Jerry guarding Salmon nuggets.....again!!

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cmayna

Master of the Pit
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Jun 23, 2012
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SF Bay Area, CA
7.5 #'s of Chinook Salmon that the wife and/or I caught.
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In a very simple 4/1 dry brine of dk brown sugar with non iodized salt. Brined for 4.5 hours.
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My favorite smoker, doing its thing.
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Mailbox mod doing it's thing as well. Running a couple hours of Alder pellets followed by an hour + of apple pellets.
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Finished products cooling down. Little bit of coarse pepper sprinkled.
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Jerry not feeling so neglected now....
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Belch! Now, to give most of it away...
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Wow I need to make this! I usually do a dry cure for salmon. How much water do you use for the 1 cup salt, 4 cups sugar?
 
Awesome!!
I love it when you make a Big Batch of these Tasty Treats, Craig!!
Nice Job as always!
Like.

Bear
 
Thanks all for the kind words.....

Omnivore, I do not use any water in the brine. Very dry.
 
Man that is awesome!

Here come all my questions :)

  • What smoker temp?
  • How long or what IT do you smoke to?
  • How much (weight) brown sugar and salt did you use (4/1 ratio) for that 7.5 pounds of salmon?
  • Do you ever do this with skin on?

Thanks! :)
 
Man that is awesome!

Here come all my questions :)

  • What smoker temp?
  • How long or what IT do you smoke to?
  • How much (weight) brown sugar and salt did you use (4/1 ratio) for that 7.5 pounds of salmon?
  • Do you ever do this with skin on?

Thanks! :)

Smoker temp: 125* 1st hour, 135*, 2nd hour, 140*+ 3rd hour until an IT of 140ish is met, which depending on ambient temp averages around 3-3.5 hours.

How much sugar: I don't weigh or measure how much dry brine I use. I always have plenty already made. But if I was to guess for this last batch it was a good 5-6 cups of brine.

Skin on: Only when I do filet's and tails. These nuggets (pill poppers, per my fishing buddies)are mainly shared with fellow fishing people on the boat, who don't want to deal with skin. Also for nugget size, having skin on does it no service and would be more annoying than good.
 
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Smoker temp: 125 2st hour, 135, 2nd hour, 140+ 3rd hour until an IT of 140ish is met, which depending on ambient temp averages around 3-3.5 hours.

How much sugar: I don't weigh or measure how much dry brine I use. I always have plenty already made. But if I was to guess for this last batch it was a good 5-6 cups of brine.

Skin on: Only when I do filet's and tails. These nuggets are mainly shared with fellow fishing buddies on the boat, who don't want to deal with skin. Also for nugget size, having skin on does it no service and would be more annoying than good.

Thanks for all the answers.
At Costco I can buy Salmon that is already skinned at a pretty decent price so I wouldn't have to fool with the skin if I went this route.
I have a feeling I will be giving this a shot in the next 3-4 weeks :D
 
Wow, that looks great, I might try this with some chunked walleye. Salmon was crazy expensive last time I looked.
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Smoker temp: 125* 1st hour, 135*, 2nd hour, 140*+ 3rd hour until an IT of 140ish is met, which depending on ambient temp averages around 3-3.5 hours.

How much sugar: I don't weigh or measure how much dry brine I use. I always have plenty already made. But if I was to guess for this last batch it was a good 5-6 cups of brine.

Skin on: Only when I do filet's and tails. These nuggets (pill poppers, per my fishing buddies)are mainly shared with fellow fishing people on the boat, who don't want to deal with skin. Also for nugget size, having skin on does it no service and would be more annoying than good.

Thanks for all of this info! I like the skin when it's hot off the smoker but it's a no-go for me once it's refrigerated. I like that your way dries off all sides so it's a cleaner snack on the go.
 
To all,
Just keep in mind, this is using Chinook (king) Salmon. Coho, Atlantic, Silver and others might require a different formula, based on the different tastes and amount of oil the meat has. Water vs no water, etc. I find Chinook to be pretty moist, so the need to add water to the brine is, for me, not needed.

Butt,,,,,,that's just me.
 
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Man those look great. I want a bowl of wasbi and that tub now
 
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