Finally got some time off Christmas week to smoke up some of the Silver/Coho Salmon I caught and brought home from the Kenai River up in Soldotna Alaska the last week of August 2013.
First time smoking fish on the 18.5" Weber Smoky Mountain.
Real pleased with the results.
Hope you enjoy the show.
Started off by fully opening all vents (top & bottom), then made a snake pattern of Kingsford blue charcoal briquets 2 wide and 2 deep topped with handfuls of alder dust and chips;
The salmon was brined for 12 hours using a very simple brine;
1 Cup Pickling Salt
1 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Gallon Water
The salmon was then patted dry and aired out on Bradley racks in the fridge overnight for pellicle formation;
Started the coals about 11:00 am planning on a 8 to 10 hour smoke session.
I used no water in my WSM water pan but I do have a clay flower pot base in it.
These were foiled over for easier cleanup.
I placed the first rack of salmon on top of the foiled water pan;
I increased the number of fish racks I could use by adding a Pro Q BBQ Stacker in my WSM;
Used wood blocks on my second salmon rack to place another directly above it;
Here's the third rack of salmon;
Here's the final/fourth rack of salmon;
Put the lid on and let the magical smoke begin to do its stuff;
The thin blue smoke is a little hard to make out but here it is;
After about an hour the WSM top rack temp maxed out at about 115 deg F so I added another layer of briquets on top of the alder.
This got the temp up to about 160 deg F where it remained for the rest of the smoke session.
Next time I'll start with coals 2 wide and 3 high.
Not sure exactly how long the coals lasted because I fell asleep around 8:00pm after about 9 hours of smoke.
Woke up about 4:00am and took the next photo before removing and vacuum sealing the salmon;
Finished product vacuum sealed and ready for the freezer;
Pretty happy with the way this turned out.
I think the combination of a good pellicle formation and smoking at lower temps (~160 deg F) kept that mushy ugly white protein material from protruding through the fish.
I like my smoked fish texture a little on the dry side and this batch did not disappoint.
Nice smoke penetration throughout.
Thanks for looking!
First time smoking fish on the 18.5" Weber Smoky Mountain.
Real pleased with the results.
Hope you enjoy the show.
Started off by fully opening all vents (top & bottom), then made a snake pattern of Kingsford blue charcoal briquets 2 wide and 2 deep topped with handfuls of alder dust and chips;
The salmon was brined for 12 hours using a very simple brine;
1 Cup Pickling Salt
1 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Gallon Water
The salmon was then patted dry and aired out on Bradley racks in the fridge overnight for pellicle formation;
Started the coals about 11:00 am planning on a 8 to 10 hour smoke session.
I used no water in my WSM water pan but I do have a clay flower pot base in it.
These were foiled over for easier cleanup.
I placed the first rack of salmon on top of the foiled water pan;
I increased the number of fish racks I could use by adding a Pro Q BBQ Stacker in my WSM;
Used wood blocks on my second salmon rack to place another directly above it;
Here's the third rack of salmon;
Here's the final/fourth rack of salmon;
Put the lid on and let the magical smoke begin to do its stuff;
The thin blue smoke is a little hard to make out but here it is;
After about an hour the WSM top rack temp maxed out at about 115 deg F so I added another layer of briquets on top of the alder.
This got the temp up to about 160 deg F where it remained for the rest of the smoke session.
Next time I'll start with coals 2 wide and 3 high.
Not sure exactly how long the coals lasted because I fell asleep around 8:00pm after about 9 hours of smoke.
Woke up about 4:00am and took the next photo before removing and vacuum sealing the salmon;
Finished product vacuum sealed and ready for the freezer;
Pretty happy with the way this turned out.
I think the combination of a good pellicle formation and smoking at lower temps (~160 deg F) kept that mushy ugly white protein material from protruding through the fish.
I like my smoked fish texture a little on the dry side and this batch did not disappoint.
Nice smoke penetration throughout.
Thanks for looking!
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