Randyman, you need to brine the halibut in a water based brine mixed with an acidic juice of your choosing. I use sprite and add real lemons to it for the acid. White fish needs to absorb water before smoking to give it moisture. The acid will help hold the moisture in while smoking. Smoke to a medium rare temp and it will turn out. Pineapples work well also and oranges are ok. depends on what flavor you like. Brine it for at least 8 hours so fish will absorb water. Water absorbtion is the trick for white fish. Good luck

@shane102 Well, leaving them out at room temp for an hour or so does more of that as most fridges are higher humidity than the normal air. If you vac pack something that is too warm you are almost certainly going to get humidity built up in the bag, so fridge overnight makes sure they aren’t warm.

I put my sausage in a meat lug and fill with ice to the point that every corner or hole is filled and the ice is just above the meat then I fill with water until all the meat is covered. My casings whether collagen, fibrous, sheep, hog, or beef are so tight that you cannot tell where the meat or casings start and stop it is one continuous bite, that is my two cents worth.

-Sure cure is correct, technically it would be .48 oz but 1/2 is perfectly fine! -2.88 for the sure gel but again, 3 is fine -This is where we get into personal preference a little, 2 quarts of water per 25 lb batch will be fine but you can get away with less, which will “change” the consistency and will certainly speed up your cooking process. If you want to use a full quart for 12 lb that is fine but you might have an easier time if you use about 25 oz For Willies 2.5 cups is a little too much. ½ cup, 4 tbsp and 1 tsp is enough for 5 lb so it would work out to just about 2 cups, slightly less I think but very close. I would also recommend you do it by weight rather than volume. That weight would be almost 13 oz. Good luck!