My first test run

[pitrow]

Well I did a test run this weekend with my new MES and a fillet of salmon.

I have to say it turned out pretty good. Sorry no pics though. I let the fish sit out to form the pellicle longer than I usually do and it had a little bit of a tougher "skin", but other than that it tasted great.

It didn't have any problems getting the wood to smoke at 160 degrees, though it was about 38 degrees outside. I put both the fish and the wood in when the smoker was at 100 degrees so the element had plenty of time to start the wood going. After that it stayed smoking pretty good at all times.

I'm planning on doing a big run of more salmon this weekend, so I'll get some pics for y'all to drool over.

 

[ds7662]

Sounds good. Waiting to see those pics.

 

[homebrew & bbq]

Glad your test run went well.

Let us know how the "main event" goes.

 

[mossymo]

Congrats on the first salmon !!!

I very much appreciate the update-

To date I have never attempted smoking fish and since I have plenty in the freezer I have no excuse.....

When you resmoke, please give your recipe and how you smoked it.

 

[pitbullcrazy30]

that sounds great, i just bought a MES smoker too, and am smoking goose today. lol i think alot of us bought the MES last week when it was on sale at scheels, i lone mine.

 

[pitrow]

Over the years I've gone through many different recipes and techniques, but in the end I've found that simpler seems to be better. I pretty much follow the recipe found on the salmon university...

http://www.salmonuniversity.com/rs_htss01_index.html
(I hope it's ok to link to another site on here?)

To me it turns out the best fish I've ever done, and is very simple and easy to remember.

 

[rbranstner]

I would have to agree with PitRow the easier the recipe the better they taste. I basically just use sugar, brown sugar, peppercorns and salt. It turns out great every time. I need to pick some up and smoke it for the holidays I think.

 

[pitrow]

Yep. The recipe I use (from the salmon u) is 4 cups dark brown sugar to 1 cup pickling salt, plus some crushed garlic thrown in (depends on how much I feel like peeling, but usually a whole clove or two).

This last weekend I tried the smoked salmon with a little wasabi dip, and man that was good. I may try some with some wasabi powder added to the brine and see what that turns out like, but for the most part I just stick to the sugar/salt/garlic combo.

 

[elkhorn98]

I also did the salmon u recipe on my MES a while ago. I cooked it for 2 hours at 100 F then brought the temp up to 165 F and also got plenty of smoke.