My first Salmon smoke

ungy · Sep 1, 2013

This was my first time smoking salmon so we just went to the store and picked up single fillet of wild caught pacific salmon to see if we would like it. I was also smoking ribs jerky and chicken.

First Salmon smoke recipe

2 cup Brown sugar

1 cup Salt (kosher)

1 TBSP Granulated garlic

1 TBSP coarse ground black pepper

Put a Thick Coat the salmon with mixture and lay in refrigerator over night

Rinse off sugar mixture in the morning and patted dry with paper towel.

I used a couple of different herbs on the 3 chunks of fillet I had

1 had dill weed and kosher salt 75% dill 25% salt sprinkled on the non-scaled side

                *this one was AWESOME with some lemon juice once smoked

2 had my kicking chicken rub on it to give it some sweet heat

                *Was very good

3 had only Herb De providence dashed on top

                *My favorite very very good!

Smoking … I wanted to have a smoked lunch so I added the Fish with all the other items I was smoking at the same time got the smoker up to 200` waited I had my new probe / Igrill going in the fish waited until it got to 140` (a few hours 2 I think wasn’t that focused on the time) and decided to wait a bit longer. I also bumped up the temp to 225-235. I pulled the fish when it had an internal temp of 165`

The Salmon was AWESOME! Moist tender very flavorful. We are going to make this again

photos of before in the smoker and after

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ungy
Sep 1, 2013

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ungy
Sep 1, 2013

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ungy
Sep 1, 2013

tucson bbq fan · Sep 1, 2013

Looks good! I love freshly smoked salmon.

disco · Sep 3, 2013

Looks so good I almost licked the screen. Good job.

Disco

ungy · Sep 4, 2013

LOL! It was wonderful!

roller · Sep 4, 2013

Nice job !

ethm1 · Sep 4, 2013

Very, very nice! Salmon is the reason I started smoking.

Great job!

stewie-q · Sep 4, 2013

What kind of wood did you use?

I am definitely going to have to try this for a Sunday breakfast. Maybe Smoked Salmon Benedict...

knucklehead · Sep 4, 2013

I love your rub ingredients ( marinade). Looks awesome.

smoker21 · Sep 4, 2013

Looks great! I just bought a "wild caught" filet yesterday and it will be dinner tonight

Bearcarver · Sep 4, 2013

Looks Real Good from here!!!

Nice Job!!

Bear

id2nv2nj2ca · Sep 4, 2013

Because of the price of fresh salmon, I have been hesitant to try smoking it, but yours looks great. A few questions, though. It looks like it was on a shelf above some of the other things you said you were smoking at the same time. Does the salmon not drip? If it does, did it add salmon flavor to the meats below it? And even if it doesn't drip, does the smell of the salmon affect the flavor of the other items?

bimmer · Sep 4, 2013

Salmon is one of my favorite things to smoke! SO simple too! After rinsing WELL, I let it dry a bit and get what's called pellicle and it's the term for letting the meat get dry just to the point of being tacky. It's also when the flesh becomes like the surface of a basketball. On a side note, I find that if I lay the pieces upright, they get dry. If I lay them flat on their skin, that skin holds the melted fat and oil against the meat and keeps it so much more moist and tender. When you pick your fillets, get them as thick as you can. The thin ones turn to jerky too quickly.

smokinchar · Sep 4, 2013

I dry my brined or marinated salmon on racks with a fan for 30 minutes prior to smoking. (if you don't have a fan, 1 hr works without one ) I wait until it gets a tiny bit tacky to the touch and then put on the herbs and throw it in the smoker @ 200 degrees. It seems to eliminate those white spots. I also think 145 internal temp is best for me. 165 would be a little dryer than I like it.

tucson bbq fan · Sep 4, 2013

id2nv2nj2ca said:
Because of the price of fresh salmon, I have been hesitant to try smoking it, but yours looks great.

I just tried a steelhead trout this week. Steelhead feeds on krill, just like Salmon, has the same pink color and is usually cheaper than even farm raised salmon. So I decided to experiment. Brined it, set in fridge with fan overnight to form pellicle, then smoked it with apple wood and hickory to an IT of 140. It came out very juicy, flavorful and everyone who has tried it has said they love the "smoked salmon" - then I tell them it is Steelhead. Side by side compared to salmon done the same way - the flavor is not as strong as Salmon, but close. Costco often has big steelhead fillets around us.

Color: pink color like farm raised salmon - not as deep a red as a wild sockeye

Fat content: seems very similar to Salmon

Texture: firm flakes just like Salmon

Taste: not quite a strong a flavor as Salmon

humdinger4u · Sep 4, 2013

Tucson BBQ Fan said:
I just tried a steelhead trout this week. Steelhead feeds on krill, just like Salmon, has the same pink color and is usually cheaper than even farm raised salmon. So I decided to experiment. Brined it, set in fridge with fan overnight to form pellicle, then smoked it with apple wood and hickory to an IT of 140. It came out very juicy, flavorful and everyone who has tried it has said they love the "smoked salmon" - then I tell them it is Steelhead. Side by side compared to salmon done the same way - the flavor is not as strong as Salmon, but close. Costco often has big steelhead fillets around us.

Color: pink color like farm raised salmon - not as deep a red as a wild sockeye

Fat content: seems very similar to Salmon

Texture: firm flakes just like Salmon

Taste: not quite a strong a flavor as Salmon

I agree with you Tucson, Steelhead is great stuff. My wife and I eat it all the time and get it at Costco too.

Michael

cmayna · Sep 4, 2013

Ungy,

Very nice for your first smoke. You might consider pulling the fish when the IT reaches 135 -140, otherwise you will start too see the white fat appear as can be seen in your bottom pic. An IT of 165 makes it pretty dry but maybe you like it that way. It's all a personal preference.

To others regarding Steelhead, in the many years I've been catching and eating both Steelhead and Salmon, I have always found Steelhead more oily. But again some might like their smoked fish that way. To each his own.

bluto · Sep 10, 2013

Looks great! On the ToDo list for sure!

ungy · Sep 10, 2013

id2nv2nj2ca said:
Because of the price of fresh salmon, I have been hesitant to try smoking it, but yours looks great. A few questions, though. It looks like it was on a shelf above some of the other things you said you were smoking at the same time. Does the salmon not drip? If it does, did it add salmon flavor to the meats below it? And even if it doesn't drip, does the smell of the salmon affect the flavor of the other items?

I had no issues with dripping or smell or flavor of the other items i was smoking

ungy · Sep 10, 2013

cmayna said:
Ungy,

Very nice for your first smoke. You might consider pulling the fish when the IT reaches 135 -140, otherwise you will start too see the white fat appear as can be seen in your bottom pic. An IT of 165 makes it pretty dry but maybe you like it that way. It's all a personal preference.

Thanks i will give that a shot next time. it was a big hit with my Family soI am sure its going to be on the smoker meat rotation

cmayna · Sep 10, 2013

Keep in mind that even if you do a smoke Salmon dish that you dont like at the end, you can always find someone who thinks it's awesome.

I did some Indian candy some ago which I thought was boring and blah tasting. The guys on the chartered Salmon boat who I went out with, went bonkers over it. Go figure.

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My first Salmon smoke

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