehouse at once. "Squaw candy" is fish that's smoked so long that it becomes almost like jerky. I'm told it will keeep forever, but it disapeared so fast, I never had a chance to find out. Another good trick is to smear some honey on the meat before you smoke it. A few years ago I smoked some tuna using an old recipe for vine maple honey-cured salmon. It was smoked fish to die for!
PS - For making jerky out of red meat, always use tender cuts. Grind the tougher stuff up for making sausage with.
B
bahiatrader
Guest
Here's the plans for the cardboard box fish smoker I saw on the food network. http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_ea ... 00,00.html It should work just as well as the commercial varieties. You can control the temperature with the flap door. I hope you're enjoying your fish HAPPY. We don't have a Basha's close by.
PS In lieu of the hot plate you might want to just cover a couple or three burning briquettes with wet chips and chunks of wood. You might even want to place a pan of water over it to increase the humidity. I never stuck a thermometer in the meat, but one to tell the temperature of the interior of the smoker might be helpful.
PS In lieu of the hot plate you might want to just cover a couple or three burning briquettes with wet chips and chunks of wood. You might even want to place a pan of water over it to increase the humidity. I never stuck a thermometer in the meat, but one to tell the temperature of the interior of the smoker might be helpful.
joester
2 salty dawgs
here's my 2 pesos on smoking fish - we have a brinkman elec smoker - (bought it cheap at a yard sale, new in box)
I like using apple wood or alder for fish smoking - hickory is pretty potent, and for me is best for beef brisket.
Not sure why mesquite has such a great reputation, other than it's plentiful in the desert southwest. to me it's a bit bitter-tasting on everything but a good steak, then it's ok, but not as tasty as hickory or even white oak.
5.99/lb is a good deal for marlin, and I have only smoked it a couple times when friends would bring over a slab. we have been 100% sucessful ourselves in catch and good release of all billfish, but I also understand that if the billfish were not going to survive, you might as well keep it and eat it.
favorite southern fish to smoke is still yellowfin, with dorado pretty tasty also. Have not landed a wahoo yet, but from what I understand it's one of the best tasting fish out there.
one of these trips to Cabo I hope to time the trip around wahoo season.
probably smoke more salmon than all the others combined, and that usually with a liberal dose of brown sugar, pepper, kosher salt and dill.
there's my 2 pesos worth.
I like using apple wood or alder for fish smoking - hickory is pretty potent, and for me is best for beef brisket.
Not sure why mesquite has such a great reputation, other than it's plentiful in the desert southwest. to me it's a bit bitter-tasting on everything but a good steak, then it's ok, but not as tasty as hickory or even white oak.
5.99/lb is a good deal for marlin, and I have only smoked it a couple times when friends would bring over a slab. we have been 100% sucessful ourselves in catch and good release of all billfish, but I also understand that if the billfish were not going to survive, you might as well keep it and eat it.
favorite southern fish to smoke is still yellowfin, with dorado pretty tasty also. Have not landed a wahoo yet, but from what I understand it's one of the best tasting fish out there.
one of these trips to Cabo I hope to time the trip around wahoo season.
probably smoke more salmon than all the others combined, and that usually with a liberal dose of brown sugar, pepper, kosher salt and dill.
there's my 2 pesos worth.
Kenny
Guest
Hey Joe, glad to see you back, it's seems like it's been a couple of weeks. Man, was it that hard to raise bail?
Did you ever throw some Smelt in with that Salmon Joe? Maybe you bahiatrader? You just kind of rise em off and throw them in, head guts and all. Their good stuff and you can also use them as a trial snack..LOL You can do the same with Grunion, if you can ever be at the right place on a full moon.
That reminds me, I saw a video of a Grunion run in El Golfo... I opened another window and found it. OK,Question...What's the BIG difference with this run compared to the ones on the Pacific side? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1biSSrc6qVA
OK, I found this...I have always wondered if those are really Grunion down at El Golfo, what cha think guys? ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bqx8Of8EQsQ&feature=related
Kenny
Did you ever throw some Smelt in with that Salmon Joe? Maybe you bahiatrader? You just kind of rise em off and throw them in, head guts and all. Their good stuff and you can also use them as a trial snack..LOL You can do the same with Grunion, if you can ever be at the right place on a full moon.
That reminds me, I saw a video of a Grunion run in El Golfo... I opened another window and found it. OK,Question...What's the BIG difference with this run compared to the ones on the Pacific side? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1biSSrc6qVA
OK, I found this...I have always wondered if those are really Grunion down at El Golfo, what cha think guys? ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bqx8Of8EQsQ&feature=related
Kenny
B
bahiatrader
Guest
We always smoked smelt whole. One time we smoked up about 300 lb. of smelt for ourselves, friends and neighbors. My wife refused to eat them with the guts stll in them, so I was glad I didn't keep very many for myself. More survival food. Stick a couple in your pocket for a long walk, or offer them to visiting strangers. Some people like 'em that way.
B
bahiatrader
Guest
Wow! That sounds absolutely delicious. Another neat trick for grilling to help the meat stay moist is to make a BBQ sauce with mayonaise, hot sauce, and catsup (or ketchup) if you prefer. I mix mayonaise and Tepatio hot sauce until it's a good pink flesh color about the same as the meat I'm cooking. I brush it on the meat with a basting brush. It's a good idea to wipe a little oil on your grill before you start cooking. As HAPPY says, you don't want to over cook it. I grill mine over high heat (you can still get the grill marks if you want) until bubbles and brown spots start to apppear. Then you flip it over and do the other side the same. It only takes a minute or so on each side depending on how thick the pieces are. The mayonaise helps keep more moisture in all the way through, and the pink color blends well with the color of the meat. I think I need to pick up some avacado and pineapple the next time I'm at the market. I'm having an un-controllable attack of salivation.
joester
2 salty dawgs
HAPPY -
YOU ARE MOST ENTILTLED TO YOUR OPINION.
caps off.
personally, I love to eat fish, but I also see no reason to keep a marlin or any other billfish unless it's not going to survive. there are plenty of other fish out there that are better tasting, and more plentiful, than the billfish. I'll admit, having a marlin hooked, and being on the other end when they get up and do a tail dance is an awesome feeling, one I'll never forget.
but watching it swim away, revived and healthy, was a very good feeling too.
I also prefer a yellowfin or dorado over the tast of the marlin, and look froward to one day eating a wahoo I have caught that day.
good luck + tight lines!
YOU ARE MOST ENTILTLED TO YOUR OPINION.
caps off.
personally, I love to eat fish, but I also see no reason to keep a marlin or any other billfish unless it's not going to survive. there are plenty of other fish out there that are better tasting, and more plentiful, than the billfish. I'll admit, having a marlin hooked, and being on the other end when they get up and do a tail dance is an awesome feeling, one I'll never forget.
but watching it swim away, revived and healthy, was a very good feeling too.
I also prefer a yellowfin or dorado over the tast of the marlin, and look froward to one day eating a wahoo I have caught that day.
good luck + tight lines!
B
bahiatrader
Guest
I cooked some wahoo last year the day it was caught. The next one I get will go loose. It was OK, but I much prefer dorado, yellowfin, yellowtail, grouper/seabass and even trigger fish. They sure are a blast when you hook one though. Cool looking fish.
