Smoking Goldeye

Last year I wrote about smoking Goldeye. The recipe I used worked well the first time. ( I smoked them for 2 hours at 200 F). The Goldeye were of a nice golden color and looked and tasted great.

After that, for some unexplained reason, they never turned out as nice. I had them with dark color and wide open bellies and split backs. I also found that smoking them in the summer doesn’t really work well, because of the heat. My electric smoker heats up too fast and then shuts down, producing very little smoke, but you pretty much cook them.

The user guide that comes with the smoker suggests to turn on the smoker and let it heat up for about ½ hour before putting in the fish. Well, that is just not right, because it doesn’t work that way. After experimenting with the procedure I found if I put the fish in immediately after I turn on the heater I get good results.

This is how I did my last smoking and the results were satisfying:

I took 4 Goldeye from the freezer Friday evening and left them in our laundry room until 11:00 p.m. to thaw. Then I put them into the fridge overnight.

9:00 a.m. Saturday: I washed the Goldeye. Sprinkled them with coarse salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I left them in a covered container in the fridge until 11:30 a.m. (2 ½ hours). Then I washed the fish and put them onto a rack to dry in a cool room (Laundry Room).

1:30 p.m. (after 2 hours of drying), I turned on my electric smoker. I set the temperature to 185 F and hung the fish in immediately with the hook behind the head. Hanging them from the tail doesn’t seem to work that well. I used cherry wood for the smoke. After 30 minutes I added more cherry wood and again 30 minutes later.

3:00 p.m. After 1 ½ hours I shut off the smoker and opened the door to let the fish cool down. The skin was a beautiful golden color and the bellies had spread open just a little. I left them for 20 minutes to cool and then I removed them from the smoker. We peeled off the skin immediately and scraped the meat from the bones. The meat was solid but moist. We ate the first meal 2 days later. I find that by leaving them sit for a day or so in the fridge the meat becomes nice and firm. They tasted delicious with a wonderful smoky flavor.

Hint: Leaving Goldeye in the freezer for a couple of months before smoking helps to firm the meat.

Procedure:

Remove fish from freezer. Let thaw. Leave overnight in fridge.

In the morning remove from freezer and put fish into a glass pan.

Rub liberally with coarse salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Leave in fridge for 2 ½ hours.

Wash fish thoroughly with cold water, put on a rack and let dry for 2 hours in a cool room.

Put wood into smoker.I use Cherry or Apple.

Turn on smoker, set timer for 1 ½ hours and temperature at 185 F.

Hang fish from upper rack immediately.

Add new wood every 30 minutes.

After 1 ½ hours open smoker door. Let fish cool.

Remove skin from meat and remove meat from bones.

Leave in fridge for a day.

Enjoy. 

Note: I smoked 4 Goldeye a week later and used the same recipe and procedure, but I had to take them out after 1 1/4 hour. They had split open at the back and the belly was wide open on the 2 smaller ones. It was cold outside (around minus 3 C). Next time I will try to set the temperature at 175F and smoke them for 1 1/2 hour.  The meat came easy off the bones and they Goldeye tasted fine. They just don't look so nice.