Smoking Mackerel: The Best Tips and Tricks

Smoking mackerel: ingredients and preparation

A smoked mackerel is guaranteed to succeed with proper preparation. Before smoking, prepare the fish as follows:

• You need a smoker for the process or alternatively a smoker barrel and fish hooks. You must purchase this equipment. Note for later that you preheat the smoker accordingly.
• First, gut the mackerel with a sharp knife. Alternatively, you can also buy prepared fish. In any case, you should not only wash it properly on the outside but also on the inside.
• Then soak it in brine overnight for 12 hours. To do this, prepare around 60 g of salt per liter of water in a deep saucepan. You can also buy an incense lye ready-made in the shop. Adjust the amount according to the number of fish and make sure they are completely covered.
• Season to taste with mustard or peppercorns, bay leaves, or lemon zest. Equally suitable is meat seasoning.
• The next day, take the mackerel out of the brine. After that, wash the fish thoroughly so that no salt remains on it.
• Hang it on the smoking hook in the fresh air for about two hours and wait until it has dried.

smoking process

How to smoke a mackerel:

• Preheat the smoker with beech wood to around 90 °C.
• Then hang the fish on the hook for 15 to 30 minutes.
• Then set the temperature between 40 °C and 50 °C for one to two hours.
• Once the mackerel has turned golden brown, let it cool slightly. You can then eat the tasty fish warm or process it further.