Needed more Nuggies!

cmayna · Jul 14, 2014

Running out of Salmon nuggets, thought I would make another batch yesterday while doing yard work. Both Big chiefs stepped up once again to do their thing. Brined in a dry brine for 4 hours, dried for 2 hours, smoked for 3 hours using Alder and Apple pellets.

Being cubed, I lathered one of 6 sides with honey and then sprinkled with coarse pepper. This left 5 sides of each piece to absorb smoke.

243 pcs of pure yumminess!

Had to please the Mrs:

The remainder being held in the fridge overnight to be vacuumed up today:

foamheart · Jul 14, 2014

I have never had one, but I know they have to be good. The pictures always make then look so awesome.

I am betting the hardest thing to do while eating them is..... to stop. Like Popcorn?

Looks great!

woodcutter · Jul 14, 2014

Craig, your salmon always looks great! The color on those nuggets.....oh man.

cmayna · Jul 14, 2014

Thanks guys. Yes many times I call them Salmon Poppers. You should see Bobby the deck hand gobble down a bag of these. OMG!

atomicsmoke · Jul 14, 2014

Beautiful and I am sure tasty treats. What temps were you smoking them at?

Can you please share the dry brine ingredients?

Do you soak them after brining?

Would sockeye work for these? I've only done them with Atlantic Salmon.

dirtsailor2003 · Jul 14, 2014

Looks great Craig! I was fortunate to land two nice coho for myself this weekend! I may smoke some up but I haven't decided yet!

cmayna · Jul 14, 2014

Atomicsmoke,

If you've done them with Atlantic Salmon and liked it, then I wouldn't change recipes. All my Salmon is Pacific King which my wife normally catches. The dry brine recipe is very simple being 4/1 ratio of Dark brown sugar / Non Iodized salt. Added with it is a lot of ground up fresh garlic. I normally start out around 130, then 145-150, then 160+ depending on how big the nuggets are. I remove them when the IT of the larger nuggets reach 145*. Soaking after brining? Nope just rinse under cold water and room dry for 2+ hours. If you like the flavor of Sockeye when you do filet's then yes, you'll love Sockeye nuggets. I like Sockeye but it's not so readily available around here. Just good ole king.

Case,

Glad to hear you got a couple fishies. I think if I was to guess how much fish I smoke which we've brought home, probably 65-70%. If you haven't processed the fish yet, don't forget to scrape the bones to make some Salmon patties. Oh and trim off the belly pieces for they fry up just wonderfully.

atomicsmoke · Jul 14, 2014

Cmayna,
Thank you for the detailed reply.

reinhard · Jul 14, 2014

Wonderful job on those nuggets!!!! Excelent all the way around. Reinhard

dirtsailor2003 · Jul 14, 2014

Case,
Glad to hear you got a couple fishies. I think if I was to guess how much fish I smoke which we've brought home, probably 65-70%. If you haven't processed the fish yet, don't forget to scrape the bones to make some Salmon patties. Oh and trim off the belly pieces for they fry up just wonderfully.
[/quote]

Unfortunately do to time constraints I didn't get to fillet my own fish. Oh well, next time.

I cut up the fillets into the size I like for grilling or smoking and vac packed it up for now. One fillet is going to my mom and the other to the inlaws. I'm also sending each a ling cod fillet ( caught 4 nice ling! ) we also caught seven bass that I am going to smoke. I'm thinking with the hot weather in the mini-WSM with the tube smoker I should be right at 170-180! Perfect! Make some sea bass jerky!

cmayna · Jul 14, 2014

Sounds like a game plan.

leah elisheva · Jul 15, 2014

What a sight and photo of them all! That's just so beautiful! Great job! Cheers! - Leah

ironhorse07 · Jul 15, 2014

I have made these a couple of times now with the added Yoshida's and they do not last long. Always a huge hit, they are delicious. Thanks for posting this recipe.

sb59 · Jul 15, 2014

Man, you eat a lot of salmon! Do you find you have the urge to swim upstream in the shower? As always your smokes look great. Still haven't gotten around to trying your recipe with some large trout I've got in the freezer.

atomicsmoke · Jul 15, 2014

Other than having and "extra side" to take smoke what is the difference between these nuggets and filets you've done recently ?

cmayna · Jul 15, 2014

Just the size.

atomicsmoke · Jul 15, 2014

I was hoping you would say that. :-)

Great stuff. Will do one batch soon.

cmayna · Jul 15, 2014

Last night I vacuumed up what I didn't eat and ended up with 13 vacuumed bags containing 5oz each of nuggets. Perfect size for gifts and handing out on your next party boat fishing excursion.

dirtsailor2003 · Jul 15, 2014

Craig how many salmon has your wife caught this year?

cmayna · Jul 15, 2014

Not very many. It's been a dismal year so far down here. They're all up by Eureka and north where the water temp is cooler. Our drought down here is not helping the issue. There is no water in the rivers to allow the Salmon to swim up to spawn.

Needed more Nuggies!

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