I Want to have another go at homemade cold smoked salmon have some safety concerns.

[CAN_O]

live in the UK in a somewhat small town with no fishmonger so i have to go with a store bought salmon and want to avoid the chance of getting sick.

right now i'm looking at going to a bookers (similar to a Costco business center) they sell frozen farmed whole salmon sides. if that doesn't work out ill have to go with one of the large stores.

if the bookers work out and get the frozen salmon is there anything that i should still be concerned about or do? the little reading i did said that if the salmon is frozen below -20c for 7 days that its safe, so i would think that it should be alright to use the bookers salmon straight away.

if i end up going with a regular store should i throw the salmon in my freezer for a week to be safe?

now a curing related question. ive tried cold smoked salmon once before and it came out too salty, i just did a 50/50 sugar/salt(cooking/table salt) mix covered the salmon and left it in the fridge for around 20h. is this a good way to do it except this time i would change cooking/table salt for sea salt because it courser. or should i measure the salt by the weight of the salmon?

 

[SmokinAl]

I have been making lox for quite a while & always use a bit of instacure #1 in it for safety reasons. Here is my method, hope this helps.

HOMEMADE LOX WITH RECIPE & STEPS, PLENTY OF Q-VIEW

I have made lox following bbally's instructions several times over the last year or so. I grew up on lox & cream cheese with a slice of onion on a good bagel. This was a weekly event at our house. Over the years I have tried lox many times & I can honestly say I have never had lox as good as...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Al

 

[CAN_O]

I have been making lox for quite a while & always use a bit of instacure #1 in it for safety reasons. Here is my method, hope this helps.

HOMEMADE LOX WITH RECIPE & STEPS, PLENTY OF Q-VIEW

I have made lox following bbally's instructions several times over the last year or so. I grew up on lox & cream cheese with a slice of onion on a good bagel. This was a weekly event at our house. Over the years I have tried lox many times & I can honestly say I have never had lox as good as...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Al

is cu. = cup?
look really good. ill order some instacure now and hopefully i can get some large salmon half like the one in your picture. down side of living in a smaller town UK its hard to find stuff like that, usually see some small/thin salmon sides.
hopefully the wholesale i mentioned sells large salmon sides

 

[Makkara]

I have some salmon (wild Chinook I caught) in a brine now for cold smoking. It had been frozen at -25 degrees F for 6 months. I'm using a dry equalization brine to eliminate a "too salty" outcome. It is 2.75% salt, 4% brown sugar, and .25% cure #1. It will be left in the fridge for around 5-7 days, lightly rinsed, back in fridge for 24 hrs uncovered to form pellicle, and then cold smoked at about 50 degrees until I like the color and texture. Rested another day until slicing.

Good luck on your smoke!

 

[SmokinAl]

is cu. = cup?
look really good. ill order some instacure now and hopefully i can get some large salmon half like the one in your picture. down side of living in a smaller town UK its hard to find stuff like that, usually see some small/thin salmon sides.
hopefully the wholesale i mentioned sells large salmon sides

Yes cu. = cup.
Al