Smoked Salmon

[bryce]

Well, I picked up an new Little Chief last week and about 4 lbs. of wild salmon today. I'm going to fire up the LC tomorrow AM and get the salmon in there as soon as it's dried off and formed a pellicle.

I modified a brine developed by Mr. T.

Here is it in the brine until tomorrow morning.

salmon saturday 1.jpg

• bryce
• Apr 25, 2015

See you tomorrow!

 

[dukeburger]

Guess I'll be watching my first fish smoke!

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

I'm in....

:popcorn

Not done a wet brine before, I do a dry brine.... What temp ya gonna smoke at ?

 

[cmayna]

Bryce, Looking forward to watching your step by step.   Have fun.

 

[twoalpha]

Will be watching for the results. Salmon is on my to do list.

 

[bryce]

Went to the gym so got a bit of a late start. Here it is, freshly out of the brine, patted dry and now waiting for the pellicle to form.

salmon saturday 2.jpg

• bryce
• Apr 25, 2015

Not sure what temp I'm smoking at. Best guess is somewhere between 150 and 160 without the box over it. Lot's of unknown with the Little Chief. I'll just be patient and let it do it's thing.

 

[bryce]

Loaded and ready for smoke. I need to get one of those mats to prevent the food from falling through the wide grates on this smoker. 50% apple and 50% alder.

salmon saturday 3.jpg

• bryce
• Apr 25, 2015

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Off to a tasty start!

 

[bryce]

Smoking away

salmon saturday 4.jpg

• bryce
• Apr 25, 2015

salmon saturday 5.jpg

• bryce
• Apr 25, 2015

151. So far I've seen it spike up to 160.

 

[bryce]

2 hrs in.

salmon saturday 6.jpg

• bryce
• Apr 25, 2015

 

[dukeburger]

Nice looking salmon!

Be careful when you peek, my Big Chief can sometimes take an hour to recover the heat loss

 

[bryce]

You bet. These smokers are super sensative.I wrapped a couple blankets around it to get the heat up some more. Want 200.

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

Not trying to tell ya how to do your smoke, but if ya get the temp too high the salmon will "bleed" a white pasty looking liquid ! I learned that the hard way so just a friendly heads up !

 

[bryce]

Thank you. I noticed that bleed today. I've never really avoided it before. Yeah I don't like it much. Not too pretty. I'm still only at 175 smoker temp with the towels wrapped around it 3 hrs in.

 

[mr t 59874]

There are several things that will contribute to what you are calling the bleed.  First, not allowing enough time for a good pellicle to form,  not handling the fish carefully allowing it to break or pull apart, and too much heat for too long.  Smoke at 200° and start backing the heat down when the thickest piece reaches 140° for the 30-minute rest at 145°.  It should have reached 140° within 45 - 60 minutes.

Tom

 

[bryce]

Thanks Tom. I'm sure I didn't let it sit long enough... Maybe 45 minutes. Anyhow I don't have much leakage.

4.5 hours in. Salmon at 110 thickest part

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

It'll still be tasty Bryce, it took me a few tries to get it down....

 

[mr t 59874]

OK, let's not worry about anything this first go, you are learning and that's what counts.  

When forming a good pellicle, I will put it on racks and air dry with a fan for approx two hours, without a fan, four hours.

You are doing great.

Tom

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

Bryce, I should have not said anything.... If your working with Tom your in good hands, I didn't mean to overstep & say anything.... Good luck with your smoke, it'll be great ! Thumbs Up

 

[mr t 59874]

Bryce, I should have not said anything.... If your working with Tom your in good hands, I didn't mean to overstep & say anything.... Good luck with your smoke, it'll be great !

Hey, WHB, enough of that.  If I weren't doing beef ribs, you would be taking care of him.  Your input is always welcome.

T