I have been wanting to try these. Glad I finally did. I had about 2-3lbs of belly and tail trim from a recent batch of lox. So I did a little research and came up with this brine:
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt
1Tbs garlic powder
1Tbs onion powder
1tsp cayenne pepper
I cut my pieces in even 1-2” cubes and strips. Then I layered the brine and the fish in a Pyrex dish.
over the next 12 hours, I would occasionally take the mixture out and move the pieces around, ensuring every piece had even coating of the mixture; which as you can see it quickly liquified.
After 12 hours, I moved the salmon to wire racks, and let it sit under a fan for several hours, to form a pellicle.
I flipped them once, and could already see a good, tacky film forming.
Then it was time to fire up the smoker. I used the Lang fatboy, as it is easier for me to control lower temps. I only used about one chimney of lump, got my internal temps to about 130, and lit two amazen tubes with alder wood. One in the fire box and one in the cook chamber. This was an experiment for me, as I’ve only used my amazen smoker in the fire box. Well both tubes performed flawlessly, so now I know I can run my amazen smoke tube in more than one spot in my Lang.
Here is one rack, ready for the smoker. I thought the color was fantastic.
I cooked them for about 3.5 hours. Starting at 130 and gradually rising until it hit about 175. After 3 hours, I tasted one of the small ones. Delicious, but more salty than sweet. I decided to baste the tops, one time, with maple syrup. That really did it. They were soft, chewy, salty and sweet.
Best thing I could have done, right before I basted the nuggets, I lined my Lang with foil. Just made for a much neater process. One quick baste with syrup and back in the smoker for about 30 minutes longer.
These little nuggets are fantastic! I have a big ziplock of what we didn’t eat, resting in the fridge. I hear they are even better after they have time for the flavors to meld. I know what I’ll be carrying with me in the fall deer woods this year! Almost as good as jerky!
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt
1Tbs garlic powder
1Tbs onion powder
1tsp cayenne pepper
I cut my pieces in even 1-2” cubes and strips. Then I layered the brine and the fish in a Pyrex dish.
over the next 12 hours, I would occasionally take the mixture out and move the pieces around, ensuring every piece had even coating of the mixture; which as you can see it quickly liquified.
After 12 hours, I moved the salmon to wire racks, and let it sit under a fan for several hours, to form a pellicle.
I flipped them once, and could already see a good, tacky film forming.
Then it was time to fire up the smoker. I used the Lang fatboy, as it is easier for me to control lower temps. I only used about one chimney of lump, got my internal temps to about 130, and lit two amazen tubes with alder wood. One in the fire box and one in the cook chamber. This was an experiment for me, as I’ve only used my amazen smoker in the fire box. Well both tubes performed flawlessly, so now I know I can run my amazen smoke tube in more than one spot in my Lang.
Here is one rack, ready for the smoker. I thought the color was fantastic.
I cooked them for about 3.5 hours. Starting at 130 and gradually rising until it hit about 175. After 3 hours, I tasted one of the small ones. Delicious, but more salty than sweet. I decided to baste the tops, one time, with maple syrup. That really did it. They were soft, chewy, salty and sweet.
Best thing I could have done, right before I basted the nuggets, I lined my Lang with foil. Just made for a much neater process. One quick baste with syrup and back in the smoker for about 30 minutes longer.
These little nuggets are fantastic! I have a big ziplock of what we didn’t eat, resting in the fridge. I hear they are even better after they have time for the flavors to meld. I know what I’ll be carrying with me in the fall deer woods this year! Almost as good as jerky!
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