Final Smoked Salmon with recipe, instructions, and Qview

[Bearcarver]

Very nice bear.... you have a great recipe and method going there.

Thanks Bob!

hey  bear... great post!

I have been smoking salmon for many years and never even heard of parisites that I should be worried about.  my brineing procedure is much different ( I actually only brine for about 8 minutes) but it was handed down from an native family that I knew.  if you would like I can share the brine and smoking procedure.  might be interesting for future experimentation. 

about the parisites...   what are they and are they geographical or just everywhere?   I konw for example that our salmon has much lower mercury content than any where else in the world.  so much so that pregnant women are instructed to stay away from salmon except fresh caught alaska salmon...   just wondering if the parisites you were talking about are present here? 

I have cold smoked and hot smoked salmon.  the cold smoked was taken fresh out of the water and brined and smoked for about 2 weeks never above 75-80 so this would seem to be a dangerous process if the parisites are present. 

thanks for your input

dalton

Dalton,

I'll get back to you on that.

Thanks,

Bear

 

[Bearcarver]

hey  bear... great post!

I have been smoking salmon for many years and never even heard of parisites that I should be worried about.  my brineing procedure is much different ( I actually only brine for about 8 minutes) but it was handed down from an native family that I knew.  if you would like I can share the brine and smoking procedure.  might be interesting for future experimentation. 

about the parisites...   what are they and are they geographical or just everywhere?   I konw for example that our salmon has much lower mercury content than any where else in the world.  so much so that pregnant women are instructed to stay away from salmon except fresh caught alaska salmon...   just wondering if the parisites you were talking about are present here? 

I have cold smoked and hot smoked salmon.  the cold smoked was taken fresh out of the water and brined and smoked for about 2 weeks never above 75-80 so this would seem to be a dangerous process if the parisites are present. 

thanks for your input

dalton

Sorry Dalton, I was busy when I read your comment,

I would love to fish in Alaska, but never had the pleasure, but here is what I found on a quick search, from "The Trout Underground":
[h1]Alaskan Salmon Falling Prey to Parasite: State Fisheries Official Couldn’t Care Less[/h1]
by TOM CHANDLER  on JUNE 17, 2008  ·

http://troutunderground.com/2008/06...e-state-fisheries-official-couldnt-care-less/

There's probably more, but I just saved this one.

Just do a search for "Parasites in Alaskan Salmon".

Bear

 

[dalton]

well I looked up parisites in alaska salmon and couldn't find much that was credible.  I found some listing that talked about two types of parisites

the first was Henneguy  and here is an excerp from the wikipedia article

The report also states "It should be stressed that Henneguya, economically deleterious though it is, is harmless from the view of public health. It is strictly a fish parasite that cannot live in or affect warm blooded animals, including man". 

the other one I found was Myxobolus  which is a brain parisite only.  since I don't eat the brain i didn't look at that one any further. 

I also called my freind who is a fish biologist at the alaska dept of fish and game and asked about the article that you referenced above.  aparently that was in 07 and 08 and aparently was all about a personal pissing contest between the reporter and the fish and game guy in the yukon.  he was not the director for the whole state and has since retired a while ago.  the parisite they are talking about in that article was "ick" (short name) and is extreamly obvious on the outside of the fish.  this is a very common problem in tropical fish tanks.  can certianly kill the fish but there have been very few cases of this and even those are almost exclusive to hatcheries.  even if you managed to catch a fish in the wild with this problem you wouldn't dream of eating it because it is so visually unappealing!!  So all in all I guess I am safe for now but I am still curious what parisites you find in the salmon in your neck of the woods. 

for comparision experimantion sake here is my basic recipie...   and yest the brine time is in minutes not hours.  and you use the same brine mixture twice. 

I fillet the salmon and cut the fillets into 2 or 3 peices depending on the size of the fish.  then I cut the chunks into strips about 1" wide.  this allows me to arrange the strips on racks putting the same average thickness together on the same racks.  then I brine the strips

Brine..

2 gallons water

3 cups morton canning and pickling salt

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup gran garlic

I usually make the first gallon as hot as I can get it out of the tap and disolve the salt and garlic in that then add the second gallon of Cold water and the soy sauce.  then the strips go in. 

Brine first batch for 8 minutes second batch for 12 minutes

place on smoker and allow to dry for dry for  45-60 min ( i have  fan I place infront of the racks) 

the last few years I have only had a big chief to use so I put them in and Smoke until done..  about 6-8 hours depending on thickness, outdoor humidity, and outdoor temp. I add my alder chips every 2-3 hours or so.  I pull it when it feels done which is a very subjective thing for me.  but its firm but not hard and starts to break apart when bent. 

please keep in mind that I learned to smoke fish from an alaska natvie family that has been doing it for generations the same basic way.  I have made only a few modifications to suit my personal preference.  upuntil I joined this website I had never even considered checking internal temp or mesureing my smoker temp or any of the the other "scientific" practices I have learned here.  this fall when I smoke my salmon I will be doing those things just for the purpose of knowledge if nothing else. 

 

[Bearcarver]

well I looked up parisites in alaska salmon and couldn't find much that was credible.  I found some listing that talked about two types of parisites

the first was Henneguy  and here is an excerp from the wikipedia article

The report also states "It should be stressed that Henneguya, economically deleterious though it is, is harmless from the view of public health. It is strictly a fish parasite that cannot live in or affect warm blooded animals, including man". 

the other one I found was Myxobolus  which is a brain parisite only.  since I don't eat the brain i didn't look at that one any further. 

I also called my freind who is a fish biologist at the alaska dept of fish and game and asked about the article that you referenced above.  aparently that was in 07 and 08 and aparently was all about a personal pissing contest between the reporter and the fish and game guy in the yukon.  he was not the director for the whole state and has since retired a while ago.  the parisite they are talking about in that article was "ick" (short name) and is extreamly obvious on the outside of the fish.  this is a very common problem in tropical fish tanks.  can certianly kill the fish but there have been very few cases of this and even those are almost exclusive to hatcheries.  even if you managed to catch a fish in the wild with this problem you wouldn't dream of eating it because it is so visually unappealing!!  So all in all I guess I am safe for now but I am still curious what parisites you find in the salmon in your neck of the woods. 

for comparision experimantion sake here is my basic recipie...   and yest the brine time is in minutes not hours.  and you use the same brine mixture twice. 

I fillet the salmon and cut the fillets into 2 or 3 peices depending on the size of the fish.  then I cut the chunks into strips about 1" wide.  this allows me to arrange the strips on racks putting the same average thickness together on the same racks.  then I brine the strips

Brine..

2 gallons water

3 cups morton canning and pickling salt

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup gran garlic

I usually make the first gallon as hot as I can get it out of the tap and disolve the salt and garlic in that then add the second gallon of Cold water and the soy sauce.  then the strips go in. 

Brine first batch for 8 minutes second batch for 12 minutes

place on smoker and allow to dry for dry for  45-60 min ( i have  fan I place infront of the racks) 

the last few years I have only had a big chief to use so I put them in and Smoke until done..  about 6-8 hours depending on thickness, outdoor humidity, and outdoor temp. I add my alder chips every 2-3 hours or so.  I pull it when it feels done which is a very subjective thing for me.  but its firm but not hard and starts to break apart when bent. 

please keep in mind that I learned to smoke fish from an alaska natvie family that has been doing it for generations the same basic way.  I have made only a few modifications to suit my personal preference.  upuntil I joined this website I had never even considered checking internal temp or mesureing my smoker temp or any of the the other "scientific" practices I have learned here.  this fall when I smoke my salmon I will be doing those things just for the purpose of knowledge if nothing else. 

Sounds good Dalton,

When you get some more, you should take some pictures & do a post for us all, with your recipe & method included.

Meanwhile, I'll stick to my method, because my Salmon don't come from the Alaskan waters (I wish they did!).

Thanks,

Bear

 

[dalton]

yes bear i was planning on doing a post titled "smoked salmon alaska style" when i got some fish this summer/fall.  I have enjoyed your posts so much with the step by step instructions and so easy to understand and follow. (your my hero!!)  I was planning on contributing some of my own using yours as an example to follow. 

thanks and keep up the good...  no scratch that!  GREAT!! work.

dalton

 

[Bearcarver]

yes bear i was planning on doing a post titled "smoked salmon alaska style" when i got some fish this summer/fall.  I have enjoyed your posts so much with the step by step instructions and so easy to understand and follow. (your my hero!!)  I was planning on contributing some of my own using yours as an example to follow. 

thanks and keep up the good...  no scratch that!  GREAT!! work.

dalton

Aw Shucks......

Can't wait to see the Alaskan Style. Must be a great place to fish & hunt !!

Thanks Dalton,

Bear
 

 

[dalton]

yes bear we do alot of hunting and fishing...  my 9 year old daughters favorite is the bunnies!!  (they are called snowshoe hare)  we have gotten alot this year and I have made a lot of bunny jerky.  she likes to call it JUMPY JERKY and takes it to school and shares it with all her freinds.  I am going to make some more as soon as I get my new smoker up and running and I will post that too!  I am also going to try your unstuffed beef sticks but I am going to mix the ground beef 50-50 with ground rabbit!  will let you know how it turns out!

thanks again for making me and all the other newbies feel so welcome!

dalton

 

[Bearcarver]

yes bear we do alot of hunting and fishing...  my 9 year old daughters favorite is the bunnies!!  (they are called snowshoe hare)  we have gotten alot this year and I have made a lot of bunny jerky.  she likes to call it JUMPY JERKY and takes it to school and shares it with all her freinds.  I am going to make some more as soon as I get my new smoker up and running and I will post that too!  I am also going to try your unstuffed beef sticks but I am going to mix the ground beef 50-50 with ground rabbit!  will let you know how it turns out!

thanks again for making me and all the other newbies feel so welcome!

dalton

Dalton,

You might want to mix a little extra fat in, since half will be Wabbit.

My Dad & I used to shoot a lot of Snowshoes up in Pike County, PA, usually around the outskirts of swamps.

I used to call them "Bigfoots".

It was funny how the first thing we'd always see was the "EYE" of the rabbit!

Later,

Bear

 

[wingman]

Nicely done Bearcarver. Your instructions were in perfect detail. And the finished product looked amazing.

 

[Bearcarver]

Nicely done Bearcarver. Your instructions were in perfect detail. And the finished product looked amazing.

Thanks Rob!

Bear

 

[dutchoven2]

first post here for me... been a member for a couple of months... i just finished smoking a filet using this method to take to a Christmas dinner tonight, and i must say, by far the best salmon i have ever smoked.........thanks for sharing!!!!

 

[Bearcarver]

first post here for me... been a member for a couple of months... i just finished smoking a filet using this method to take to a Christmas dinner tonight, and i must say, by far the best salmon i have ever smoked.........thanks for sharing!!!!

Thanks Dutchoven2!

I never get tired of hearing from people who had good success with any of my step by steps.

Bear

 

[garyc]

I just used your step by step at the beginning of this thread. Very good!!! The only problem I had was with my electric MES. Getting it to smoke at 100 deg is very hard. I finally used dry chips, set the smoker on 200 and ran it empty until I got some smoke. At that point I opened the door and let it cool down to 100 to start the process. When I had to replenish the chips it tended to put them out and I had to start over by taking the fish out, turning the heat up until I got smoke, letting it cool to the desired temp with the door open and putting the fish back in. I am sure this is effecting the process but I can't figure out any other way to make my MES smoke at the lower temps. Do you have a suggestion?

 

[Bearcarver]

I just used your step by step at the beginning of this thread. Very good!!! The only problem I had was with my electric MES. Getting it to smoke at 100 deg is very hard. I finally used dry chips, set the smoker on 200 and ran it empty until I got some smoke. At that point I opened the door and let it cool down to 100 to start the process. When I had to replenish the chips it tended to put them out and I had to start over by taking the fish out, turning the heat up until I got smoke, letting it cool to the desired temp with the door open and putting the fish back in. I am sure this is effecting the process but I can't figure out any other way to make my MES smoke at the lower temps. Do you have a suggestion?

It depends which MES you have, and which chip drawer came with that MES.

Some of them will not smoke below 200˚.

I used to go up 10˚ at a time to get my old one to smoke (wasn't one of the bad ones), but then I got the A-MAZE-N-SMOKER.

If you get one of them, your smoking problems at low temp will be a thing of the past!

Of course it won't help you for today though.

Bear

 

[garyc]

I just used your step by step at the beginning of this thread. Very good!!! The only problem I had was with my electric MES. Getting it to smoke at 100 deg is very hard. I finally used dry chips, set the smoker on 200 and ran it empty until I got some smoke. At that point I opened the door and let it cool down to 100 to start the process. When I had to replenish the chips it tended to put them out and I had to start over by taking the fish out, turning the heat up until I got smoke, letting it cool to the desired temp with the door open and putting the fish back in. I am sure this is effecting the process but I can't figure out any other way to make my MES smoke at the lower temps. Do you have a suggestion?

It depends which MES you have, and which chip drawer came with that MES.

Some of them will not smoke below 200˚.

I used to go up 10˚ at a time to get my old one to smoke (wasn't one of the bad ones), but then I got the A-MAZE-N-SMOKER.

If you get one of them, your smoking problems at low temp will be a thing of the past!

Of course it won't help you for today though.

Bear

I have been looking at the A-MAZE-N-SMOKERS. Not a big investment but I wonder where I can get the sawdust other than through the mail?  I would hate to run out on a smoking day and not have a local place to get it like I can with wood chips. I have an old blender, you think I could turn hickory chips to sawdust in that?

 

[Bearcarver]

I just used your step by step at the beginning of this thread. Very good!!! The only problem I had was with my electric MES. Getting it to smoke at 100 deg is very hard. I finally used dry chips, set the smoker on 200 and ran it empty until I got some smoke. At that point I opened the door and let it cool down to 100 to start the process. When I had to replenish the chips it tended to put them out and I had to start over by taking the fish out, turning the heat up until I got smoke, letting it cool to the desired temp with the door open and putting the fish back in. I am sure this is effecting the process but I can't figure out any other way to make my MES smoke at the lower temps. Do you have a suggestion?

It depends which MES you have, and which chip drawer came with that MES.

Some of them will not smoke below 200˚.

I used to go up 10˚ at a time to get my old one to smoke (wasn't one of the bad ones), but then I got the A-MAZE-N-SMOKER.

If you get one of them, your smoking problems at low temp will be a thing of the past!

Of course it won't help you for today though.

Bear

I have been looking at the A-MAZE-N-SMOKERS. Not a big investment but I wonder where I can get the sawdust other than through the mail?  I would hate to run out on a smoking day and not have a local place to get it like I can with wood chips. I have an old blender, you think I could turn hickory chips to sawdust in that?

I don't know about chips---Maybe from shavings to dust in the blender.
 

If you get a larger amount of dust from Todd, the shipping cost per pound is a lot less. Just stock up pretty good, and don't get too close to running out.

The stuff goes a long way. I haven't gotten any for quite awhile, and I'm still in pretty good shape with my supply.

Stock up & keep your powder dry:

Bear

 

[hmcm]

All I can say, AWESOME JOB Bearcarver!  I'm new to this forum and I really appreciate it when people like yourself share your trials and tribulations with the group so that we can take the easy road!!!  It makes the Newbie's job of becoming a successful meat smoker that much easier!

Nice work and thank you!

 

[Bearcarver]

All I can say, AWESOME JOB Bearcarver!  I'm new to this forum and I really appreciate it when people like yourself share your trials and tribulations with the group so that we can take the easy road!!!  It makes the Newbie's job of becoming a successful meat smoker that much easier!

Nice work and thank you!

Thank You Very Much!

I'm always glad to hear my stuff works good for others too.

Bear

 

[smoke king]

It depends which MES you have, and which chip drawer came with that MES.

Some of them will not smoke below 200˚.

I used to go up 10˚ at a time to get my old one to smoke (wasn't one of the bad ones), but then I got the A-MAZE-N-SMOKER.

If you get one of them, your smoking problems at low temp will be a thing of the past!

Of course it won't help you for today though.

Bear

Bear,

What are your temperature recommendations and general smoke time when using an A-Maze-N smoker? I'm all brined up per your directions and ready to put in the MES.
 

 

[Bearcarver]

It depends which MES you have, and which chip drawer came with that MES.

Some of them will not smoke below 200˚.

I used to go up 10˚ at a time to get my old one to smoke (wasn't one of the bad ones), but then I got the A-MAZE-N-SMOKER.

If you get one of them, your smoking problems at low temp will be a thing of the past!

Of course it won't help you for today though.

Bear

Bear,

What are your temperature recommendations and general smoke time when using an A-Maze-N smoker? I'm all brined up per your directions and ready to put in the MES.
 

If you're using an AMNS, the temperature isn't important to the smoking.

Maybe it's just me, but I think smoke takes better when the smoker is at least at 110˚.

I freeze my Salmon at 0˚ for at least 30 days, so I don't have to worry about cooking it to 160˚ internal.

Then I smoke it to at least 140˚ internal.

It also depends on how smokey you want it. If you're using an AMNS, just hold your temp somewhere between 120˚ and 140˚ for however long you want to get it good & smokey (I would say at least 7 or 8 hours).

Then jack it up to take it to whatever temp you want.

Cold smoking is a whole different ballgame than my above suggestions.

Bear