Long long story, but I have a beautiful bluefish that I need to smoke. It has been brining for several days, and is now at the ‘tacky’ stage, coming to room temperature. Then I will smoke. The big question is what kind of wood to use? I am leaning towards Alder, but Cherry or Apple might be nice too.
I had already started the smoking with Alder when you responded. I think that the Apple wood would have been a bit more in keeping with this fish. Doesn’t mean I won’t eat it though! Just next time, I will try a different wood flavor. Thanks for responding!
With blue fish, size matters. For the smaller fish under 4 lbs a mild wood would probably be sufficient. For the big oily slammers a strong wood couldn’t hurt.
The alder smoke was perfect! All my self-doubts have been laid to the side. Even people who claimed that they didn’t like smoked bluefish, including the person who caught it, ate every pit of the “pate” I made with it. Next time I make this “pate,” I will use smoked alder salt to complement the alder smoke.