Several folks have been resurrecting Big Chiefs, Little Chiefs, and the odd person around here must have a Totem Smoker like I do.....
This old smoker has done many hundreds of pounds of trout and salmon over the last 25 years.... Getting a method down "pat" on one smoker, makes it difficult to even want to switch smokers..... Once you get a great smoked fish, changing is out of the question....
My buddy has brought me some trout he had in the freezer.... This batch is about half of them... tomorrow I will do the other half.....
Trout filleted using an electric knife... that makes it easy.....
freezer burn trimmed and belly bones trimmed off.... I don't leave them on when doing small trout....
Takes up too much room in the smoker when I have this many fish to do.... seems a waste but, I have 2 days of
prepping and smoking fish... It would run into 4 days if I didn't trim them....
Since I have learned a few things on this forum, and botulism is fairly prevalent in smoked salmon, I have changed
my recipe to include cure #1... I may be a dummy, but I'm getting smarter....
My recipe has been, for as long as I can remember, 1 Cup pickling salt, 1 Cup white sugar, 2 Tbs. Garlic Plus seasoning (Costco Canada)...
Mix ahead of time so the spice/herb flavors mingle with the salt and sugar and become infused.....
That mix weighed 660 grams... Since I prefer 2% salt and 2% sugar on the fish, 0.04% X 454 grams/pound = 18 grams of rub per pound of fish...
Since I have 660 grams of mix, and 18 grams/pound will be used, this batch of mix will be good for 36 pounds of fish....
The FDA recommends 100 - 200 Ppm nitrite in Hot Smoked Fish:http://seafood.ucdavis.edu/haccp/compendium/chapt07.htm
I did the calculation based on 150 Ppm nitrite...
So the current mix will rub 36 #'s of fish..
at 150 Ppm... 36 # fish = 16,344 grams X 0.000150 Ppm = 2.4516 grams nitrite.... / 0.0625 % nitrite in cure #1 = 39.22 grams of cure #1 needed in the mix for a 150 Ppm mix per pound of fish...
Now, I did not figure in the salt in the cure #1, or allow for the weight of the cure #1 added.... Since the Ppm nitrite acceptable for fish is 100-200, this mix is "close enough" for me...
Anyway, I weighed the container and the fish.... I had 2860 grams of fish and the container weighed 360 grams....
The fish was 2500 grams / 454 = 5.5 #'s fish X 18 grams / # = 99 grams of rub needed for this batch of fish.....
Add the first layer of fish and weigh, place the container of rub on the scale and zero the container....
add rub and the scale will read - #'s of rub added.... add rub to each layer based on weight until the 100 grams has been added....
....CLICK on pics to ENLARGE....
First layer with rub sprinkled on it according to weight......
Successive layers laid down and rub added...
Last layer rub sprinkled on meat side and it was turned over skin side up....
A layer of plastic wrap covered the fish and arts and crafts needle point laid on the plastic wrap for equal pressure...
this will force some of the water out of the fish and the salt will help.... there is very little weight on the fish.... just something
to hold it down and firm it up during the curing / brining process.....
If you look close at the bottom of the container, you can see a little liquid that has been drawn from the fish after
15 minutes in the rub......
Using this method, the consistency between batches is really good.... adjustments can be made for personal taste....
The tub is in the refer until tomorrow... The fish can't get over salty or over sweet due to 2% salt and 2% sugar added by weight of fish....
I find this method works for everything from bacon to jerky... Very consistent results can be obtained.... I have tried the wet brine method
and just prefer this dry method.... same for bacon... Personal preference is what it's all about....
If you would like to try this method and need help deciphering it, and cranking out the numbers, I will help you....
This is my first go-round with putting it down on paper..... I hope I can simplify the wording so it makes sense....
Back tomorrow with the "Old Totem Smoker" belching "Thin Blue Smoke"....
I did pull it out of the barn yesterday and fired it up today to run the bugs out of it......
She's looking real good.......
Dave
This old smoker has done many hundreds of pounds of trout and salmon over the last 25 years.... Getting a method down "pat" on one smoker, makes it difficult to even want to switch smokers..... Once you get a great smoked fish, changing is out of the question....
My buddy has brought me some trout he had in the freezer.... This batch is about half of them... tomorrow I will do the other half.....
Trout filleted using an electric knife... that makes it easy.....
freezer burn trimmed and belly bones trimmed off.... I don't leave them on when doing small trout....
Takes up too much room in the smoker when I have this many fish to do.... seems a waste but, I have 2 days of
prepping and smoking fish... It would run into 4 days if I didn't trim them....
Since I have learned a few things on this forum, and botulism is fairly prevalent in smoked salmon, I have changed
my recipe to include cure #1... I may be a dummy, but I'm getting smarter....
My recipe has been, for as long as I can remember, 1 Cup pickling salt, 1 Cup white sugar, 2 Tbs. Garlic Plus seasoning (Costco Canada)...
Mix ahead of time so the spice/herb flavors mingle with the salt and sugar and become infused.....
That mix weighed 660 grams... Since I prefer 2% salt and 2% sugar on the fish, 0.04% X 454 grams/pound = 18 grams of rub per pound of fish...
Since I have 660 grams of mix, and 18 grams/pound will be used, this batch of mix will be good for 36 pounds of fish....
The FDA recommends 100 - 200 Ppm nitrite in Hot Smoked Fish:http://seafood.ucdavis.edu/haccp/compendium/chapt07.htm
I did the calculation based on 150 Ppm nitrite...
So the current mix will rub 36 #'s of fish..
at 150 Ppm... 36 # fish = 16,344 grams X 0.000150 Ppm = 2.4516 grams nitrite.... / 0.0625 % nitrite in cure #1 = 39.22 grams of cure #1 needed in the mix for a 150 Ppm mix per pound of fish...
Now, I did not figure in the salt in the cure #1, or allow for the weight of the cure #1 added.... Since the Ppm nitrite acceptable for fish is 100-200, this mix is "close enough" for me...
Anyway, I weighed the container and the fish.... I had 2860 grams of fish and the container weighed 360 grams....
The fish was 2500 grams / 454 = 5.5 #'s fish X 18 grams / # = 99 grams of rub needed for this batch of fish.....
Add the first layer of fish and weigh, place the container of rub on the scale and zero the container....
add rub and the scale will read - #'s of rub added.... add rub to each layer based on weight until the 100 grams has been added....
....CLICK on pics to ENLARGE....
First layer with rub sprinkled on it according to weight......
Successive layers laid down and rub added...
Last layer rub sprinkled on meat side and it was turned over skin side up....
A layer of plastic wrap covered the fish and arts and crafts needle point laid on the plastic wrap for equal pressure...
this will force some of the water out of the fish and the salt will help.... there is very little weight on the fish.... just something
to hold it down and firm it up during the curing / brining process.....
If you look close at the bottom of the container, you can see a little liquid that has been drawn from the fish after
15 minutes in the rub......
Using this method, the consistency between batches is really good.... adjustments can be made for personal taste....
The tub is in the refer until tomorrow... The fish can't get over salty or over sweet due to 2% salt and 2% sugar added by weight of fish....
I find this method works for everything from bacon to jerky... Very consistent results can be obtained.... I have tried the wet brine method
and just prefer this dry method.... same for bacon... Personal preference is what it's all about....
If you would like to try this method and need help deciphering it, and cranking out the numbers, I will help you....
This is my first go-round with putting it down on paper..... I hope I can simplify the wording so it makes sense....
Back tomorrow with the "Old Totem Smoker" belching "Thin Blue Smoke"....
I did pull it out of the barn yesterday and fired it up today to run the bugs out of it......
She's looking real good.......
Dave
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