Bluefish and a Pellet Tube

[tomd8]

I smoked 4 more bluefish fillets yesterday.  I did my usual brine (as posted in Ocean to Bagel) for 6 hours and let the fish dry in the fridge.  I did a few things differently this time trying to prevent an excessive upward temp swing bringing the smoker temp up in steps.  On one hand I prevented the temp swing from happening but I wound up with a different problem.  I couldn’t get the chips to ignite below 220.  After the bulk of the cook time was completed my final attempt to generate smoke was to grab a half full AMNPS tube of lit pellets and place it in my smokebox.  I have one that I flattened which fits in the smokebox and I was pleasantly surprised to see it stay lit in my #3 for an hour of needed smoke (I’ve been meaning to do that test).  That was enough to add more color and an adequate amount of smoky flavor to satisfy my liking.  So 5 hours of low heat with some smoke dried the fish the way I like it.

 

[Pork Belly]

Those look good! Were they eaten as is or made into dip?

 

[tomd8]

Hi Brian - I like to crumble pieces onto a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast or put pieces on a wrap for lunch.  I suppose adding to cream cheese (dip or crumbled) would taste similar.  I froze most of these and I'll eat one this week.