smoked tuna brine recipes ???

[dave g]

i'm wondering if anyone has tried smoked tuna, and, more importantly, if you can share brine recipes with me. i'm thinking on trying my standard salmon brine (tweeked salmon university style), but i'd like to see if anyone has first hand experience with tuna. my work takes me to the marshall and marianna's islands, as well as the far east, so tuna is alot more available than salmon. i'd appreciate any input on this. thanks

[dave g]

as a ps...
i much prefer a dry brine to a wet one....but i'll take any suggestions.

[Bodofish]

I used to process quite a bit of Tuna and other Pelagic (sp) species from there. Be very careful with temp and time as the big fish can get very tough. We used to put tuna through a marinade jackard and vac pac and freeze after 12 hr in the walk in. It was awsome lightly Q'ed. But then I'm kinda partial to eating my tuna raw.......

[dave g]

thanks. i'm with you bodo, i love my tuna raw myself. we get enough of it that we cook it all the standard ways, as well as having poke and shashimi. i just purchased a smokehouse 'big chief' smoker to use on our ship so we can start having goodies that are not on the regular menu.

[wolverine]

Here is what I do for the albacore that I get from the Oregon coast.

I boil down orange juice to a syrup, add a splash of lime juice, add a small amount of Mortons Tender Quick, salt, small amt of red pepper flakes, crushed garlic, brown sugar, fresh ginger, and light soy sauce. I cut the tuna into roughly 2 inch cubes and fold the tuna into the sludge of ingredients. Marinate for 6 hours, wipe most of the now brine, and put on racks to form a pellicle. I have a Bradley smoker and alternate apple and alder pucks, or apple and cherry. I've tried mesquite but with the sweet brine its a bit harsh. I only smoke for 2-3 hours and finish with heat only. I move the racks of fish around so they all finish the same. Be careful that you don't get too much salt in the tuna as it can lead to excess drying. I leave the fish out and run a fan over it to cool it down and not get wet spots.
About half gets frozen on a cookie sheet and then vacuum packed and the rest is eaten within a couple of days (actually I can't wait for it to cool so some gets eaten while still warm).

[dave g]

thanks wolverine. in my search i've found alot of people seem to prefer a sweet brine for tuna. kinda up my alley as opposed to a hot or spicey one. i especially appreciate the tip on the flavor of the chips/pucks. i've never tried boiling orange juice down, and i'm unclear about relative amounts of spices, but your recipe sounds great and i'll give it a try.