smoked salmon

[damack]

ok so i have a off set smoker and i have smoked ribs on there. but i have never done fish there was a sale on salmon so i bought a pack and im planing on smoking it tomarow, if any one can give me sugestions on what i need to do,

do i need to prep the food tonight, i have seen a few things on food netowrk were they put salt and suger on it for a day previous to cooking and then got all that off then smoked it, but if some one who has experance with smoking salmon is here some sugesions would helpfull

[phatch]

I do it like Steve Raichlen does it in his book How to Grill. If you don't have that book, I strongly recommend it. This is more of a kippered result than the cold smoked Nova. Still great on bagels and I find I prefer it to Nova.

Skin the slab of salmon and pick out the bones. Marinate in some Rum--I usually use apple juice with some added bitters as I don't drink--for fifteen minutes.

Meanwhile, for every two pounds of salmon combine 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup coarse/kosher salt and 2 tablespoons cracked pepper. Mix evenly.

Drain off the rum. Dry the salmon and the tray. Place 1/3 of the rub in the bottom of the rimmed tray where the salmon will go. You want the salmon to just cover the sugar mix. Evenly distribute the rest of the sugar mix over the salmon. Cover and refrigerate for four hours. It must be a rimmed pan as the salt and sugar draw out liquid from the salmon as they cure the salmon.

Rinse off the sugar mix, but not too vigourously. You should still see some pepper clinging to it. Now smoke it at between 220 and 250 degrees. How long varies from cooker to cooker, I like 1 1/2 - 2 hours depending on the weather but can take an extra hour of smoke and still be good, which is how my dad likes me to smoke the salmon for him.

I usually use hickory or alder for salmon.

For trout, I like a combination of lemon pepper and cajun seasoning.

[damack]

i think i have that cook book,


how do u think apple wood would do with salmon, i just had to trim my tree so i have some cut up that i saved to use for smokeing, if thats not good i think i can get ahold of some hickory chips

[greenawalt87]

Originally Posted by damack

i think i have that cook book,


how do u think apple wood would do with salmon, i just had to trim my tree so i have some cut up that i saved to use for smokeing, if thats not good i think i can get ahold of some hickory chips

Make sum very strong green tea as it cooling add some wasabi,green onion, tamari sauce, garlic and ginger let it set for a couple of hours you will be able to tell when it had enought , it will turn colors then pat it dry then smoke. This is one fantastic smoked salmon

[phatch]

Apple would be fine.

[damack]

all of the recipes i have read say to brine the salmon for 6 hours is it ok if i just do it over night... will i ruin my fish if i do it for 10-12? im thinking if i brine it tonight i can wake up wash and dry it and then i can smoke tomarow after its all dry.

[damack]

ill let u guys how it tunes out tomarow, will be smoking tomarow, it going tobe a good day off

[Jayme]

We brine ours in a fruit juice (or frozen magarita mix), non-iodized salt, with worsteshire (sp.?) sauce, celery salt, white pepper, and a bit of rosemary for seasoning- overnite in fridge. In the morning- remove fish from brine, rinse briefly, pat dry. Oil or non stick coat your smoker racks, and lay the fish on racks for about 30 minutes in teh kitchen, to dry and allow a glaze to form on fish. Preheat smoker during this time. Apple, hickory, or mesquite work great. We usually run at least 3 pans of smoke and then remove the smoke pan after that and allow to heat cook until dry enough. It should be dry on the exterior, medium brown, flakey, but still retain some moisture inside -(natural fish oils) Be sure to store in the fridge. And watch out for all the new "friends" you will make when they hear you just pulled fresh salmon out of the smoker.....LOL

[sucrechef]

I used to work in a restaurant that smoked our own salmon. What we would do was place a cooling rack on a sheet pan. Cover that rack with cheesecloth (clean cotton rags will wok too), place the salmon on top and then completely cover the salmon with a mixture of 2 parts kosher salt and 1 part granulated sugar. We would also put fresh dill, the green tops of fennel, and other seasonings like mustard powder, etc (whatever sounds good to you). Place the entire pan UNCOVERED in the cooler overnight -- you want the air flow to help the process. The following day, by hand gently scrape off all the salt mixture you can, rinse under cold runnig water, and soak submerged in cold water for 10 minutes. Remove the fish from the water and pat dry with paper towels. Now you are ready to smoke!

[damack]

that sounds good this time u found a sight online that said to use 4/1 dark brown suger/ kosher salt. i didnt think that was right with the salt so i put in more salt than it asked for. i have been smoking it for about 4 hours now and just have picked off a little to see how its going, well i have never smoked fish befor but i think im doing prutty good. ill let u guys know how it turns out it need another 2-3 hours.

tending to the fire is a pain it the butt. today i have been adding more coals, more wood. well im hoping its worth it, it if it turns out well im going to Costco and buying more.


o ya i ended up using cherry wood too i had a tree that just got trimed and some hickory chips too

[damack]

ok

so i smoked it for 6 hours, it was really good but i little salty but im ok with that.