Complete Guide to Making Smoked Whitefish

NOTE: This post gives complete guidance on smoking whole whitefish, but if you can’t find whole raw whitefish in your area or don’t want to spend the money to order it and still want to make your own whitefish salad and whitefish spread (which is superior to buying it pre-made), you can buy high quality already-smoked, vacuum-sealed whitefish at some retailers like Whole Foods and Costco.

Just click here for my whitefish salad and whitefish spread recipes!

Today we are going to learn about curing and smoking whitefish (notice that’s one word!). “White fish” (two words) can refer to a wide variety of mild, white- or light-fleshed fish such as halibut, cod, pollock, tilapia, bass, grouper, and more. These are great for cooking a variety of ways, but aren’t generally suited to curing and smoking. When I say “whitefish” I mean it as the literal name of a variety of freshwater fish found in the northern US and Canada, especially in the Great Lakes region of North America. As such, it is also called Lake Whitefish.

These fish belong to a subspecies of the salmon family. Like salmon, these wild caught fish are an excellent source of protein and rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, and are a superb choice for curing and smoking. For this latter reason, they became very popular in Jewish deli cuisine of the 20th century and are almost as much of a staple as smoked salmon to go on a bagel and cream cheese. (And personally I think using both on a bagel is the ultimate!)

Despite their popularity, living down in the south, I have never been able to source them locally and even well-stocked specialty fish markets have proved fruitless.

The one place I have been able to reliably source incredibly fresh, lightning shipped whitefish (as well as a wide variety of other high quality seafood) is the legendary Bronx-based Fulton Fish Market. Each fish is a good size, at least 2.5 lbs., and only runs about $20 (bear in mind there’s a minimum total order of $75 plus shipping). Also note they come already cleaned, gutted, and with the scales rubbed down. I’ll order a few from time to time and, after smoking, vacuum seal and freeze them, which keeps for many months at a time.

That said, if you don’t want to spend that much or wait on a delivery, some marketplaces – in particular Jewish delicatessens, and some specialty grocers like Costco and Whole Foods – usually have vacuum-sealed smoked whole whitefish or smoked filets.

However you get your whitefish, you’ll definitely want to try my whitefish spread and whitefish salad recipes, which are here!

If your whitefish will be arriving by overnight or expedited mail, it will still come cold and fresh but you should plan to start brining the fish as soon as possible and absolutely within 24 hours of receiving it.

Yield:

About 2 – 2.5 lbs. of smoked whitefish meat (or about 1 – 1.25 lbs. usable meat if using only one fish, but you will likely need almost the same amount of brine to submerge the fish)

Shelf life:

Smoked fish typically lasts in the refrigerator from 2-3 weeks. It will remain good for 3 months frozen. If vacuum sealed and frozen, it can stay good for at least six months.

How to Eat It:

You can do lots of things with smoked whitefish. You can make my awesome smoked fish dip recipe which is in the Insane in the Brine Cookbook. On bagels, you can add some cream cheese to the bagel and top it with chunks of whitefish. I suggest breaking it up a bit with your fork, and then top it with things like pepper, lemon squeeze, capers, and thin sliced red onion or tomato. Or you can take the extra steps of making my whitefish spread or whitefish salad recipe; both of which will definitely be worth your time!

You will need:

• To submerge the fish in the brine; Large roasting pan with weight such as a heavy plate, or large 2-gallon ziptop bag
• Large stockpot
• Wooden spoon for stirring
• Suggested: mortar & pestle for crushing peppercorns
• Large cooling rack
• Suggested: toothpicks to prop open fish
• Suggested: oven/smoker thermometer
• Smoker, charcoal chimney, and all-natural charcoal sufficient for around 2-3 hours of smoking
• 2-3 medium pieces of smoking wood (e.g. apple, pecan, or alder, or a mix) soaked in water 30 minutes to 24 hours before planned use
• Long sharp knife for deboning the fish

Ingredients:

• 2 good sized whole whitefish (about 2.5 lbs. each)
• 1 gallon of clean water (3785g), or enough to submerge the fish
• 1 & 1/3 cups pickling salt (or 385g salt pickling, kosher, or sea salt) (Note the salt is 10% of the weight of the water, so if more or less water is used, adjust accordingly)
• Brown sugar, 225g (Note the salt is 6% the weight of the water, so if more or less water is used, adjust accordingly)
• 1 TBSP rainbow peppercorns, coarsely crushed
• 1 bunch dill (~30g), or more

Optional to add to smoker water pan: 1-2 extra bunches of dill, and/or other herbs and flavorings as desired, e.g. sliced lemon, onion, head of garlic, etc.

Directions:

1.) In the large stockpot, combine the water, salt, brown sugar, and crushed peppercorns over high heat. Stir until the sugar and salt are completely dissolved. Transfer the stockpot to the refrigerator and allow the brine to come to 45F (or lower).

2.) When the brine temp is ready, the fish should be cleaned, with the gut removed. (The Fulton Fish Market whitefish already comes completely prepped and cleaned.) You should give a good through rinsing as well, and dry the fish well with paper towels. (It is up to you whether to keep the whole fish intact or filet. I prefer to work with the whole fish.)

3.) The fish should be submerged in the brine in the refrigerator overnight. At this point, add the bunch of dill to the brine. Stuff some of the dill inside the fish cavity. You may wish to store the fish in a large 2-gallon ziptop bag filled with the brine. My go to method is to place the fish in a large turkey roasting pan and weigh them down with something food-safe like a heavy plate. Allow the fish to brine for around 12 hours or overnight. (Note that if it is difficult to 100% submerge the fish, that’s okay. Just turn them over halfway through the process.)

4.) After the allotted time, rinse and thoroughly pat dry the fish. Allow the fish another 8-12 hours to dry on the wire cooling rack in the refrigerator. This will help the smoke adhere better to the fish. It is recommended but not required to place 2-3 toothpicks between each side of the belly meat in the cavity of the fish in order to help the inside dry out more. Keep the toothpicks in during smoking as it will also help more smoke penetrate the inside of the fish. (Note: at this stage you can start soaking your smoking wood in water.)

5.) When ready to smoke, fill the chimney and light the charcoal. Allow about 15 minutes before transferring the charcoal to the smoker. Place the smoker water pan on the rack between the charcoal and fish, to prevent overcooking. You may opt to fill the pan with water and additional seasonings such as a bunch of dill and/or a sliced lemon, onion, or garlic to maintain moistness of fish and incorporate other flavors. (This boils down to personal preference.)

6.) As desired or needed, insert a remote meat thermometer into the fish to track temperature while smoking. If unavailable, a 2-3 hour smoke should guarantee doneness. Meat should be completely opaque and be able to easily flake off the bone. The fish should be cooked at a temperature consistently around 200 (between 175-225F is fine); the fish is done when there is an internal temperature of 160F. You may continue smoking for up to 30 minutes after 160 is reached for added smokiness and to dry further (again is a personal preference).

7.) When completed, return the fish to the drying rack (make sure it is clean); allow to cool to room temperature. Remove the toothpicks. Next, cut off the heads and tails. Use a long, sharp knife to forcefully cut along the spine (inside the fish cavity), pulling back each side of the fish. Gently pull away the spine and bones from the meat. Break down the meat into ~2″ chunks; refrigerate what will be needed in the first couple weeks and freeze anything else. It is recommended to separate frozen pieces of meat with wax paper and place all of it in a glassware or snapware container, in order to avoid pieces sticking together if you plan to just pull out a bit at a time. Alternately, all of it may be vacuum sealed if you plan to pull all of it out at once.

I don’t have a video of the deboning and packing process but it’s worth watching once to get an idea. Here’s a good example.

For my whitefish salad (sour cream and mayo based) and whitefish spread (cream cheese based) recipes, click here!