1st Cold Smoke

Yes they do. I am often brought wild/farmed salmon and trout that people have caught to be cured and smoked that have been frozen. Freezing oily fish does not usually impact the texture or the flavour once thawed - providing it has been frozen in air-tight packaging. As it thaws it does lose about 2% of its water.

You may be interested in this thread. http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/171886/comparison-of-salmon-curing-methods

For me it's a handful of salt, handful of sugar and spices.. no exact weighing. 50/50. I have no idea HOW it works but it just does. As long as the fish is nice and fresh to start with it will work. You will find your own technique and it may be different from others. Experiment with curing times... smoking times... cure ingredients... just keep it as clean and fresh as possible because therefore it's generally safe to eat at any stage of the process. The riskiest part is probably the smoking stage where it's kept at a higher temperature than at the other times but the risk is low as at that stage it has been cures and made inhospitable to bacteria. But shhh... its very simple but we won't let the wider public know else Wade will HAVE to cut his prices... so for now feign to others how extremely complicated it is. How you have to balance the right level of alkalinity to ensure maximum saturation of the salmon... correctly modify the spices to ensure maximum flavour... carefully regulate the temperature of the smoking process to make sure there is just enough smoke and not too high a temperature... oh my it's such hard work. All those who say it's sprinkle stuff onto it, leave it overnight, wash it off and dry it off and leave it overnight then put it into a box with some sawdust in the bottom to smoke and leave it overnight to do so... If only it was that simple... ahem...

Looking good James 

Wow. What a set up. Looks awesome!

The hen house looks really good. I'd love to have chickens. We have a chicken coop but to be honest we have never gotten round to getting it used and then it's just another thing to clear up. Lol. Also I lack the diy skills! But I bet Barbecues at your place are great fun! Here's to hoping we have a long hot summer and warm nights! I missed last summer as I was in hospital so I think this year needs to be doubly important!

slimjimUK said:

Also, picked up a couple of these very cheap (£2.99) burger BBQ basket things. Going to cut the handles off, split them and use them for meat in the smoker.

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These are also quite good as racks http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=263991686. Do not trust them with something the size of a whole brisket or pulled pork but they are great for most things. They were £1 each a month or so ago but I see that they have gone back up to £1.50