Cooking stocked trout ...any way to make them taste good.

[Teddy (punchie)]

HI Everyone

We were fishing this weekend and I'm doing okay at the catch and release. This Am I had a good morning and would have kept a few if I had a good way to cook them.

Thinking I caught 12 and losings another 3-4 at the waters edge horsing them in to shore. I'm not even sure how many I'm allow to keep if I do decide to keep them, maybe 5 ?? Need to check that number.

Thanks ,

Teddy

[Minerat]

Clean, leave skin and heads on. Roll in flower, salt, pepper mix and fry in 1/2" of butter crisco or real butter until eyes turn opaque and flower is lightly browned. Drain, de-bone and enjoy.

[GregLaROCHE]

Most stocked fish have been feed grain based food. That’s not their normal diet. That’s why the taste isn’t there. Bread and fry them with your favorite herbs and spices to give them some flavor.

[DougGuy]

Scale and clean leaving heads on.

We wrapped them in foil with salt, pepper, lemon juice and butter, cook until you can pull the filet up off the bone. Slide a fork under the filet right at the tail and lift from tail to head leaving the bones laying. Lift bones off in one piece, you have the bottom filet left there. Cook not enough filet won't lift, cook too long the bones will come all apart.

What is the trout limit in PA?

The Commission reminds anglers that during the regular trout season (opening day through Labor Day), fishers may keep up to five trout per day measuring at least seven inches long. During an extended season from September 5 through February 19, 2024, the daily limit is three trout.Apr 1, 2023

[BLAHUT]

Cat likes them fresh, dog likes them dried, I won't eat them...........

[Duckiller]

let them swim in the river/lake for two to three months then they will taste fine.

[dale2242]

Smoke them.
They are delicious that way.

[farmerjim]

I have caught them in Alaska and they were fine pan fried. As GregLaROCHE said, they are fed mostly soy and grain based food. this makes them taste bad till they eat natural (bugs) foods for a while. People would catch catfish at the grain elevator barge unloaders. The catfish would eat the soybeans, the catfish would taste bad.

[farmbif]

smoke them. hard maple wood and or white oak or even beech works real well for fish.
most fish are better soaked in brine first. an easy brine can be water or apple juice or some of each with some salt and honey or sugar or brown sugar. soak for at least a few hours before smoking

[GhostHawk]

Pan fried is good but the best I ever ate was mid winter on the ice, we had some luck, built a fire, cleaned, added a pat of butter, dash of salt, folded it up in aluminum foil cooked on each side for maybe 5 min. They were tasty.

[reloader28]

The only way I can stand to eat them is to smoke them.
If you dont like a fishy taste you can elimanate most of that by skinning them

[RickinTN]

The last Trout I cooked and ate was with Lemon Pepper and baked in the oven. They were pretty good.
Take care,
Rick

[rockrat]

Long time ago, Dad had a salmon he had caught in Alaska and he wanted to cook for a dinner. Little freezer burnt. Maybe 10 lb fish. Took a few sticks of butter and a couple of lemons and sliced them and put inside the fish. Little salt and pepper. Wrapped in multi layers of foil and put on a low grill. Don't remember how long I cooked it, but it was a while. Guests raved about it and there wasn't much left

[farmbif]

the butter in foil over a fire sounds real good. with some lemon thats how I started cooking snook when I got pretty good at catching them. but unless you want to end up like me with high cholesterol gotta leave the butter out. I guess it's one reason I like smoking stuff these days.
hope you catch lots of trout

[Teddy (punchie)]

Thanks for the replies so far


Been years but me and buddy... Now Gone R.I.P. Jeffery Gillian.... We smoked them but it was a all day thing/event cutting firewood we slow cooking over a low green fire Apple and Hickory green branches over coals... and after a few hours of getting fire ready and coals and then few hours of low heat smoking I was hoping for a better faster way.





These stocked trout are tasteless mushy mess. Wife was all up for trying to cook them and then found out they are what they are a few years ago. Not even sure the dogs like them. As they after baked in oven with garlic, onions cooked in butter they were just not very good.

So sound like we are back at square one. Smoke or turn them loose in a place they maybe can live and eat better food.

Sure are fun to catch some, sure was nice to focus on the fishing and not all the other things going on.

[dale2242]

If you feel that they are that bad, why not just release them unharmed and enjoy fishing for them?

[gwpercle]

Clean, leave skin and heads on. Roll in flower, salt, pepper mix and fry in 1/2" of butter crisco or real butter until eyes turn opaque and flower is lightly browned. Drain, de-bone and enjoy.

Flour might work better than flower ... or what kind of "flowers" do you roll them in ?
Gary

[Winger Ed.]

Pretty much all fish out of warm, fresh water are sort of mushy/soft.
Almost all of the really good fish come out of the deep and cold ocean.

To make the best of what ya have-
Cut off the skin, de-bone it, and anything that its color isn't that of the meat.
Soak the fillets over night in the refrigerator in about 1/3 vinegar & 2/3 water with a bump of salt.
That firms the meat up some, and washes out a lot of that 'fishy' flavor.

[Minerat]

Flour might work better than flower ... or what kind of "flowers" do you roll them in ?
Gary

:bigsmyl2:

Auto correct gets ya some times. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.[smilie=l:

[Teddy (punchie)]

:bigsmyl2:

Auto correct gets ya some times. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.[smilie=l:

I hear you LOL sometimes I'm like what in the world happened.

[MaryB]

Pretty much all fish out of warm, fresh water are sort of mushy/soft.
Almost all of the really good fish come out of the deep and cold ocean.

To make the best of what ya have-
Cut off the skin, de-bone it, and anything that its color isn't that of the meat.
Soak the fillets over night in the refrigerator in about 1/3 vinegar & 2/3 water with a bump of salt.
That firms the meat up some, and washes out a lot of that 'fishy' flavor.

Fish species matters too. I have eaten flathead catfish from 70 degree water, same for northern pike. Neither was mushy.

[Winger Ed.]

Fish species matters too. I have eaten flathead catfish from 70 degree water, same for northern pike. Neither was mushy.

Down here, 70 degree water is colder than a pawn broker's heart to us.:bigsmyl2:

[MT Gianni]

Stocked trout can be delicious. They just need 6-8 months in 40-60 degree water.

[trapper9260]

I had talk with one guy when I was leaven from fishing he told me is to gut and remove the gills then ,salt the stock trout and hang them in the fridge for a few days to dry out then after when you use them , wash them out to get the salt off. Then cook like you normal would and they will not come out mushy. I have not try it . I normally get the ones that are not stock. I do not have the problem with mushy . MT Gianni is right ,after they are in the waters like was stated. Then you find a difference in them. I normally bake my , roll in corn meal . With the head on and skin .

[Lloyd Smale]

smoke them low and slow till there dry. about the only way ill eat fatty lake trout

[MaryB]

Down here, 70 degree water is colder than a pawn broker's heart to us.:bigsmyl2:

Water temps here are ~40 degrees right now LOL 2 weeks ago they were 33... with a cap of rotting ice that was 18 inches thick at one point

[Lloyd Smale]

Water temps here are ~40 degrees right now LOL 2 weeks ago they were 33... with a cap of rotting ice that was 18 inches thick at one point

heck mary lake superior is in my back yard and its not much warmer then that in july!!

[jonp]

Most stocked fish have been feed grain based food. That’s not their normal diet. That’s why the taste isn’t there. Bread and fry them with your favorite herbs and spices to give them some flavor.

+1 Stocked trout unless having lived in the wild for a few months are not that good. Chill well before cooking to firm the meat and use spices of your choice.

[MaryB]

heck mary lake superior is in my back yard and its not much warmer then that in july!!

People don't realize how big MN is north to south... I am down in the prairie pothole lake region... shallow muddy holes... climate here is different...

And yes, Superior is COLD even in summer... idiot brother in law swept us off the sailboat deck when he tacked without warning. Had to tread water for 20 minutes. We tossed him in and trolled him for 20 minutes to make the point to warn before you do a massive course change! Thankfully we had a propane heater down in the cabin... fired it up and warmed up.

[dale2242]

Our stocked trout come from a cold water hatchery and are stocked in cold water lakes.
They are delicious.

[georgerkahn]

My KISS recipe which, to my taste buds cannot be beat -- is to slice trout from just under head down to start of tail, open, and clean out guts. Rinse just a bit under COOL running tap water. Open up some heavy-duty aluminum foil and pour on it a liberal amount of any brand bottled Italian Salad Dressing, and put fish on it. Roll so fish are totally covered, and then SEAL the foil to make a snug container for fish therein. Then put on bar-b-que grill or hot coals of a wood campfire. I generally go about seven-eight minutes on one side; flip; and cook five-six minutes longer. Important is to keep foil bag closed for a couple of minutes after removal from heat and also to be careful (steam!) when opening.
Thirty years or so back a WWII DP from Estonia shared some trout cooked this way with me -- we met at a State Park -- and I've never cooked trout differently, since!
Super easy -- all needed is some aluminum foil and Italian dressing -- with the results, awesome!
geo