Grilled and smoked King mackerel

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
This will be a “to be continued thread”.....
This is more so for me than you, as I never write down recipes and if it works, then awesome and it’s documented, if not, well it won’t...don’t have a lot of faith as greasy as this thing is.

Caught a king yesterday, and I’ve never had king, so I’m grilling a couple streaks and then I filleted the last 3rd of the fish and have about 3lbs of fillets to smoke.

First the steak marinade. Totally winging it.

Equal parts hoisin sauce and Sriracha sauce.
1/4c (or so) brown sugar
Juice of one orange
1/4c soy
2tbsp minced garlic

Got 3 steaks marinading for about 4hrs. Will grill with cowboy brand lump.

The fillets are currently equal parts kosher salt and brown sugar, dry brine, with cracked black pepper. It’ll dry brine for 6-7hrs. Going to smoke with cowboy brand lump and some soaked pecan.

Will update later as I cook.

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Justin

Old Mossy Horns
Grilled about 12min at 300F or so.

Marinade made a nice glaze.

Made roasted butternut squash with EVOO, sea salt, cracked black pepper, parsley flakes, garlic powder, and finished with a smidge of Parmesan cheese under broil.

About to taste test.2D8AC37A-6DC1-4C83-9075-D259DE33E54C.jpegD2C8E7D9-2598-447D-98CF-14B8343E93A1.jpeg2089C672-D0AC-4855-8C0E-F740C33907E8.jpegC9788ACD-9D4E-4745-AAFD-A0EEE26F68B5.jpeg2D8AC37A-6DC1-4C83-9075-D259DE33E54C.jpegD2C8E7D9-2598-447D-98CF-14B8343E93A1.jpeg2089C672-D0AC-4855-8C0E-F740C33907E8.jpegC9788ACD-9D4E-4745-AAFD-A0EEE26F68B5.jpeg
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
Well I may have gotten the weird one, but this was absolutely incredible. To be as nasty and greasy as it was when I cleaned it, I was worried it would be strong, but I was wrong. Hands down the best fish I’ve eaten, and that’s coming from someone that pretty much does not eat fish.
 

YanceyGreenhorn

Still Not a Moderator
Well I may have gotten the weird one, but this was absolutely incredible. To be as nasty and greasy as it was when I cleaned it, I was worried it would be strong, but I was wrong. Hands down the best fish I’ve eaten, and that’s coming from someone that pretty much does not eat fish.
Sounds awesome
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
Dip was a success. A little salty. In hind sight I’d have rinsed my fillets a little better before tossing them on the smoker. Smidge on the salty side but other than that, awesome.

Used 12oz of whipped cream cheese
2/3 of a small container of sour cream
1/2lb or so of flakes meat
1/2c chopped green onions
1/4c mixed chopped onions, celery, and green pepper
1.5tbsp or so of chipotle Cholula

All proportions are guesstimated.
 

BigBow

Ten Pointer
Contributor
King Mack on the Charcoal Grill is food fit for a king, even if just marinated in Italian dressing. Your way is fit for a god.
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
Used some of the scraps from the smoked sections to break up and make an omelette out of some of the chopped onions/peppers/celery.👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼1B1FC022-A948-4B70-B66F-D9B38E6B13C4.jpeg
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I told you I was thoroughly surprised with the outcome. I was prepared to be content with the potatoes and squash.
I have eaten quite a bit of stuff while at the camp that I normally wouldn’t this week. Some I have thoroughly enjoyed, may be a good thing I am solo though. I think this camper has emitted an iridescent glow a few times. LOL
 

GSOHunter

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Glad this turned out great! I made the mistake of rinsing my cero mackerel filets. The meat was soft a couple hours later when I went to cook it.
 

YanceyGreenhorn

Still Not a Moderator
That looks mighty fine man. Never had king mackerel before
Man I just spent 10 min looking at this thread trying to figure out when I made this comment considering we caught king mackerel on our honeymoon and smokes a bunch of em. Then I realized my reply was from last November not this one😑 it ain’t even Nov 24th yet haha. Glad you’re still getting em. I think it’s an excellent fish
 

ABolt

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
We caught some kings back in June and grilled them for my family members, each of who has a very discerning taste for seafood. I believe it was a mango marinade that we used, and it was very well received by all.

As long as the fillets are VERY fresh, mackerel grills nicely and holds its own against other more 'top shelf' fish...
 

Scrub

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Skin them cut in chicken nugget size pieces, House autry and deep fry. They are excellent.
 
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