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New Member - Hello - Boston, MA

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    New Member - Hello - Boston, MA

    Hello all,

    Took the plunge and joined the pit master as I felt it right for the hours I spend reading the site. I have a Weber Genesis, WSM, and a grate for my fire pit. Live around Boston and am a four season smoker, griller. Love making the classics (ribs, pork shoulder, briskets, etc.), and my own sauces but really love trying new things. With Chinatown close by I have done many different type of hole fish. Current wait list grilled TileFish, Live purchased eel, pastrami and trying new veggies. I look forward to reading the posts.

    Thank you!

    #2
    Welcome to the Pit, JMuseum!

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      #3
      Oh yeah, eel! Welcome!

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        #4
        A hearty welcome from Illinois. I used to occasionally smoke eel for my smoked fish business, but never tried just cooking it.

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        • JMuseum
          JMuseum commented
          Editing a comment
          Thanks for the reply! Any tips on smoking eel? It might be the way to go.

        • EdF
          EdF commented
          Editing a comment
          Yes, it may. Never done it myself, but I'd just consider it a skinny mackerel. My wife and her Dad built themselves an eel boat when she was a kid and lived in Hull.

        #5
        Welcome from upstate New York, JMuseum

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          #6
          Welcome from Colorado ...

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            #7
            Welcome JMuseum

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              #8
              Welcome to great fun in the Pit!

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                #9
                JMuseum it has been over 17 years, but I will try. I had gravity smoke houses with my biggest ones having a capacity of 2,500# at a crack. When a large load went in it was as much about drying the product as cooking it while applying the heat as the product was typically hung and if the chamber became too humid the fish would drop like crazy. We had 5 gallon steel pails that we converted to lump charcoal burners and would distribute them under the fish. The quantity would vary dependent upon ambient temps and humidity levels.

                Once the house was loaded the charcoal buckets would go on the floor and then we would gradually close the smoke house doors as the humidity lowered in the house and the fish cooked. We tried to keep the houses at around 160F or so during the process. I should mention that the charcoal was right around 4 feet or more below the tails of the fish so it was a very gentle long term process. Upon judging the fish being cooked we would then pull a couple of charcoal buckets and fill using basically large pellets (like for a pellet smoker and around 5"long by 1" thick). Put them in the smoke house and flood the house with smoke for around 15-20 minutes with the doors completely closed. Upon completion the buckets were taken outside to burn off after the smoke cleared enough to be able to survive. The guy's would wrap wet bandanas over their mouths at that time. Yes, we had huge exhaust fans. The product was then immediately unloaded and rolled into the cooler at that point.

                I think the wet brine percentage was around 10%, but could be wrong. The brine percentage also varied by length of time submerged and quantity of product in the tub.

                You want your finished product to be very moist and flake nicely, but not dry in any way. Seafood is always better just, or slightly undercooked, rather than overcooked.

                For a whole fish you can tell if the fish is done by the ability to pull out the back fin and then look at how the meat attached to the bones is cooked. This gives you a good indicator as to degree of doneness.

                I do remember purchasing around 50# of fresh eel and eviscerating them (I can't remember if we headed them or not), and then when they were thrown into the saltwater brine they started swimming around. The girls in the wet room were literally screaming their heads off and the guy's were laughing their butts off.

                I should add that eel is more like meat and does not flake like other fish.
                Last edited by lschweig; March 15, 2017, 03:23 PM. Reason: More final detail.

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                • lschweig
                  lschweig commented
                  Editing a comment
                  EdF during the holidays we would do up to or more than 15k of smoked fish a week. I also had a seafood salad division, a restaurant featuring the original fried shrimp in Chicago, controlled 3 of the 5 commercial Illinois Lake Michigan fishing licenses, and processed our catches on a daily basis all under one roof.

                • EdF
                  EdF commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Pretty impressive lschweig !

                • JMuseum
                  JMuseum commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Wow!! That is super cool, I always find mass food production fascinating. I am a bit of a machine nerd. Thank you for taking the time to write this. Great tip about the fin!

                #10
                Welcome, from Oklahoma. It's a great city you are from there. If you get a chance, drop by Biddy Early's and have a pint for me!!
                Last edited by TheCountofQ; March 15, 2017, 03:53 PM.

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                  #11
                  Welcome to th' Pit! JMuseum !!!

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                    #12
                    Welcome to The Pit.

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                      #13
                      Welcome to the pit! Unless your a Patriots fan. Just kidding. Go Giants!!

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                        #14
                        Welcome from Indiana....

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                          #15
                          Welcome to The Pit JMuseum! Thanks for joining and nice to have you here!

                          Since this is your first post, please check out our homework assignment post for new members, it contains a few how-tos and please-dos. This will help you learn your way around so you can get the best experience from our forum.

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                          Hope to hear & see more from you!

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