I can finally report that my experiment with Smoked Trout Jerkey was a success. On Saturday I went float-tubing on a local lake with some friends of mine. Although fishing was slow I was able to pull an 18″ Cutthroat out of the stream that flows out of the reservoir.
Saturday night I filleted the trout and cured them with salt and dill. After twenty-four hours I thoroughly rinsed off the salt with cold water and dried the excess water with paper towels. I then set up my smoker with a few charcoal brickets and water soaked applewood. I smoked the fillets (skin on, to hold the meat together) for about 5 hours.
The end result were two beautifully smoked, brick-red trout fillets. I had ommited the merinade mentioned in the recipe I used. It doesn’t need the additional flavor, which in my opinion would mask the natural flavor of the trout. It should be noted that this is extremely easy to do. The most difficult or time consuming part is cutting the fillets of the trout. But if you purchase your fish from the store versus using the days catch, that butchering is already done for you.
I enjoy my smoked trout jerkey on a cracker with cream cheese or just plain. A more gourmet approach would be to either roll smoked-trout california rolls (sushi), or simply rainbow pasta with peas and a smoked trout alfredo sauce.