Smoked Catfish

I was asked on the Arkansas forum to give a recipe for smoked catfish which I have had good luck with, and a lot of people have enjoyed. I would note that: 1) this would probably work with other fish; 2) cooking isn't rocket science, and you can tweak herbs spices or flavors however you like them; and 3) this is for a charcoal smoker, so I don't have a temperature for a gas or electric smoker, but I would guess it would be low.


INGREDIENTS:

Whole skinned fiddlers (recipe I got called for 7 pounds catfish steaks 1 1/2 inches thick with the skin on, but I always went with the skinned fiddlers up to a pund or two and didn't worry about the total weight using just however many I had - if I was using bigger catfish, though, I might go with the steaks)

2 cups water

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup salt (table or pickling salt, not kosher or large grained salt)

2 tablespoons concentrated liquid crab and shrimp boil (not dried for sure)

1/2 teaspoon dried dill


INSTRUCTIONS

Place fish in a large shallow dish or freezer bag with all the air burped out and then placed in a dish to avoid leaks. Combine other ingredients, and pour over fish (if using a bag, burp after putting marinade or brine in). Cover, and marinate at least 8 hours or overnight in a refrigerator, turning occassionally if using a dish or using a bag without all the air burped out.

Prepare charcoal fire in smoker with 5 pounds of charcoal, and let burn for 10 - 15 minutes. Cover coals with large pieces of green hickory, dry hickory soaked in water for a couple of hours, or other smoking wood. Put hot water in water pan, and place water pan in smoker.

Arrange fish on smoker food rack, and place rack on lower shelf or brackets of smoker (unless you're doing enough where you are using both racks, of course, or you can smoke catfish on the bottom rack and trout on the upper rack if you want to go for a double and to try to make trout edible). Cover with smoke lid and cook 3 - 4 hours or until desired degree of doneness is reached. On my smoker, it's usually quicker than this.