Salmon questions

No matter what, why not smoke it?

I don't know much about Salmon Species...I have never had one I liked other than Cured and Smoked Salmon so I never bothered learning all that much other than proper cooking technique. I am told mine is great but don't eat it. Anyhow I looked it up in an Alaskan fishing forum and for every guy that posts, " Feed it to the Dogs " there is another that says it is terrific. It appears it is best fresh not frozen and takes well to smoke. So if I liked Salmon more, I would smoke it and see for myself...JJ

Like cmayna said, "Smoke it".

No matter what kind of Salmon it is, don't give it to Marmaduke!!!

If you want a Fish brine, and the rest of the Step by Step, click on "Smoked Salmon" in my Signature below.

It will also tell you about freezing it to eliminate parasites.

As for grilling Salmon, IMHO Salmon is only good smoked, just like Big Trout, but small Trout (under 20") are good made just about any way.

Bear

Don't throw it out! Chum is definitely not the most desirable cut of salmon but it is still really good brined. Also, it takes a glaze well. If you find it a little bland, soak some peppercorns in water and then press them into the meat overnight in the fridge. Grill over indirect heat until done. Knock most of the peppercorns off. The pepper gives a nice flavour to the salmon without being too spicy.

I also would thing Bear's smoked salmon recipe would work fine.

Disco

TMS, evening.....    Well, That is Chum, Kita or Dog.....  what ever camp you are in I guess....    It has a mild flavor.....   It is a "short return" salmon.....  meaning it doesn't travel hundreds or thousands of miles upstream to spawn..... Therefore is does not build up a fat reserve for spawning purposes......    It is very good smoked, pickled or canned....   They have few teeth until time to spawn....  their diet is similar to Sockeye as sockeye have few teeth also while adults and migrating....  This is to insure the species survival and no one food source is depleted....  Same with deer and elk... browsers and grazers....  mother nature has a way to deal with multiple species co-existing....  

Most folks couldn't tell the difference in a blind taste test...   They put all kinds of sauces, herbs, spices and lemon of fish so they can't taste it anyway....  they FOO-FOO the chum in "politically correct" circles to impress folks....  Not me.... I respect all forms of wild salmon.... they are all good....  Like Angus, Whiteface, Semintol, Longhorn, Shorthorn.....  They are all good....   The American Angus Association would have you believe, Angus is the only good beef to eat.....  go figure....  

 

...............Chum Salmon Diet......


Here is the Chum salmon I canned yesterday....  1 sockeye was in there.....



Dave

You just got hit up by some very experienced smf members. Take all their info in glide.

My only disagreement is salmon is amazing meat, when fresh, and that usually means in the big water, not so much the river. Whatever the species is that you purchased, brine it and smoke it and you'll be happy you did.

There's tons of recipes here that you could do; smoked steaks, jerky or salmon bites. I've personally been doing smoked trout bites the past two years and they're fantastic. Not quite jerky, but smoked enough and semi chewy enough that it's basically fish candy. Keep us posted.

+1 on the fish candy.

I just did up a bunch over the weekend and hid a lot of it in the freezer so it wouldn't disappear too quick (I want some too!).

A good brine and a smoker make for a great equalizer when it comes to salmon. For grilling, I prefer the ones we get out of Lake Ontario during the summer. Once they hit the rivers, the meat quality isn't as good, so anything I catch int the river always gets smoked. The ones I got last week were from the lake, but I really missed my fish candy and did up a little over half of what I brought home. The rest, being fresh lake fish, are frozen waiting for the grill. Chum, pink, coho, king, atlantic - all turn out nice when smoked.