We are trying new things and this time it’s jerky. We have made some from beef, chicken and trout so far. Beef and chicken came out great but not so much for trout.
Don’t get me wrong it’s OK but it’s missing something. The reason is most likely the recipe I used. While searching the internet I have found few different ways of doing it but most of the stuff that is published talks about beef and venison and turkey and… but very few off fish.
So if you have a recioe for fish jerky that you like I would love to hear from you…
You may not consider this fish “jerky” but it worked for me several years ago.
I had half a dozen really nice rainbows ( pink flesh rainbows from some real rich stillwater in eastern Nevada that tasted almost like salmon ) in the freezer for about six months and was concerned about losing them to freezer burn.
I thawed them, then baked them at 350F for about forty minutes, just as I would in preparing dinner. Then I used a food dehydrator to dry them - seems like it took several hours at one of the higher temperature settings.
It worked beautifully. Kind of like smoked salmon, without the smoke. But you could add whatever flavor you want, I would think, after the baking and before the dehydrating.
The best part of this was that I took a quart size nalgene water bottle full of this dried trout with me on a four night / five day backpack with six other people to Rainbow Bridge in south central Utah. Ate some every day, and on the last day, the seven of us celebrated on our way out by eating the last of it. A fitting way to end our visit to Rainbow Bridge.
Mmmm, Rainbow Bridge. That brings back memories of being young and ‘dumb’, driving a Mazda GLC Hatchback on a jeep trail trying to get to rainbow bridge at the wrong time of the month with my newlywed wife. – THAT will never be repeated.
As for Trout Jerky, I have actually never heard of anyone doing it. Sorry.
I have heard of smoked, and even had some that was really good. Personally I have never been able to keep them lit.
I kind of skipped the posts, so I am unsure what other said. But for me I do not see the point of “jerkying” fish. If there is a proper way of doing it I am sure it would be killer, and definatly tasty.
I find smoking to be perfect! But there are two ways to smoke. Hot smoking and Cold smoking. Cold smoking uses cooled down smoke to cure the fish. The smoke is created in another room and then by means of a tube the smoke is cooled and funneled into the box where the fish is. The other way is to have the source of the smoke (ie fire) in the same place as the fish. As to not directly cook it, but over a time smoke and cook the fish in one process. This can be achevied in a bbq, where only one size of the bbq is turned on and only used to create smoke. The residual heat in the bbq then cooks the fish. This way is my favorite, and is so good cold. I just toss some in a bag and then put it in my pocket. This way none of the oils that are in the fish are lost.
I am afraid jerkying (if i know what that is - i may not) removes the oil from the fish.
I would love to hear how your search pans out, i hope it is delicious!
I just took some out of the smoker today. Gooooooood Fresh trout then smoked, life is good. I use ( 3 men fish smoking process ) Found it on the web. Really has a good flour. Wish spring with hurry.