Special Tools
Ingredients
Method
- Prep. Remove the scales but leave the skin on. Don't worry if there are a few scales left on the skin. You will be removing the skin eventually. Run your fingers over the flesh of the fish and make sure all the pin bones are gone. If not, drape the fish over the edge of a bowl so the bones stick out, and yank them with tweezers or needle-nose pliers.
- For a whole fillet, cut the meat from back to belly (crosswise) into 8-ounce strips, each about 3-inches wide. Sometimes the lining of the belly of the fish has a milky membrane on it. With a sharp filleting knife, remove it. It can get leathery when you cook.
- Flavor. Cut pieces of plain white printer paper about the same size as each piece of fish and place the fish on the paper, skin side down. Sprinkle on the salt and Meathead’s Memphis Dust. If you are using a commercial rub that has salt in it, skip the additional salt.
- Fire up. Get the smoker started, or setup your grill in a 2-zone configuration and get the indirect zone up to about 225°F.
- Cook. Place the fish on a rack on your grill or smoker so the pieces are not touching each other. Add the smoking wood if you're using a grill. Start spot checking the internal temp after about 30 minutes. As the meat approaches doneness, 125 to 130°F in the thickest part, droplets of milky liquid will often come to the surface. Some cooks call them boogers, but they are actually a protein liquid called albumin from within the muscle fibers. It looks gross, but it's OK. You can brush it off with a wet brush if you want. Remove the meat when it reaches about 125 to 130°F internal temp. No more than 135°F. Total cooking time will be about 60 minutes, depending on the actual temperature of your smoker and the thickness of the fish.
- Cool. Remove the fish and let them cool until you can handle them. Then peel off the paper, and the skins should come right off with it.
Notes
About the smoke wood. Apple, peach, or other fruitwoods are my favorites. Avoid hickory or mesquite; they are too strong. On a charcoal grill or smoker or an electric smoker, 4 ounces of wood will probably be enough. On a gas grill, double it. As always too much smoke is worse than too little.
About Meathead’s Memphis Dust. This recipe is hugely popular and used by many competition cooks. It has no salt so you can use it liberally on foods that have been brined.
About the salt. If you use a commercial rub it will almost certainly have salt in the blend so do not use the salt in the ingredients list.
Salmon Candy. Salmon loves sweetness. As a variation, you can make the recipe above with salmon, but instead of using Meathead’s Memphis Dust, simply crumble about 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1 teaspoon Morton Coarse Kosher Salt over the whole fillet (or 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon Morton Coarse Kosher Salt over each 8-ounce chunk). The sugar will melt in the heat of your smoker. You can use more or less brown sugar on the glaze if you wish or even use maple syrup or a mix of the two. Because it is both sweet and salty, this variation really shines if served as an appetizer on salty crackers.