Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Im totally new to using any kind of Smoker, but recently a good friend which is moving from here back to the USA, well he offered me his propane smoker, he's good guy and I know nothing about a smoker so, I took it to help him get rid of his stuff. that said, now I want to start using it, I know there are tons of recipes and tutorials on how to use the smoker, but I prefer to ask here first, basically I just need an easy recipe for a beginner to smoke some fresh Tuna fillets I got recently from a Friend that fished MagBay few days ago (madgalena Bay, Baja sur) 5hrs south cedros island, anyway.

My plan is to smoke some small cuts of tuna fillets, something like those "Tuna Candy" from PJStevko https://alantani.com/index.php/topic,36892.0.html

As I said, I know nothing about smoking fish or any other meat so, bear with me and explain as you would do to a 3rd grade kiddo 

the propane Smoker I got is this same model


the smoker came with all the original accesories and 100% ready to smoke some meat, it came with its small 10lb propane tank, but I need some apple and cherry wood and a good.

so, two or three different recipes for tuna would be great, I dont like spicy jerky flavors

Propane will help keep the smoker temp at a constant temp easier. You should also get a dual probe digital meat thermomotor, something like this is fine

https://www.amazon.com/ThermoPro-Bluetooth-Thermometer-Wireless-Rechargeable/dp/B08K2G5Y78?th=1

As far as recipes go just use some soy sauce, citrus juice, brown sugar, garlic, ginger and spices and you're all set. Let the small chunks marinate for a few hours or overnight, pull them out of the marinade, pat them dry with paper towels, air dry them until the meat forms a sticky film on it, then place it in the smoker.

Hope that helps.

Alex - You are going to get a LOT of good recipes and input from the Ohana.  Let me give you some more general overall guidance, and I apologize if I am stating the obvious common knowledge.  But you did say you were starting out at square one.
Some folks like the fish or meat smoked to the point of preservation (jerky) where there is so little retained moisture it has very good perishability.  The other way to do this is to retain a lot of moisture, but then the finished product will want to be consumed quickly or refrigerated and consumed quickly.  I tend to lean into the latter group.
With smokers and marinating, you are primarily affecting the surface/subsurface of the meat.  So when selecting or trimming your cuts, the ratio of surface area/volume is pretty critical.  Lots of surface area on thin cuts = lots of flavor BUT also can get done or dry out quickly, whereas really thick filets/chunks you will get less smoke per bite but will generally be more moist.
Marinades/brines - not going to dip to far into that arena, everybody has their own favorites.  There is a lot of flexibility and you will develop your own as well.  But for the most part they all work on the principle of osmosis, hence why salt is so popular.  Super salty solutions can be used to "drive" moisture and flavor into the tissues (the opposite is acheived in one of my favorite Hawaiian dishes, Lomi Lomi salmon where you basically crust the fish to pull out the moisture, but that is another topic). The same can be done with sugar (my preferred method).  Note that when you do this the salt for the most part remain in the solution, hence my many brines recommended a "rinse/pat dry" after brining, to get rid of all the excess salt on the surface.
Wood - Different woods impart different levels of flavor and have unique characters.  There are many smoking guides on wood types.  Hickory - going to taste like ham.  Alder - favorite for salmon, very mild.  Citrus woods - some of my favorite's but also readily available since I am in Southern California where we have bulldozed most citrus orchards for housing tracts.  Pecan (I have an old pecan plantation nearby).  Mesquite - Very assertive, easily sourced but I like it especially for beef.  Eucalyptus - No, No, No.  And NO.
Early on in your efforts, check often.  As you learn the craft - better to pull meat too early and check than to go too far.  Worst case all of the filets are consumed in the process...

Anyhow, those are just some basics.  You're going to get some great recipes I know and will quickly get some good results.  Looking forward to seeing your efforts! - john

consider adding a bay leaf and red pepper flakes/jalapeno to pj's brine recipe. heat ingredients in saucepan for a few min and cool to room temp before marinating. sprinkle a little brown sugar & a few more red pepper flakes on top of each piece in the smoker.

good, those are really nice tips and advices, thanks

Regarding marinades:  salt will be able to penetrate beyond the surface, and will actually be drawn inside in order to equalize the salinity of the water in the  meat with the marinade.  Higher  acidity will denature (similar to cooking) proteins.  The rest of these so-called "flavor" molecules are too large to penetrate much beyond the surface and won't be doing much during the marinade process.  So the amount of marinade that is left on the surface for cooking will mostly determine the transfer of flavorings.

My apologies if you have already done this, but I would suggest on reading up a bit on food safety for smoking fish.    A process and recipe that might have been successful in colder ambient temperatures might not be a good idea in a warmer region with some differences in available ingredients.  Many  folk are not very scientific about ensuring the right temperatures and salt levels, and some will even get angry if food safety is brought up:  "I did it this way for 20 years, blah blah blah"

Since you are dealing with longer times and lower temperatures for smoking, there is more potential to end up with a bad batch of food compared to the regular cooking methods.

Here is one reference:

https://seafood.oregonstate.edu/sites/agscid7/files/snic/smoking-fish-at-home-safely.pdf

Happy smoking!

-J

My-Two-Cents-Worth:

Alejando,

Mi Amigo and Gradian of my Parents, here is what I like:

Marinate in Teriyaki overnight.
For Jerky remove the skin, if you want it moist leave the skin on.
Remove from the marinade and place on the smoking tray, I don't like to hang fish unless I'm making a lot.
Garlic salt to taste.
Place brown sugar down the center of the cuts approx. 5mm in height and 1/3rd of the cut thick.
Smoke at 200 degrees for the texture, jerky or moist, that your after.
I like fruit woods but Hickory or Oak is always a good fall back if you don't have a choice.

Moist normally takes 1-2 hours and will peel off the skin.

I don't know how you like your jerky but I prefer chewy over something that'll ruin my dental work. After 2+ hours keep an eye on it.

One thing to keep in mind is propane anything has hot and cold spots, so if your able to rotate the trays a quarter turn at a time and top to bottom I'd highly recommend it.

FYI: The brown sugar will melt and coat the whole top side of the meat which is why it's placed in a ridge down the center. If you coat the whole side it'll melt off and make a mess on the bottom of the smoker.

May even catch the smoker on fire....but don't ask me how I know that. 

Steve

I don't have any recipes for you, but can only tell you how I like to eat it lol!
Some of the best tuna I've had, comes from secrets in Ocean City, Maryland!
It's blackened, and then smoked, not sure exactly how they do to it, but OMG...!!!
It served with Jamaican jerk sauce on the side, and it's so darn good, you literally drooling over here now lol!
The only time I've cooked fresh tuna was when somebody gave me a couple steaks, years ago.
I put them a Weber charcoal grill and smoked the daylights out of them. I was using Cherry wood only, and they were absolutely awesome that way too!

Dave, I'm gonna kick that hornets nest. Not about food safety considerations. You're absolutely correct there. Smoking does have an acidifying effect on the surface of meat which mitigates the risk a bit but not enough to skip at the minimum reading about it.

But I'm gonna argue about marinades. The fact that we don't have a good understanding of the mechanism doesn't mean there isn't an observable effect. The plural of anecdote isn't data. I haven't gone off the deep end. But theres just so much depth to the world of food chemistry in terms of how the compounds in different ingredients can interact with different proteins. Add pineapple or papaya, everything changes. I refuse to believe enough studies have been done to conclusively rule out the merits of extended marination. 

Quote from: JasonGotaProblem on December 21, 2023, 03:58:52 AMDave, I'm gonna kick that hornets nest. Not about food safety considerations. You're absolutely correct there. Smoking does have an acidifying effect on the surface of meat which mitigates the risk a bit but not enough to skip at the minimum reading about it.

But I'm gonna argue about marinades. The fact that we don't have a good understanding of the mechanism doesn't mean there isn't an observable effect. The plural of anecdote isn't data. I haven't gone off the deep end. But theres just so much depth to the world of food chemistry in terms of how the compounds in different ingredients can interact with different proteins. Add pineapple or papaya, everything changes. I refuse to believe enough studies have been done to conclusively rule out the merits of extended marination. 

Dunno.  It seems relatively straightforward to me.  But  if you can find a credible scientific reference that disputes this, I would be grateful. 

You can also try a more practical experiment. Take two pieces of meat, say a thick chicken breast.  Make a marinade that is just salt and water.  Make another marinade that has the same salt content plus whatever magical ingredients you like to use.

One piece of meat in each. Marinate for your favorite length of time,  wipe  off all the marinade, quick rinse.  Cut the meat into 1/2 inch cubes, keeping the outer half inch separate for tasting.  Cook the cubes in separate batches and do a blind tasting.

This is not to say that folks' favorite marinades are useless.  Just that they are not working the way that we think that they are.

-J

Another thing to do with those little bits of good tuna that don't make steaks after you've had your fill of sushi/sashimi/poke/crudo, you can salt the tuna and pack in sterilized mason jars with good olive oil and gently bring them up to temperature in a water bath or sous vide. Tuna poached and packed in oil is really, really good.

https://honest-food.net/how-to-cook-bonito-fish/

Quote from: jurelometer on December 21, 2023, 12:20:14 AMMy apologies if you have already done this, but I would suggest on reading up a bit on food safety for smoking fish.    A process and recipe that might have been successful in colder ambient temperatures might not be a good idea in a warmer region with some differences in available ingredients.  Many  folk are not very scientific about ensuring the right temperatures and salt levels, and some will even get angry if food safety is brought up:  "I did it this way for 20 years, blah blah blah"
Here is one reference:
https://seafood.oregonstate.edu/sites/agscid7/files/snic/smoking-fish-at-home-safely.pdf
Happy smoking!
-J

no need to apologize when talking about double-checking food safety measures, my wife is "pharmacobiologist chemist" and is very aware of food safety by her previous jobs working on food industry, I will read and share that linked info with her

Quote from: Crab Pot on December 21, 2023, 12:32:55 AMMy-Two-Cents-Worth:
Alejando,
Mi Amigo and Gradian of my Parents, here is what I like:
I don't know how you like your jerky but I prefer chewy over something that'll ruin my dental work. After 2+ hours keep an eye on it.
FYI: The brown sugar will melt and coat the whole top side of the meat which is why it's placed in a ridge down the center. If you coat the whole side it'll melt off and make a mess on the bottom of the smoker.
May even catch the smoker on fire....but don't ask me how I know that. 
Steve

thanks for that Fire risk warning

Quote from: Squidder Bidder on December 21, 2023, 11:56:50 AMAnother thing to do with those little bits of good tuna that don't make steaks after you've had your fill of sushi/sashimi/poke/crudo, you can salt the tuna and pack in sterilized mason jars with good olive oil and gently bring them up to temperature in a water bath or sous vide. Tuna poached and packed in oil is really, really good.

sounds good, I have tried Poached Salmon on olive oil just like you say it and it was good, so, I truly believe tuna should be good too



@ pointBob, thanks for the recipe link

Here is my above recipe with Salmon.

Which I'm getting ready to broil.

I did not catch the Salmon, it was farmed raised on the East Coast.

Because the Brian Trust in Sacramento closed the Salmon season this year...before it opened.

I sure wish one of Gov. Newsome's relatives was a commercial fisherman...

After: