How to hot-smoke brown trout A fun and easy way to serve the fish

If you are looking for a new way to serve brown trout why not try smoking it? It is easy, fun and has delicious results, says Jo Hampson

There are two types of smoked food, hot and cold. Cold-smoked food is simply smoked and never cooked, whereas hot-smoked food is smoked then cooked or cooked while it is smoking. Smoking for flavour is an art not a science, and the art is in the preparation of the food. As a rule, anything that has been alive should be brined or salted before it is smoked. This is important for three reasons: first, it starts the drying process, which is the basis of all smoking; second, salt attracts smoke; and third, you can have fun developing your own brine recipes.

The idea of smoking is simple — put your food in a chamber and fill it with smoke. If you are hot smoking you would then add heat to cook the food. Your chamber could be a biscuit tin, a BBQ, an old saucepan, a barrel or a stove-top smoker. Use hard wood such as oak, beech or fruit, either dust or chip.

For your own caught brown trout hot smoking is the answer. Brine it first for about 30 minutes. This is where the fun comes in as you can create your own recipes. Start with a litre of water, then add your chosen ingredients. My favourite brine is 1l water with 100g salt, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, ½ teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and a glug of white wine. After 30 minutes, rinse the trout under running water and it is then ready to hot-smoke. I smoke mine whole rather than filleted.

Line your pan in foil to prevent any damage to it and put 2 tablespoons of wood dust or very small woodchip in the base. Put the pan on the heat and as soon as the wood starts to smoke, place a steamer or colander with your food in it into the pan, cover with an airtight lid and seal with foil. The wood will burn away in 10 to 12 minutes then the pan will just be cooking the food. When the food is cooked take the lid off and serve.

Even simpler is smoking by making a foil parcel and this is great for those freshly caught small brownies that we all love. Again, brine the trout first, then take one large sheet of foil, put your food on it and season well. Fold the foil over the food and turn it into a parcel so the food is completely sealed. Take another sheet of foil, sprinkle wood dust or very small chips in the middle and put the parcel containing the food on top of the chippings. Prick the top of the inner bag 20 times, fold the outer foil loosely over the top of the parcel and seal it in. Then put the whole foil parcel on a hot griddle pan or in a pre-heated baking dish in a hot oven until piping hot. Once you have mastered this you will want your own stove-top smoker.

Smoking Food at Home with Smoky Jo, written by Jo Hampson with Georgina Perkins (ISBN 9781846892349), is published by Quiller. It costs £12.99 and is available from www.quillerpublishing.com.

Use hard wood such as oak, beech or fruit, either dust or woodchip