First Smoked Salmon

[Pierre]

for no other reason than i'm so pleased with the outcome, i had to share

a couple of weekends ago i made my first batch of smoked salmon. it came out awesome, if i don't mind saying so. the salmon was caught the weekend before, and was brined for a few days prior to going into the smoker. 5-6 hours in the smoker with applewood chips to supply the smoke and it was done. here are some picks of the process and the final product.

here's the salmon filets after they have been out of the brine for a couple of hours to air dry. just a little black pepper and they're ready to go into the smoker


the smoker racks are ready to be dropped into the Big Cheif electric smoker. i did the smoking out in the garden while i was working on the garden. one thing i learned is to make sure you make enough for the neighbors, because they will certainly know what's going on when they smell the smoke


after 5-6 hours in the smoker, ready to start eating. throughout the smoking process i was brushing on a honey/soy mixture which dries to a nice glaze, as you can see


close up


now that i've had success with the smoker, i'm already starting to think ribs, chickens, turkey, and of course more salmon.

[chrose]

Nice Job Pierre! That really looks delicious. Pretty soon you can start cold smoking too. I love cold smoking fish. I have an old refrigerator that I am going to turn into a cold smoker this summer.
Smoking is a great past time (I did a lot of it in the 70's )

[wuzzo87]

hey chrose,

just wanted to know...wat's cold smoking? and how is it done?

[chrose]

Simply put "hot smoking" is with temps generally over 140ºF where you are actually cooking the item with heat. Whereas cold smoking is more of a preserving method where you have already cured the item through salting, brining, drying etc. You are helping to add flavor and create a protective seal over the item to aid in preventing bacteria from forming.
You can go more into detail, but that's the simple explanation.
By the way, I don't know the strength of your brine but "a few days" sounds a bit long. You have already "cooked it" essentially through the brine so you don't really need to hot smoke it at all and certainly not for that long. Not that what you did is wrong, don't get me wrong, it just seemed like a bit much. Still, I wouldn't knock it off of my plate!!!

[redace1960]

that looks awesome!!!!!!!!!!!! way to go!
my dad did a similar smoke back in the day, with applewood chips and all. your post brought back some of the best food memories i have! (didnt think i had any!) thank you!!!
now you have to make linguine with smoked salmon, and cream cheese with smoked salmon, and smoked salmon with smoked salmon.............

[Pierre]

the brine is a mixture of soy sauce, water, sea salt, sugar, honey, garlic, onion, bay leaf, peppercorns, yatta yatta yatta*. it's more for infusing flavor and doesn't completely cure the meat, even after a 2 day soak.

redace, i'm glad you had such a positive reaction to my post.
pasta with cream sauce and smoked salmon was what i made for dinner the day the salmon came out of the smoker. it's also great on a bagel with cream cheese and capers. smoked salmon ravioli is next on deck when i finnish the next batch of salmon.

*yatta = a mix of whatever herbs and spices that you have on hand and that strikes your fancy at the time the brine is being mixed

[wuzzo87]

Ahh...i see...
So, tht's wat u call cold smoking....lol..
This who thing's getting me interested in the smoking business..

[nowIamone]

Sprinkle some fresh rosemary leaves on a fillet as it goes in the smoker......mmm.