I am still being asked to do cooking shows called "You Can Make It" for the local community TV Channel. At a prior filming, the producer asked if I could make Indian Candy. Despite the high cost of quality salmon, one must meet one's fan base. I was lucky that there was some wild sockeye on sale for just less than its weight in gold. I had to make 3 batches as they film in a couple of hours and I needed some of each of the salmon done to each stage. This post is a step by step of just one of the batches.
I didn't want to call it Indian Candy though as I have several First Nations friends who find the term Indian slightly offensive as it dates back to colonial Europeans getting lost looking for India and calling them Indians when they landed here by mistake. So, I called it Candied Salmon.
In my opinion, nothing does salmon like the Little or Big Chief electric smokers. They let you do a long smoke at a low temperature. My pellet smoker only goes down to 180 F and I would normally smoke salmon lower than that in my WSM mini. However, I didn't want to be futzing with charcoal and temperature control while filming so I went with a combination of cold and hot smoking.
I started by pulling the small pin bones out of a 550 g (1 pound) fillet.
Then I cut it into chunks.
I mixed up a marinade/brine of:
I let it cool and poured it over the salmon. I covered the salmon and put it in the fridge overnight, stirring it around several times.
I rinsed the salmon under cold water and patted it dry with a paper towel.
I lit up my A-Maze-N Tube Smoker with Alder pellets and put it in my Weber Genesis Grill. I find it has a great blend of air flow and smoke circulation for cold smoking. I put some water frozen in a juice container in the smoker as well. I find cold salmon seems to take the smoke better.
I let it cold smoke for 6 hours and then put it in a covered dish in the fridge overnight to let the smoke smooth out.
I fired my Louisiana Grills smoker up to 180 F with oak pellets. I brushed the salmon with Maple Syrup. For other batches I also used a mixture of 2 parts honey to 1 part water. Both are good.
I smoked the salmon for about 4 hours to get the internal temperature to 140 F, brushing with maple syrup or diluted honey every 30 minutes.
Here is the finished product.
The Verdict
This is the first time I combined a cold and hot smoke and I really like it! There is a great smooth smoke flavour to go with the salty/sweet brined salmon. Yep, this is my new go to for Candied Salmon.
Disco
I didn't want to call it Indian Candy though as I have several First Nations friends who find the term Indian slightly offensive as it dates back to colonial Europeans getting lost looking for India and calling them Indians when they landed here by mistake. So, I called it Candied Salmon.
In my opinion, nothing does salmon like the Little or Big Chief electric smokers. They let you do a long smoke at a low temperature. My pellet smoker only goes down to 180 F and I would normally smoke salmon lower than that in my WSM mini. However, I didn't want to be futzing with charcoal and temperature control while filming so I went with a combination of cold and hot smoking.
I started by pulling the small pin bones out of a 550 g (1 pound) fillet.
Then I cut it into chunks.
I mixed up a marinade/brine of:
- 175 ml (3/4 cups) water
- 125 ml (1/2 cup) brown sugar firmly packed
- 40 ml (3 tbsp) salt
- 3 ml (1/2 teaspoon) fresh ginger minced
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 5 whole allspice pods crushed
I let it cool and poured it over the salmon. I covered the salmon and put it in the fridge overnight, stirring it around several times.
I rinsed the salmon under cold water and patted it dry with a paper towel.
I lit up my A-Maze-N Tube Smoker with Alder pellets and put it in my Weber Genesis Grill. I find it has a great blend of air flow and smoke circulation for cold smoking. I put some water frozen in a juice container in the smoker as well. I find cold salmon seems to take the smoke better.
I let it cold smoke for 6 hours and then put it in a covered dish in the fridge overnight to let the smoke smooth out.
I fired my Louisiana Grills smoker up to 180 F with oak pellets. I brushed the salmon with Maple Syrup. For other batches I also used a mixture of 2 parts honey to 1 part water. Both are good.
I smoked the salmon for about 4 hours to get the internal temperature to 140 F, brushing with maple syrup or diluted honey every 30 minutes.
Here is the finished product.
The Verdict
This is the first time I combined a cold and hot smoke and I really like it! There is a great smooth smoke flavour to go with the salty/sweet brined salmon. Yep, this is my new go to for Candied Salmon.
Disco
