Have always wanted to smoke a salmon as this is one of my favorite treats/snacks/meal especially at a gathering this is always a hit.
So after a friend had gone fishing he asked would I be interested in a salmon he had caught. For Sure!! I'll smoke it and return some to you, sounded good to him.
The next day my friend shows up with SALMON!! Geez, there must have been 20 pounds of it. Well, my smoker will only do about five pounds on a good day and these fish were like three feet long!!
One good thing, they were all cleaned and ready to go. So I cut them into manageable sizes, froze the majority of it and started in.
First thing of course is the brine. Followed a reciepe I found on the forum, water/salt/brn sugar/garlic & onion powder and refrigerated this overnight with the fish submerged.
Next morning washed it all and we're now set to smoke em.
Decided to use cherry with just a bit of hickory for the flavor.
Started with the smoker cold, set the temp for 190 and off it went. Checked every hour to make sure it was smoking properly and there was plenty of wood left.
After four hours the internal temp was at 140, which is where I wanted it so I used my latest learned trick. Took my wide metal spatula, slid it between the fish and the skin and sure enough...skin stayed with the smoker and that beautiful slab of salmon came away clean.
Off the smoker and in the hootch...couldn't wait to long to try this so...Man, this is terrible! Tasted like I was sucking on a salt stick!! Very disappointed, put it all in the fridge after wrapping it in foil.
Next day I figured I'll have to do something with this, took it out of the fridge and gave it another chance. Put a chunk on a cracker and Wow, what a difference overnight in the fridge made. Actually tasted like smoked salmon should. Happy as a pig in a mud puddle.
My friend reported that he thought I did a really bang up job and they were waiting for the next batch. Think I'll do this one with apple wood and see if there's any noticeable difference.
Looks like it's time to fire up the smoker again....love it!!!
I'll end this with a question: What are the experts using for salmon? Internal temp a good way to judge doneness?
So after a friend had gone fishing he asked would I be interested in a salmon he had caught. For Sure!! I'll smoke it and return some to you, sounded good to him.
The next day my friend shows up with SALMON!! Geez, there must have been 20 pounds of it. Well, my smoker will only do about five pounds on a good day and these fish were like three feet long!!
One good thing, they were all cleaned and ready to go. So I cut them into manageable sizes, froze the majority of it and started in.
First thing of course is the brine. Followed a reciepe I found on the forum, water/salt/brn sugar/garlic & onion powder and refrigerated this overnight with the fish submerged.
Next morning washed it all and we're now set to smoke em.
Decided to use cherry with just a bit of hickory for the flavor.
Started with the smoker cold, set the temp for 190 and off it went. Checked every hour to make sure it was smoking properly and there was plenty of wood left.
After four hours the internal temp was at 140, which is where I wanted it so I used my latest learned trick. Took my wide metal spatula, slid it between the fish and the skin and sure enough...skin stayed with the smoker and that beautiful slab of salmon came away clean.
Off the smoker and in the hootch...couldn't wait to long to try this so...Man, this is terrible! Tasted like I was sucking on a salt stick!! Very disappointed, put it all in the fridge after wrapping it in foil.
Next day I figured I'll have to do something with this, took it out of the fridge and gave it another chance. Put a chunk on a cracker and Wow, what a difference overnight in the fridge made. Actually tasted like smoked salmon should. Happy as a pig in a mud puddle.
My friend reported that he thought I did a really bang up job and they were waiting for the next batch. Think I'll do this one with apple wood and see if there's any noticeable difference.
Looks like it's time to fire up the smoker again....love it!!!
I'll end this with a question: What are the experts using for salmon? Internal temp a good way to judge doneness?
