Per Jay's request I am posting my results from the King Mackerel smoking I
did on Friday (it fit nicely in the bong but the buzz was terrible! I will
stick to eating it from now on). Here is the recipe:

Skin the Mackerel and cut the blood lines out of the fish.

This is the recipe I used for the brine, thanks to a poster in
alt.food.barbecue.

water, 2 qt total
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup coarse kosher salt
1 1/2 tablespoons crushed black pepper
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
4 bay leaves

In big sauce pan, add 1 qt water to a low boil.
Add all the ingredients except the remaining water.
Cook on low heat until all is melted.
Take off heat and add 1 qt really cold water.
Cool in fridge at least overnight, until really cold.

Add the raw, cleaned fish, and put lots of ice on top of the fish to keep it
under the brine.

Then smoke as required.

I Brined the fish for 90 minutes. I will decrease this time to 45 minutes
the next time I am smoking Mackerel because it was a bit salty for me.

I smoked it for 4 hours in light Pecan smoke at a temp of 200 degrees.

This recipe turned out fantastic! It was all gobbled down within 24 hours.
The flavor of the Pecan combined with the brined King Mackerel was very
tasty, and I have had several requests for more so I am going to do it again
tomorrow. Thanks folks! I really appreciate the input!

- A -