Hey bro. I just got back from fishing and caught an eel about that size but had no idea how to smoke it so I threw it back. Next time I will definitely be keeping it.
eel and all other fish should be smoked with the skin and head together as one. You only wish to scrape and wash the outside, eliminate the guts, and cut any blood spots out. Add enough kosher salt to a bowl of luke warm water until a potato the size of your fist starts to float (just starts to rise in the water maybe 1 inch). put the cleaned eel in the water, cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. Hot smoke. keep the flame running for the first 30 minutes until the skin is loose and easily slides from the meat (don't slie it off, it is just a way to test to see if it is cooked before continuing to smoke it). Then smother the flames and make sure there is just enough oxygen to allow the wood to smolder. Smoke for 3 hours, Use beechwood or an applewood/hickory mix for best flavor. The eel should be served at room temp. If your refrigerate it, take it out 1 hour before eating. The bone will pull completely out of the meat while warm and oily. Eel is extremely fatty, the majority of the fat will rise to the top, under the skin along the location of the dorsal the fin. Good luck, that's the way it is done in Germany. I use a 55 gallon steel drum with a grille on top, opned up on both ends. I place the barrel on a sand pile and use a bucket full water and clean burlap sacks to cover over the eel, allowing the smoke to slowly escape, keeping the temp up to at least 140 degrees F while smoking, 250 for the first 30 minutes. If the fire comes back to life, kick more sand to the bottom edges of the barrel to smother the fire, but allowing enough to keep the wood smoldering
I really appreciate your comment. Amazing how I can search around the net for information and then find it in a comment :) When you say about the bucket of water, do you mean to soak the burlap and then just lay it over the top of the drum? Also do you mean that you leave a gap or two at the bottom of the drum for air flow, which can be more or less covered to regulate the temp? Thanks :)
@@samiamnot8906 yes, bucket of water is to keep the burlap wet so it doesn't burn, then they need to be replaced when dried with other wet burlap sacs. The holes in the bottom is to regulate the oxygen flow. I let the wood burn until it gets hot enough to sustain it's coals, then smother it, leaving little openings, enough to maintain the coals and smoke for 2 to 3 hours, depending on how large of batch you put on the grate. I prop the fish or eel's bellies open with small sticks cut from my lumber cuttings scrap pile so the smoke penetrates the inside too. The drum is the perfect distance from the meet so it smokes it well, but it leaves enough heat to partially cook the fish. This is great for salmon, trout, steelhead trout (my favorite) bass, sea bass, pretty much any fish, however the bottom feeders have more fat ending up being more of a delicassie. Cat fish, bullhead, eel, all early season if fresh water otherwise they get a muddy, gamey taste. Salt water fish could be cold smoked, but I prefer this method, it is tastiest.
The Long fin eel Silver Bell is Better Eating n Better Tasting I'm a Eeler since a young little Boy my Father Brought me n my Brother up 2 catch Eels' with wire spears' i go out eeling wen i get Hungry for it kia ora im from Aotearoha New Zealand waharoa I'm 50 n I'm Still in my prime i Still go Eeling 😊
Hey bro. I just got back from fishing and caught an eel about that size but had no idea how to smoke it so I threw it back. Next time I will definitely be keeping it.
Definitely worth it mate! just make sure you bleed it
Thanks for this video. Just came out room Lake Monowai with a couple of eels.
Bro that was a awesome demonstration !! Thank you
Wow amazing I learnt alot about eels soild video and you how to prep them thanks I give that ago thanks from Craig in taupo keeping it reel
great job the best i ve seen yet thank you 4 your expertise!
Great video
Very cool and informative
eel and all other fish should be smoked with the skin and head together as one. You only wish to scrape and wash the outside, eliminate the guts, and cut any blood spots out. Add enough kosher salt to a bowl of luke warm water until a potato the size of your fist starts to float (just starts to rise in the water maybe 1 inch). put the cleaned eel in the water, cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. Hot smoke. keep the flame running for the first 30 minutes until the skin is loose and easily slides from the meat (don't slie it off, it is just a way to test to see if it is cooked before continuing to smoke it). Then smother the flames and make sure there is just enough oxygen to allow the wood to smolder. Smoke for 3 hours, Use beechwood or an applewood/hickory mix for best flavor. The eel should be served at room temp. If your refrigerate it, take it out 1 hour before eating. The bone will pull completely out of the meat while warm and oily. Eel is extremely fatty, the majority of the fat will rise to the top, under the skin along the location of the dorsal the fin. Good luck, that's the way it is done in Germany. I use a 55 gallon steel drum with a grille on top, opned up on both ends. I place the barrel on a sand pile and use a bucket full water and clean burlap sacks to cover over the eel, allowing the smoke to slowly escape, keeping the temp up to at least 140 degrees F while smoking, 250 for the first 30 minutes. If the fire comes back to life, kick more sand to the bottom edges of the barrel to smother the fire, but allowing enough to keep the wood smoldering
I really appreciate your comment. Amazing how I can search around the net for information and then find it in a comment :) When you say about the bucket of water, do you mean to soak the burlap and then just lay it over the top of the drum? Also do you mean that you leave a gap or two at the bottom of the drum for air flow, which can be more or less covered to regulate the temp? Thanks :)
@@samiamnot8906 yes, bucket of water is to keep the burlap wet so it doesn't burn, then they need to be replaced when dried with other wet burlap sacs. The holes in the bottom is to regulate the oxygen flow. I let the wood burn until it gets hot enough to sustain it's coals, then smother it, leaving little openings, enough to maintain the coals and smoke for 2 to 3 hours, depending on how large of batch you put on the grate. I prop the fish or eel's bellies open with small sticks cut from my lumber cuttings scrap pile so the smoke penetrates the inside too. The drum is the perfect distance from the meet so it smokes it well, but it leaves enough heat to partially cook the fish. This is great for salmon, trout, steelhead trout (my favorite) bass, sea bass, pretty much any fish, however the bottom feeders have more fat ending up being more of a delicassie. Cat fish, bullhead, eel, all early season if fresh water otherwise they get a muddy, gamey taste. Salt water fish could be cold smoked, but I prefer this method, it is tastiest.
Just a small tip bro, peel the stomach lining off, great vid, keep em coming.
i enjoyed that brother well prep and clear instructions clean cooking there bro lol
Mean as bro. Going to try this. Interesting you left the skin on. Salting and wiping the skin obviously gets rid of all the slime. Chur
Great clip brother.. thanks, Ay ✌🏽
That was awesome bro
Good video love it
I like roasting it and get the skin nice and crispy and eat it all
Hey bro buy yourself a frost-free fridge I have dried all my fish in a fan-forced fridge. for the last 30 years works awesome.
Nice bro. Good video.
Will it still dry out OK if hung in mutton cloth? Lots of flies on my farmlet
Thank you for the video
Choice vid. Makes me hungry lol.
Choice one bro.... ! Definitely learnt something ...! Churr
Nice one bro.🤤
Everything is about cleanliness after you touch the cat??
Dan Stevens cat : oh ffs I just had a bath
Used the back of his hand.
yer im an ozzy and me wife is a kiwi and wants me to cook eel propa, sems i have to do it like this
That cat new what time it was. Bet he eats real good.
Hate it when they swallow the hooks
2much alryt bro. . 👌👌👌
Nice vid, thx
The proper way to bleed that eel is to cut its gills out. cutting the tail doesn't do very much at all
that works chuurrr
how in the world do catch a eel without getting shock that crazy.
Cynthia Gordon eels in nz don’t shock they just real slimy
Ok .
Most eels around the world don't shock its just one family of them.
The Long fin eel Silver Bell is Better Eating n Better Tasting I'm a Eeler since a young little Boy my Father Brought me n my Brother up 2 catch Eels' with wire spears' i go out eeling wen i get Hungry for it kia ora im from Aotearoha New Zealand waharoa I'm 50 n I'm Still in my prime i Still go Eeling 😊