Smoked rainbow trout

Hot-smoked rainbow is one of the best things you can make from a put-and-take catch, and it is simpler than it sounds. The base is to brine, dry and smoke the fish. One important thing first: hot smoking cooks the fish through and needs no freezing, but cold smoking requires that the fish has been frozen 2–3 days in advance.

How you hot-smoke

Gut the fish (gutting fish). Brine in salt solution (about 1 dl salt per litre of water) for 1–3 hours, or dry-salt lightly. A little sugar softens. Rinse and dry the fish well — preferably airy in the fridge until the surface feels dry. Dry surface takes smoke better. Put a handful of alder chips in the bottom of the smoke box, lay the fish on the rack skin-side down, and smoke on medium heat until the flesh is opaque and comes off the backbone — often about 30–45 minutes.

Cold-smoked — freeze first. Cold smoking happens at low temperature and does not cook the fish through. Then the fish must have been frozen 2–3 days beforehand, just as for cured rainbow, to kill parasites. Serve lukewarm from the box, or cold with boiled potatoes, scrambled eggs or on bread. Keep cold and eat within a few days. More: cook the catch.