Decided to settle the salmon battle on my own. Not sure I did...

[surf citysmoker]

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• surf citysmoker
• Sep 23, 2012

Bigfish, I feel ya man!, my wife has been out of town for a week as of tomorrow and won't be home until the 13th of next month. I am Mr. mom to 4 kids 16m, 14f, 8f, 5m. I give my wife props her job is hard, but when I do her job I still find time to smoke meals!. I used my tried and proven method tonight.

3 lbs salmon

cut in strips 1" wide 4" long 1" thick max

Brine is

2 qts water

1 cup kosher salt

1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar

brined for 2 hours

washed and patted dry.

dry rub (lightly dusted is a better term here)

3 TBSP garlic powder

1 TBSP white pepper

1 TBSP black pepper

smoked with alder wood mixed with cherry wood 5/1 ratio approx smoker temp 175 until internal temp 150 for 30 minutes

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• surf citysmoker
• Sep 23, 2012

There is not one bite left in this house already!!! The kids ate it up before it even cooled down. So the smoked chicken that was for dinner tonight is tomorrows lunch because they made a meal out of the snack salmon I made.

Cheers

 

[chef jimmyj]

Took on a lot of color, looks good...JJ

 

[wes w]

Lots of good info here.   I know this is an old thread.   I'm going to smoke my first salmon Sat.    I'm just thinking out loud here.   I'm going to try the 90 min. brine one.   My question is.  If you smoke at 140 to get your salmon to 140 wouldn't you need to bump the smoker temp up to get the final few degrees.    Some are saying you need to hold the IT at 145 for 30 min. to kill germs?   Wouldn't that totally dry it out?   Maybe I'm confusing myself.  

Chef Jim  aka Your Royal Highness 

    Tell me straight up how to finish my salmon.  

 

[daveomak]

Lots of good info here.   I know this is an old thread.   I'm going to smoke my first salmon Sat.    I'm just thinking out loud here.   I'm going to try the 90 min. brine one.   My question is.  If you smoke at 140 to get your salmon to 140 wouldn't you need to bump the smoker temp up to get the final few degrees.    Some are saying you need to hold the IT at 145 for 30 min. to kill germs?   Wouldn't that totally dry it out?   Maybe I'm confusing myself.  

Chef Jim  aka Your Royal Highness 

    Tell me straight up how to finish my salmon.  

Wes, morning....  with a properly cured pellicle, the fish is totally sealed in a protein glaze... It won't dry out.... Dave 

 

[mr t 59874]

Wes, morning....  with a properly cured pellicle, the fish is totally sealed in a protein glaze... It won't dry out.... Dave 

Correct, so many don't understand this.

Wes,

As your salmon reaches 140°, turn the heat down and let carryover take the temp on up, it should then be in the safe zone for the appropriate amount of time before cooling down.

Mr. T

 

[appwsmsmkr1]

Question(newbie here) did you smoke the salmon on the racks that are in the picture? Or did you use a plank? How did you keep them from sticking or falling apart when you took them off?

Sorry for the stupid questions, the salmon looks delish and I'm putting it on my list.

 

[wes w]

Correct, so many don't understand this.

Wes,

As your salmon reaches 140°, turn the heat down and let carryover take the temp on up, it should then be in the safe zone for the appropriate amount of time before cooling down.

Mr. T

Like I said, this is my first time with salmon.  I've grilled it on cedar planks and it totally awesome.  

I just want to make sure I understand what I'm doing before I start.   Thanks for the help and not  making fun of my slow understanding.   My wife ask me to do salmon.  She loves it and I don't want to screw it up!  

Wes

 

[mr t 59874]

   Thanks for the help and not  making fun of my slow understanding.   

Wes

Wes, appwsmsmkr1

No making fun here.  We all had our first time.  You will do just fine.

Any further questions, please ask.  There is a lot of good info out there, throwing the following in that should help with questions.  Many like this, in this and other forums.

smkr1, 

It looks like he smoked on the rack, skin side up.  You can oil the racks to help prevent sticking.  I smoke skin side down, just something I have always done.  As you won't be smoking to a high temp sticking is not a problem.  The skin also helps the salmon from falling apart if over cooked. None the less, use a spatula.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/newestpost/122931

Mr T

 

[wes w]

Thanks Mr. T    

I was just planning on throwing it on my grate.  I don't have a fancy rack I can take out.  Its got plenty of grease on it to keep it from sticking.    I'm really looking forward to doing this.  I just want to make sure I get all the details down. 

Looks like I may have to shovel out me a path to the smoker and the wood pile.  :-)  Snowing hard here

Thanks

Wes

 

[appwsmsmkr1]

Thanks everyone!

 

[crvtt]

Thanks for doing this bigfish!   I narrowed down my two options to the exact two that you tried then I stumbled across your post.  Looks like I'll be doing the 90 min brine to save myself some time and hassle, thank you!

 

[twocubdad]

A newbie here, got my Smoke Hollow gasser back before the holiday and I've yet to smoke the same thing twice.  Ribs, brisket, shoulder, chicken, jerky, turkey and last weekend, salmon.  I'm very happy with the smoker and food has generally been very good.  For the few problems I've had (chicken was dry, shoulder was tough) I understand  my mistakes and I think I'm learning something.

I used the first brine recipe (salt and sugar for 90 minutes).  I smoked to fillets with a mix of alder and hickory.  On it's lowest setting, the smoker pegged 140d and held that very consistently.  I never opened the cabinet, but recharged the chip pan once.  It ran for a little over three hours, which seems like a long time, based on what others are reporting.  The internal on the thickest part of the fillet was 139 when I pulled it, but it was still a little rare, especially for my wife's liking.  I finished it off for about 10 minutes in the oven and it was fine.  Actually, it was probably fine before, but if mamma ain't happy.....

The fish was really good.  Fairly mild smoke such that the flavor of the fish still came through.  I was very happy with the saltiness.  I haven't tried the saltier brine, but this was dang good to my taste.  Initially, it had a bit of a bitter after taste.  But after a day in the frig (I've been having bagles or eggs and salmon for breakfast every morning

 ) that disappeared and it was excellent!  I've noticed everything I've smoked benefits from a day in the fridge.    I wasn't crazy with the texture of the fish -- more dense and crumbly than flaky.  When handling it raw, I noticed the flesh was pretty mushy -- my fingers would squish into the meat just trying to pick it up.   It was on sale ($6.99 at the local grocery) so I expect it was probably frozen.

You'll notice from the photo I have the same issue other folks do with a rat in my smoker nibblin' the end of the upper fillet.

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• twocubdad
• Feb 22, 2013

 

[dirtsailor2003]

    I wasn't crazy with the texture of the fish -- more dense and crumbly than flaky.  When handling it raw, I noticed the flesh was pretty mushy -- my fingers would squish into the meat just trying to pick it up.   It was on sale ($6.99 at the local grocery) so I expect it was probably frozen.

IMG_3748.JPG

• twocubdad
• Feb 22, 2013

What kind of salmon was it, Coho, Pink, Chum, etc??? Was it farmed or wild???

 

[twocubdad]

Ummm, Harris-Teeter?  Vacuum packed in blue plastic?

I honestly didn't pay attention.  Fairly dark pink/reddish flesh rather that a lighter orange.  I think wild-caught.

 

[linguica]

Type and quality of salmon makes the difference between $$$$ and Kitty Oueen.  Pictures below;

Salmon2.jpg

• linguica
• Feb 22, 2013

Salmon1.jpg

• linguica
• Feb 22, 2013

 

[crvtt]

Based on the raw and cookd texture you describe along with the low price, I suspect it was farm raised salmon. Try some wild salmon next time. Costco has wild salmon in the freezer section, 3 lbs for $27. I brined and cooked mine basically the same as you and my salmon was nice and flakey.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Type and quality of salmon makes the difference between $$$$ and Kitty Oueen.  Pictures below;

Salmon2.jpg

• linguica
• Feb 22, 2013

Salmon1.jpg

• linguica
• Feb 22, 2013

Based on the raw and cookd texture you describe along with the low price, I suspect it was farm raised salmon. Try some wild salmon next time. Costco has wild salmon in the freezer section, 3 lbs for $27. I brined and cooked mine basically the same as you and my salmon was nice and flakey.

This is where I was going with my first post. The type of Salmon, and whether it was wild or farmed makes a big difference in the end product. I grew up in the West Coast (Left Coast) fishing industry. I'm super spoiled on the freshest fish you can get. I don't order fish or buy fish, unless it's something we can't catch here. I also won't touch a farm raised fish. Unfortunately for most those are the only options. You don't have the opportunity to get the freshest real deal. I recommend looking for wild fish (no matter what type), and if smoking salmon Coho (silver), Sockeye (red salmon or blueback), and King (chinook).