Smoked trout in the MONOLITH ceramic grill

(for approx. 4 trout) For the brine & flavoring: 4 trout 4 l water 320 g salt (makes approx. 8 % brine) 1 tbsp juniper berries Lemon peel (thinly peeled with a peeler) Fresh bay leaves (2-3 pieces, slightly torn) 2-3 lemon slices (without the white peel) For smoking in the MONOLITH ceramic grill:
Smoking pellets or smoking chips for hot smoking Smoking chips for the cold smoke generator (MONOLITH Smoke Set / Cold Smoker) Kitchen paper for drying the trout Equipment & accessories:MONOLITH Ceramic grillMONOLITH Smoke Set with cold smoke generator (Cold Smoker) Charcoal basket with glowing charcoal Rack / smoking frame for hanging the trout Core temperature sensor Power Lighter (for lighting the cold smoke generator)

Juicy, aromatic and perfectly cooked: in this recipe, you smoke trout in the MONOLITH ceramic grill - first in hot smoke and then with the cold smoke generator from the MONOLITH Smoke Set. The stable temperature control of the ceramic ensures that your trout is gently cooked without temperature fluctuations and intensively flavoured in the smoke. When smoking trout in the MONOLITH ceramic grill, we combine classic hot smoking with cold smoking using the cold smoker from the MONOLITH Smoke Set. The trout are marinated in an 8% brine with juniper, lemon and fresh bay leaf, dried thoroughly and then hot-smoked in the Monolith at a core temperature of around 100-110 °C to 50 °C. The cold smoke generator then takes over. The cold smoke generator then takes over and brings the trout to a perfect core temperature of 60 °C with gentle residual heat from the ceramic. Preparation - step by step in the MONOLITH ceramic grill 1. MONOLITH Preheat the ceramic grill Preheat the MONOLITH ceramic grill to approx. 120 °C. Thanks to the ceramic, the grill retains the heat for a very long time and releases it evenly - so you can smoke without the typical temperature fluctuations of a metal smoker. 2. prepare the flavored brine ½ liter of water in a pan. Add juniper berries, lemon peel and fresh bay leaves. If desired, add 2-3 lemon slices without white peel. Allow the pan to warm briefly at MONOLITH so that the aromas release better, then remove again. Top up with water to a total of 4 liters of liquid. Stir in 320 g of salt until it is completely dissolved - this results in an approx. 8% brine. 3. Clean the trout thoroughly Check the trout: If the gills are still present, make a cut along both sides of the gills, loosen the gills at the front and cut them out at the bottom. Carefully remove any remaining parts of the backbone with a pointed spoon. Rinse the inside of the trout thoroughly with water until everything is clean. 4. Pickling the trout (curing in brine) Place the cleaned trout in the prepared 8% brine. Make sure that the fish are completely covered by the brine. Leave the trout in the brine for approx. 12 hours. 5. Dry the trout and hang it up Remove the trout from the brine. Remove slime and moisture: dab the fish thoroughly dry inside and out with kitchen paper ("dry as a whistle"). Hang the trout on the rack/smoking frame. Leave to hang outside in the open air (for approx. 1-2 hours depending on the time of year) - watch out for flies in summer. The trout are ready for smoking when: the skin is no longer slippery or slimy, but slightly leathery and matt instead of shiny. 6. Hot smoking in the MONOLITHThe grill is now at around 100 °C (based on the previously heated 120 °C). Place a handful of pellets on the embers and wait briefly until a lot of smoke is produced. Place the rack with the trout in the MONOLITH. Insert a core temperature probe into the thickest trout. Smoke the trout in the hot smoke at approx. 100-110 °C until a core temperature of max. 50 °C is reached. This takes about 35-40 minutes. 7. MONOLITH Smoke Set / Prepare cold smoke generator Fill the cold smoke generator (cold smoker) of the MONOLITH Smoke Set with smoking chips. Do not press the chips down too firmly so that there is enough air between them and everything can smoulder cleanly. Form a small hollow at the beginning so that oxygen can reach the embers from below. Hold in the Power Lighter until the chips glow nicely. For more smoke, another hollow can be made in the middle and also lit. The plan is to smoke for a maximum of around 30 minutes with the cold smoke generator. 8. Switch from hot smoking to cold smoking As soon as the trout have reached a core temperature of 50 °C during hot smoking, remove the rack with the fish from the grill. Remove the charcoal basket with the glowing charcoal from the MONOLITH - this stops the active heat supply. Place the lit cold smoke generator from the MONOLITH Smoke Set in the ceramic grill. Hang the rack with the trout back into the grill. 9. Finish smoking to a core temperature of 60 °C. Continue smoking the trout with the cold smoke generator for a maximum of approx. 30 minutes. The fish will continue to cook very slowly thanks to the residual radiant heat from the ceramic. Always keep an eye on the core temperature so that the fish does not overcook. The aim is a core temperature of approx. 60 °C - then the trout is perfectly smoked and ready to serve. This recipe shows you how to make optimum use of the MONOLITH ceramic grill and the MONOLITH Smoke Set to gently cook and intensively flavour trout using a combination of hot and cold smoking - with stable temperature control, efficient ceramic storage and a clean cold smoke generator.