Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
March 28, 2024, 07:20:56 AM

Login with username, password and session length

Recent Topics

[March 27, 2024, 12:49:04 PM]

[March 27, 2024, 07:37:59 AM]

[March 26, 2024, 09:10:45 PM]

[March 25, 2024, 05:15:36 PM]

by Spot
[March 25, 2024, 02:39:54 PM]

by PNW
[March 24, 2024, 07:14:07 PM]

[March 23, 2024, 10:59:04 PM]

[March 21, 2024, 06:23:10 AM]

[March 17, 2024, 06:42:23 PM]

[March 17, 2024, 08:44:53 AM]

[March 15, 2024, 06:45:09 PM]

[March 10, 2024, 05:55:18 PM]

[March 10, 2024, 11:20:08 AM]

[February 29, 2024, 07:05:43 AM]

[February 26, 2024, 01:31:23 PM]

Picture Of The Month



SD2OR with a trophy fall walleye

Topic: Can you help me smoke my salmon?  (Read 1771 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Crabman

  • Herring
  • **
  • Location: Veneta
  • Date Registered: Oct 2015
  • Posts: 30
 Have 9lbs of chinook fillets from a 20lb fish.  Will be using a wet brine and a Masterbuilt smoker.  Was thinking I would smoke it for 6 to eight hours at 140 degrees and then finishing in the oven until 145 degree internal temperature is reached.  Sound about right????


Dungydog

  • Rockfish
  • ****
  • Location: Beaverton
  • Date Registered: Nov 2017
  • Posts: 162
Sounds good to me. Few things I do (and you might too):
- brine overnight
- remove from brine and let sit on a rack for 3-4 hours to develop the pellicle
- dust with pepper before throwing in the smoker
- check every couple hours and adjust temp/time as needed
 
-Craig

2018 Hobie Outback 12
2017 Native Propel 10


pmmpete

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Location: Missoula, Montana
  • Date Registered: Jul 2013
  • Posts: 1989
A couple of thoughts and suggestions:

1.  The size of the pieces you cut the salmon into will affect how long you need to leave it in the brine, how long you need to leave it in smoke, and how much longer you need to leave it in the smoker to reach a desirable degree of dryness and flakiness. Occasionally I smoke a fillet in one piece, but usually I cut each fillet into pieces about two inches wide.  Fillets from a 20 pound salmon will be pretty thick, so you may want to cut the fillet into even narrower strips. And you could separate the thin meat next to the ribs from the thicker meat along the backbone before cutting those portions into pieces, as the thin portions will dry faster than the thick portions, and can come out of the smoker sooner.

2. The critical question is how long you should leave the pieces of fish in the brine.  That depends on the salinity (measured in degrees Salometer) of the brine, the thickness of the fillets and the size of the pieces you cut the fillets into, and the kind of fish which you are smoking.  Start by using the length of time specified in the recipe.  If the brine isn't very salty, you may need to leave the fish in the brine for 24 hours or more.  If the brine is saltier, you may only need to leave the fish in the brine for 2-4 hours.  Unfortunately, for each brine recipe and each thickness of fillet you may need to go through a trial and error process to find out how long you need to leave the pieces of fish in the brine, and you may end up with some batches which are way too salty, and other batches which are disappointingly bland.  But once you learn how long to leave a particular size and thickness of fish pieces in a particular brine, you'll be able to reliably produce good results.  Keep careful notes on the thickness and size of your pieces of fish and the length of time that you left them in the brine, so you can learn from each batch.  I standardize all of my brine recipes at 60 degrees Salometer, and for recipes with that salinity I know just how long to brine thin fillets from 10"-12" kokanee,  18"-20" lake whitefish, 20"-26" lake trout, or whatever.

3.  You can give fish a nice smoky flavor with only two or three hours of smoke.  It'll take a lot more than three hours in a smoker to get thick pieces of fillet from a 20 pound salmon to a desirable level of dryness and flakiness, particularly if you leave the smoker at 140 degrees the entire time.

4.  When smoking salmon and similar somewhat oily fish, if you start smoking at a fairly high temperature such as 170 degrees, curds of albumin will form on the surface of the fillets, which I don't find attractive.  You can avoid the creation of curds by starting at a lower temperature and then stepping up the temperature during the smoking process.  I use the following temperature schedule: 130 degrees for 1 hour, 150 degrees for 1 hour, then 170 degrees until the fillets reach a level of dryness and flakiness which I consider desirable. If the fillets are thick, I may step the temperature up to 180 degrees.

5.  I don't like smoked fish which is damp and mushy, and I don't like smoked fish which is dry and cracky.  Deciding when the fish is dry enough is tricky, particularly with thick fillets, because it'll be softer in the hot smoker than it will be an hour after you take it out of the smoker. You'll have to learn from experience.

6.  Below are some pictures from smoking a batch of 20"-24"lake trout. (a) Cutting the fillets into pieces. (b) Brining the pieces in ziplock bags. I massage and filp the bags periodically to ensure that the fish gets brined evenly.  (c) drying the surface of the pieces on racks in front of a fan for an hour to form a "pelicle," as damp fillets don't take up smoke well. (d) Smoking the fish.  I have a six rack Masterbuilt smoker.  (e) Cooling and drying the fish on plates in my refrigerator for 6-8 hours. Then I use tweezers to pull out the pin bones, which will be sticking up from the surface of the smoked fillets. One reason I pull the pin bones is so I don't end up eating them.  Another reason is because they can poke holes in vacuum bags.  If you don't want to pull the bones, you should at least run the back of a spoon over them to push them down or bend them over, so they won't create leaks in your vacuum bags.  (f) vacuum packed and frozen smoked fish.
« Last Edit: October 01, 2021, 02:11:29 PM by pmmpete »


Crabman

  • Herring
  • **
  • Location: Veneta
  • Date Registered: Oct 2015
  • Posts: 30
Thanks Dungydog and pmmpete.  That took a lot of effort and I appreciate it.


 

anything