• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Subscribe
Subscribe by email Connect on Facebook Connect on Pinterest Follow Me on Instagram

Hunter Angler Gardener Cook

Finding the Forgotten Feast

  • Shop
  • Video Course
  • Stories
  • About
    • Public Events
    • Privacy Policy
  • Wild Game
    • Venison Recipes
    • Duck Recipes and Goose Recipes
    • Rabbits, Hares and Squirrels
    • Pheasants, Turkey, Quail
    • Dove Recipes
    • Wild Pig and Bear Recipes
    • My Best Taco Recipes
    • Wild Game Sauces
  • Charcuterie
    • Homemade Sausage Recipes
    • Smoker Recipes
    • Bacon, Jerky, Hams, etc
    • Salami Recipes
    • Confit, Pate, Terrines
  • Fish
    • General Fish Recipes
    • Salmon Recipes
    • Snapper Recipes
    • Crabs, Shellfish and Squid
    • Little Fish and Oddballs
  • Gathering
    • Preservation Recipes
    • Mushrooms
    • Sweet Things
    • Wild Greens and Herbs
    • Acorns, Nuts, Starches
  • Podcast
Home » Fish » Salmon and Trout » Smoked Trout or Kokanee

Smoked Trout or Kokanee

By Hank Shaw on June 18, 2018, Updated June 16, 2020 - 102 Comments

Jump to Recipe Pin Recipe Comment
4.89 from 54 votes
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
smoked trout and a piece of salmon cooling on a rack
Photo by Hank Shaw

For most of the country, smoked trout means smoked whole trout, not the big slabs of fillets Salmon Nation is accustomed to. So if you catch trout generally smaller than 18 inches, this recipe is for you.

(Note, if you are looking for ways to smoke larger fish, use my smoked salmon or my smoked lake trout recipes.)

There are any number of ways to smoke trout, and this is my method: I’d be interested to hear if you do anything differently.

First, you need trout. Obviously. I prefer fish from about 10 to 20 inches, gutted and gilled. Any species will do, but in a perfect world it’d be brook trout, which are actually a char and have vivid orange meat. Another excellent choice is a kokanee, which is a landlocked sockeye salmon that rarely grows larger than 20 inches. They also have pretty orange meat.

But mostly I use rainbow trout from the Sierra Nevada. You can use store-bought rainbows if that’s all you can get.

To salt or brine? That’s a decision largely based on how many fish you are smoking, and what sort of containers you have. If I am only smoking a few fish, I will dry salt them. If I have a mess o’trout, I will make a salt-sugar brine and soak the fish in that.

How long? For dry salting, generally about 1 to 2 hours. Brine? You can go a lot longer, and it will create a more cured, salty and firm product the longer you leave it. I like a day-long brine, i.e., brine in the morning and remove around dinnertime.

You then need to dry the fish in a cool place. I set them in the fridge in a rack overnight. You need this step to create a tacky, sticky pellicle on the outside of the fish. This helps the smoke adhere to the trout. Skip this step and it won’t be as nice.

Hank Shaw hold a tray of soon to be smoked trout
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

How to set them up? You can hang your trout as I do in the picture, but you will need to leave the throats intact, like the fish on the left. That one stayed fine while smoking. The ones on the right fell, so I moved them to the rack.

You will want to put a little stick in the fish’s cavity to prop it open — this allows the smoke to permeate the fish better. I use rosemary twigs, but any twigs will work.

Propping up the insides of trout with a toothpick
Photo by Holly A. Heyser

What wood? Something mild. I prefer alder, but oak or fruit woods are good choices, as is maple. But honestly, if you are in love with mesquite or something heavier, go ahead and use it — you won’t be smoking your trout very long anyway.

I like to get a slow ramp up in temperature for my smoked trout. I put the fish in cold in a cold smoker (I am using a Traeger these days) set on a low heat. If you want things to move even slower, set a tray of ice in the smoker. You never want the temperature to get beyond 225°F because at that point you’re barbecuing fish, which is nice, but not what we’re after here. I like the temperature to be somewhere between 175°F and 200°F.

How long to smoke? At least an hour, and to me, 90 minutes to 2 hours is ideal. I would not go more than 4 hours with such little trout. You want decent smoke time, but you don’t want trout jerky.

You can eat your smoked trout warm right out of the smoker, or chilled. They will keep a little more than a week in the fridge, and freeze nicely. If you are freezing some, stuff paper towels in the fish’s cavity to keep out air, which can cause freezer burn over time.

Finished smoked trout recipe
Print Recipe
4.89 from 54 votes

Smoked Trout or Kokanee

This is a recipe for whole smoked trout or kokanee. If you want to smoke fillets, I'd go to my smoked lake trout recipe, which is meant for bigger fish. I prefer alder, oak or maple wood to smoke over, but it's your call. 
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time2 hrs
Brine Time8 hrs
Total Time2 hrs 20 mins
Course: Appetizer, Cured Meat, Main Course, Snack
Cuisine: American
Servings: 4 trout
Calories: 128kcal
Author: Hank Shaw

Ingredients

  • 4 whole trout, gutted and gilled
  • 1/2 cup kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar

Instructions

  • Mix the salt and sugar with a gallon of water and stir to dissolve the salt and sugar. Submerge the trout in this brine and put in the fridge, covered, for at least 2 hours and up to overnight. 
  • Remove the trout from the brine (discard the brine), pat dry with paper towels and set on a rack over a baking sheet in the fridge for at least a few hours, and up to overnight. You can also set the fish to dry in a cool, breezy place for a few hours.
  • Put the fish in the smoker, hanging or on the grates, and get a nice cool smoke going. Slowly let the temperature rise to 200F and hold it between 175F and 200F for at least an hour, and up to 4 hours; I prefer 2 hours. Do not let the temperature get above 225F. If it does, set a tray of ice in the smoker. 
  • When your trout are smoked, you can eat them warm or chilled. 

Nutrition

Serving: 100g | Calories: 128kcal | Protein: 19.5g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1.4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1.6g | Cholesterol: 58mg | Sodium: 48mg | Potassium: 381mg | Vitamin A: 50IU | Vitamin C: 2.5mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 0.4mg
Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @HuntGatherCook or tag #HankShaw!

Thanks for Sharing This!

6.0K shares

Filed Under: American Recipes, Charcuterie, Featured, Fish, Recipe, Salmon and Trout

Avatar for Hank Shaw

Hank Shaw

Hey there. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet's largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Avatar for JasonJason says

    February 18, 2023 at 4:20 am

    Outstanding recipe! I leave fish sit in brine overnight and used.some garlic salt.

    Reply
  2. Avatar for SteveSteve says

    January 22, 2023 at 11:10 pm

    great recipe hey was wondering if it possible to sprinkle a tiny bit of seasoning on the trout whilst smoking as I do love my Spices or would u recommend doing it like this. have u tried any Spices like how I wrote

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      January 23, 2023 at 8:01 am

      Steve: You can. Do it early, when the surface of the fish is tacky so the spices will stick.

      Reply
    • Avatar for edward dereskyedward deresky says

      January 27, 2023 at 7:05 pm

      what about the bones?

      Reply
  3. Avatar for BruceBruce says

    September 6, 2022 at 12:24 pm

    My brother just dropped me off a 5.2# brown, Cleaned head off and scaled. I’m going to brine it and smoke it. Better to do whole of break it down a bit?

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      September 6, 2022 at 1:12 pm

      Bruce: Either way would work. That’s big enough to smoke as fillets.

      Reply
  4. Avatar for CrystalCrystal says

    September 4, 2022 at 8:24 pm

    Another great recipe, simple and delicious. That’s all you need some times. I used lake trout and then used them in dip and on sammies. Yum!!
    Also, my box-type smoker was running high temps, even with the ice, so I propped the door open a tad. The 100+ Summer temps probably didn’t help much. I used chunks of hickory with some smoker-blend pellets sprinkled on top.

    Reply
  5. Avatar for Sequoia HarrisonSequoia Harrison says

    August 19, 2022 at 7:59 am

    When I first started looking for smoking recipes it took me a sec to find this one.
    Now I’m going on my third time using it.
    Simple
    Easy
    delicious
    I really like using rosemary twigs as you suggested.

    Thanks

    Reply
  6. Avatar for KristinKristin says

    August 12, 2022 at 4:45 am

    Do you have to d-bone before smoking? If so, what is the easiest way. Thank you

    Reply
    • Avatar for Hank ShawHank Shaw says

      August 12, 2022 at 7:21 am

      Kristin: No, you don’t. You can smoke a smaller trout whole, up to about six pounds.

      Reply
  7. Avatar for Doug McGuireDoug McGuire says

    July 16, 2022 at 6:02 pm

    I wish I could post a picture of the Colorado rainbows I just smoked using this recipe/process, because they came out as pretty as they are delicious! Thanks for sharing this, Hank. Much appreciated!

    Reply
    • Avatar for CrystalCrystal says

      August 28, 2022 at 7:28 am

      Hey Doug, are you part of the Hunt, Gather, Cook group on FB? You can post your pics there 🙂
      As for me, I’m brining today and smoking tomorrow. Looking forward to the tasty results!

      Reply
  8. Avatar for ChrisChris says

    May 30, 2022 at 9:05 am

    Thank you for sharing this recipe! I am not a huge fish eater but went to a local lake in Northern NM last week and caught my limit of Rainbows. I have a propane smoker that I am still trying to get dialed in, so I sat with the fish the whole time, they came out great! Made some smoked trout cream cheese spread with the leftovers. Next time, I may add a little more salt to the brine because I’d like them a bit saltier but they were awesome. Have a safe Memorial Day! Chris

    Reply
« Older Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Hank Shaw holding a rod and reel in the American River

Hi, my name is Hank Shaw; I’m a James Beard Award-winning author and chef. I started this site back in 2007 to help you get the most out of all things wild: fish, game, edible wild plants and mushrooms. I also write cookbooks, have a website dedicated to the intersection of food and nature, and do a podcast, too. If it’s wild, you’ll find it here. Hope you enjoy the site!

More about Hank...

Featured Recipes

Closeup of sliced, smoked venison backstrap on a platter
Venison 101: How to Cook Venison
pickled pike recipe
Pickled Pike
Slices of smoked venison roast on a cutting board.
Smoked Venison Roast
Conejo en adobo on a plate
Conejo en Adobo
A platter of fried walleye with lemon.
Fried Walleye
A plate of pine nut cookies.
Pine Nut Cookies

As Seen In

As seen on CNN, New York Times, Simply Recipes, Martha Stewart, Food and Wine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Field and Stream, Outdoor Life, and The Splendid Table

Never Miss a Recipe

Receive recipes direct to your inbox.

 

 

Back to Top
  • Home
  • Shop
  • Video Course
  • About
  • Podcast
  • Stories
  • Wild Game
  • Charcuterie
  • Fish
  • Gathering
Subscribe by email Connect on Facebook Connect on Pinterest Follow Me on Instagram

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

© 2023 Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, All Rights Reserved.

Site built by: Site by Status Forward

6.0K shares
  • Print
  • Pinterest
  • 1.4KFacebook
  • WhatsApp
  • Save
  • Email
6.0K shares
  • 1.4K