Smoked Salmon
After all the frustration and wasted time correcting my screw up with the Candied Salmon, I figured I’d best climb right back into the saddle and smoke some more salmon. Redemption time. LOL.
I had 6 pounds of prime Atlantic Salmon fillets in the fridge that I had hastily bought when I thought the Candied Salmon was destined for the garbage dump (happily, it wasn’t). So I froze 3 pounds and cut the other 3 pounds into appropriate sized pieces.
I then headed straight for Bearcarver’s Step-by-Step for smoked salmon. John’s methods and recipes have never yet let me down. I’ve come to expect nothing less than the best.
Bear’s Brine Recipe:
1 quart Apple Juice (I used a liter)
4 cups Dark Brown Sugar
1 cup Kosher Salt
Bring everything to a simmer, thoroughly dissolving the salt and sugar. Let cool to room temp, place salmon pieces in a bowl and pour the brine over.
I then covered the bowl with plastic wrap and left the salmon to brine in the fridge for 5 ½ hours. After brining, I rinsed each piece well (not taking any chances this time around), patted them dry with paper towels, and returned the salmon to the fridge uncovered for the night.
The next morning, I arranged all the pieces on Frog Mats which were laid out on racks, which ,in turn, I placed on my new, upgraded el-cheapo plastic picnic table cloth. They then sat on the dining room table, in front of the fan, for 3 hours to dry and develop a pellicle.
When the MES 30 was preheated to 100* F, the racks of salmon went in for 1 hour without smoke to continue drying. The MES was then bumped up to 140*. I had filled one row of my AMNPS with a 70/30 mix of orange and cherry pellets and fired it up—orange because I love the flavor, and cherry for color.
After 2 hours at 140*, I bumped the MES temp up to 150* for another 1 ½ hours. When the IT of the salmon was 135*, everything was moved into the kitchen to cool.
Final results and taste test?? YES!!! The salmon was fantastic! Great color, moist and tender with that wonderful orange smoke flavor.
The salmon was divided up into 2 portions and vac/sealed. One bag for my mechanic, Mike, to make up for the Candied Salmon/Salmon Jerky fiasco. And the other for my good friend Spencer in Calgary, who had just finished putting a beautiful burnt maple handle on my Gramma’s old butcher knife—a ongoing, 6 year project of mine to turn it into a hunting knife.
So now I’m happy with my salmon smoking again. Life is good again.
My thanks to John--
Bearcarver
--for his Step-by-Step.Now, let’s see some Q-view.
One big beautiful Atlantic Salmon filet:
Heating the brine:
Salmon pieces in the brine, ready for the fridge:
Time for a pellicle:
Fresh out of the smoker:
Thanks for looking.
Gary
