INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Fish begins to spoil the minute you land it. Enzymes and bacteria go
to work immediately especially in the slime, gills and intestines. To
reduce spoilage and maintain flavor you must bleed, clean and cool
fish quickly.  ~1- Remove the slime and scale [if applicable] as soon
as possible.  ~2- Cut the throat and remove the gills. The intestines
can wait a  few hours. -3- Remove the intestines. Save the liver, roe
and milt.  Remove the kidney, that dark streak along the backbone by
cutting  away the covering membrane on either side of the kidney,
where it is  attached to the flesh. Then scrape out the kidney. -4- The
head may  stay on but remove the head now if you have to save cooler
space.  Leave the lug bone, that bony plate behind the head if you are
going  to smoke the fish as the lug will support the handling cord. -5-
Cool  the fish to close to freezing with chipped ice. Make sure that
there  is a layer of ice between every layer of fish in the cooler.
Careless handling can bruise fish. Use a net if possible; if gaffing,
gaff the least valuable part- the stomach if possible. If using a  fish
club to kill quickly and prevent threshing, one sharp blow to  the head
is enough.  Rigor Mortis: a dead fish will stiffen but in time will
relax again  unless it goes into accelerated rigor form being too warm.
If you try  to straighten out a fish in Rigor or the fish goes into
heat induced  Rigor, you will tear the flesh disturbing the appearance
and allowing  succulent juices to escape. Prevent Rigor damage with
prompt cooling  and filleting before or after the fish has passed
through rigor but  not during it.  Cooling: Ice has a terrific ability
to absorb heat when it melts as  it took a tremendous amount of heat
removal to freeze the water in  the first place. 2 lb of ice melting
will do the same job of cooling  as 37 lb of block ice or extremely
cold water. Chipped ice will melt  faster and therefore chill fish
quicker than block ice. Pack the  belly cavity of cleaned fish and make
sure there is a layer of ice  between every layer of fish.  To
transport frozen fish you need dry ice or Eutectic ice, as melting  ice
would thaw frozen fish. Eutectic ice is a solution of 23% salt by
weight and 77% water by weight, which freezes at 0 deg F. [-18 deg
C.], in a break proof plastic container. You can buy these or make
your own.  Extracted from: Smoking Salmon & Trout by Jack Whelan.
Published by:  Airie Publishing, Deep Bay, B.C. ISBN: 0-919807-00-3
Posted by: Jim  Weller  Posted to MM-Recipes Digest  by "Rfm"
<Robert-Miles@usa.net> on Sep  08, 98

A Message from our Provider:

“Jesus: The half has never been told”