Looking to purchase a new smoker for Salmon

[jeff goit]

Question:

I live in Seattle and have been smoking salmon in my Little chief Smoker for many years. It works great for my Salmon, but , I would like to move up to a gas fired smoker. Upon, reading alot of articles on smokers, I have noticed that alot of the newer smokers are great for chicken and beef due to their higher internal temps. I have noticed alot of these smokers have a hard time at lower temps. Is there a smoker out there that works well for a cold smoke without going thru the process of "Heat exchanging" the smoke outside the smoker to make it colder (I have seen many do it yourself versions of these).

I have to be careful even with my little Chief of not have this happen...........

If you’ve ever seen salmon “bleed” a white, creamy substance, that’s a protein called albumin. If you see it, you’ve screwed up. Here’s what happens: If you cook a piece of salmon (or trout or char) at too high a heat, the muscle fibers in the meat contract so violently that they extrude albumin, which immediately congeals on the surface of the fish. It’s ugly, and it also means your salmon will be drier than it could have been.

Thus, I have always smoked my salmon starting around November here in Seattle. the cold temps outside, keep the internal temp way down in my Little Chief.

Thanks for any suggestion on what to purchase to replace my little cheif, so I can do both Salmon and Meats

Jeff

 

[cmayna]

Jeff,

For Salmon, it sounds like you have done well with the Lil' chief, so why change?  I have 2 big chief strictly for Salmon and will never change.  I have a gasser smoker originally for ham and beef but now I use it 90% of the time for Salmon Lox (cold smoke, not using any gas at all).  For me, the gasser is simply too hot for fish, even if you install a needle valve to help choke down the amount of gas going to the burner.

I did modify both chief's by installing a 750 adj electric element, so I can control the lower temps better and crank up to a higher temp if desired.

I'm doing Salmon Jerky and nuggets this weekend in both chiefs.  And the gasser is coming out for more lox.

All the above means for me, I can't agree that there is a gasser which will do low temps for fish, so you might buy one strictly for meats,

Food for thought

Craig

 

[jeff goit]

Thanks Craig for the advice,

One thing you touched on was;  Why not, just add another smoker for meats?  Well, I have limited space on my deck (I live in a condo on the 3rd floor, top floor) and I was just thinking if there was an upgrade that would do both. No worries, though, I certainly can keep one of the smokers on the deck and one in storage.................

jeff

 

[daveomak]

Jeff, morning.....   Craig has said it....   Here's my fish smoker....   I will not change....  It smokes fish so perfect I'm afraid to change...   Been using it for about 25 years........   A few mods ...  Improved air flow.... bigger element with adjustable heat...  I moved from B'ham to Omak... needed more heat to smoke fish in the winter....    Fish still comes out perfect.....  

1 Front.jpg

• daveomak
• Sep 28, 2013

 

[cmayna]

Having multiple smokers is still far easier and cheaper than having multiple wives.   So I've been told

 

[gary s]

I like smoked fish, just never done any

Hello, and Welcome from East Texas. This is a great site, lots of good information and great people.

Gary

 

[jeff goit]

Hey Dave,

Funny you should be from Omak, One of my best friends lives in Omak and is a Stream Biologist for the Tribes...........

 

[daveomak]

 
Hey Dave,

Funny you should be from Omak, One of my best friends lives in Omak and is a Stream Biologist for the Tribes...........

I have met one biol. while fishing the Columbia...  Can't remember names..... Dave