Salmon for supper

[DougE]

I added some brown sugar, garlic and onion powder, and a little Old Bay to the brine and let it soak for a couple hours, then rinsed it and let it sit on the counter to form a pellicle. Here it is right before I put it in the smoker. All I did to it after brining it was sprinkle on a little Old Bay and fresh ground pepper.



I smoked it with pear until it reached 145 ish. Here it is right before I foiled it to let it rest for 20 min. or so while I was getting the rest of the meal ready.



All served up with seasoned brown rice and Brussels sprouts.



It turned out nice and moist and the pear wood gave it a nice delicate smoky flavor.

Thanks for looking.

 

[rdknb]

that look good. I smoked some a bit ago and am still heating up the leftovers. Vac sealed them

 

[caveman]

Your meal looks wonderful. I can shoot you some

for that. Now, I have a question. Is foiling fish the standard to let it rest?? I have not done fish yet because I thought you had to use a "Plank" but I have seen smoked "Plankless" fish here so, I guess that is not entirely true? But what about the foiling part??

 

[DougE]

First off, thanks for the points.

I don't know that foiling is really necessary with salmon. I have read that people foil it and let it rest for about 20 min. on various sites. The main reason I do it is to keep it warm while I'm finishing up the rest of the meal.

 

[caveman]

Okay. That makes sense to me then. I am that, have the meal ready then do the meat guy. But I guess fish can rest too. Until I got to this site, I never let anything rest. But since I have, my meals have turned out so much better. Thanks for the answer & the qview. Points well earned in my book. Keep up the good work.

 

[south jersey bbq tim]

perfect dinner..a healthy one too

 

[scubadoo97]

Resting meats serves two purposes.

One reason to rest is to allow the center to finish cooking through conduction, but another reason is to allow the meat to cool slightly all the way to the surface, ideally to 120°F. With the temperature drop, the meat structure becomes firmer and more resistant to deforming while being cut; also, the muscle fibers relax a bit and are able to re-absorb some of the moisture that they've expelled. It's the cooling that keeps the meat from bleeding juices when you carve it.


Fish is not as dense except monkfish where resting may help it from "bleeding out" Outside that the only reason to rest fish is to allow the carry over heat to even out the temperature. Salmon is one fish that is often cooked to medium, medium rare so I personally see no reason for resting.

 

[rbranstner]

Gotta love salmon. I just wish I didn't have to pay so much for it in the store. I guess I should just plan a salmon fishing trip.