Smoked fish is a real tasty treat, and is easy to do at home. Real smoked fish has a great flavour, and doesnt need fake smoke sauces to get that unique taste. You can smoke any sort of fish, some are more popular than others. Smoked trout and salmon is very popular, and looks amazing when done correctly. Traditionally, inferior fishes where usually smoked, to cover strong flavours, and to preserve fish for eating later. Nowadays, with freezers to keep fish, smoked fish has its own little niche, and has become very popular in its own right.

The key things that you need to think about when smoking fish are:

-Hot or cold smoke?

-Can I make a smoker or should I buy one?

-How much room will my smoker need?

-What should I do to prepare the fish for smoking?

For the first point, it pays to be aware that the two processes of hot and cold smoke are very different. As the names suggest, hot smoke is done in a hot space above 50celcius, which actually cooks the fish. Hot smoke times vary from 15mins to 7-8 hours, depending on volume and smoker size. Hot smoking is usually the process that most retail smokers offer, such as bbq top, stove top, woodchip ones etc do. You can buy a good small hot smoker for under $100 usually.

Cold smoking is a very long process, and can take upto 4 days. The cold smoker is larger, and fish is usually hung from hooks, to maximise exposure to smoke. If the smoker gets to hot, the fish cooks and the meat falls off the hooks. A cold smoke is done at just above room temp, and the smoke only impregnates the flavouir, it does not cook the fish. Cold smoked fish can be eaten raw as sushi or surimi, or cooked by other means afer its flavoured. Cold smoking is usually done in a large 'shed' or cabinet, and the smoke is generated by a seperate fire unit, that feeds the smoke through a draft tube so it cools down on its way in. Marlin, tuna or swordfish are very good cold smoke candidates.

You can make a smoker very easily. Infact, two oven pans with the top surfaces joined together, closing it off, with sawdust on the bottom and the fish on a wire rack in the middle, makes a very viable smoker. Sit it on the bbq and you can hot smoke in no time at all. Vent it a little to allow excess smoke and heat to escape.

Other options I have tried for making a home smoker include metal cabinets, old fridges, steel clothes airers, beer kegs, large tin cans, tool boxes stood up or virtually any other large ish metal cabinet you can think of. The trick is then to just place a heat source at the bottom, and place a tray with sawdust on it to generate the smoke. I also tried using a electric frypan, with the saw dust in it, to make smoke, and it worked very well. Be creative, and be sure to use something that is not going to melt and leech smells or chemicals into the fish (ie plastics or paints)

Your smoker will need to be large enough to take a good amount of fish, or what ever meat your doing. It will suit your circumstances, but always make sure if your hot smoking, its roomy enough to allow smoke all round the fish, as to much fish and heat and not enough smoke will make the fish steam and broil in its juices. If in doubt, go larger with your smoker and ensure you sit the fish over the smoke source well.

Preparing the fish can make or break the smoked treat. I like to always brine the fish, which takes longer but makes for a moist dish. Really, a brine is just salt water, but I add a twist fro extra smoked flavour. For this, I make the following for about 4kg of fillets:

- 4 litres of filtered water, 1/4cup of rock salt, 4tsp onion powder, 1 lemon juiced, 1/2cup brown sugar, 2tsp paprika, 1 large crushed garlic glove, splash of soy sauce.

Mix this all up, and soak the fillets in it for minimum of 12 hours, with the whole lot covered, in the fridge. After 12-24 hours, remove and hang fillets for a few mins to reduce residue, then pat them dry with a clean soft cloth or papertowel. The fish should have a 'glazed' appearance and be slick and dry. Its now ready to smoke, and when I put it in, I rub a light coat of brown sugar on it, or some treacle. For the sawdust, tea tree is popular, as is hickory or cherry. Apple is plentiful if the others are hard to find. My personal fav is New Zealand Manuka. Wow, what a great flavour! After a 4 hour hot smoke at 50-65 degrees, Delicious!