Recipes for smoking tuna?
- Thread starter dbaken
- Start date
Gonna be honest, it's tough. Albacore gets very dry in the smoker, and not in a good way like salmon. In my opinion, a low temp, like 170f smoke for an hour or two without cooking it all the way through makes a nice chunk of tuna. Otherwise, the bellies really are the best go-to for smoking since the fat content is way higher.
I like to cut the loins into strips about 3/4" thick for smoking. Then I coat them in coarse kosher salt for 15 minutes. Rinse the salt off and pat dry. Air dry with fan until tacky to the touch. Then I smoke them in the same smoker I smoke everything in. It usually goes about 200 degrees or so, but I put the tuna on the far side from the heat, so it's a bit cooler over there, and let it go until it's about 130-140 in the center. This product is delicious on its own but makes fantastic tuna salad type concoctions.
Smoked tuna belly is almost impossible to screw up since it is so oily and delicious. Just watch the salt, it takes salt way easier than salmon it seems.
Smoked tuna belly is almost impossible to screw up since it is so oily and delicious. Just watch the salt, it takes salt way easier than salmon it seems.
I tried 3 different ways to smoke the tuna. All were good, though the tuna did get a bit dry. But achieved the goal of making a bunch of quick healthy snacks.
A spicy smoked tuna recipe I got from Ifish was the winner, modified a little based on Matt B.'s post - really good flavor, slightly dry, slightly salty.
1. Cut tuna into 3/4" steaks.
2. Cover both sides in rock salt for 15 minutes.
3. Rinse in tap water.
4. Light coat of seasoning (garlic or onion powder).
5. Smoke 1 hour.
6. Make a paste of Thai chili garlic sauce and brown sugar.
7. Brush on fish.
8. Smoke a bit more (I went with 45 minutes).
A spicy smoked tuna recipe I got from Ifish was the winner, modified a little based on Matt B.'s post - really good flavor, slightly dry, slightly salty.
1. Cut tuna into 3/4" steaks.
2. Cover both sides in rock salt for 15 minutes.
3. Rinse in tap water.
4. Light coat of seasoning (garlic or onion powder).
5. Smoke 1 hour.
6. Make a paste of Thai chili garlic sauce and brown sugar.
7. Brush on fish.
8. Smoke a bit more (I went with 45 minutes).