First Curing Attempt

First Curing Attempt

Postby Batman » Sat May 31, 2008 6:26 pm

Had a go at curing and cold smoking a side of salmon and a couple of fillets of cod yesterday.

The 1Kg salmon was dry cured using the recipe suggestion on this board for about 7 hours, rinsed, soaked for 5 mins and air dried for a further 18 hours, then 5 hours of cold oak smoke, at approx 20C. The salmon lost about 7% weight after curing plus a little more/negligible as a result of the smoking.

The cod was brined for 10 mins then air dried for about 9 hours then cold smoked as above for 5 hours. Negligible weight loss.

Everything seemed to go ok and the fish certainly smell smokey! Will try them both hopefully tomorrow.

Sorry no pictures.
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Postby saucisson » Sat May 31, 2008 6:50 pm

Sounds good :D

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Postby wheels » Sat May 31, 2008 7:42 pm

Batman
I have only cold smoked trout - keep meaning to try some salmon (IMO the trout is better hot smoked).

Is your salmon nice and firm? I ask because Keith Erlandson (Home Smoking and Curing) advises a 8-9% weight loss after (dry) curing with an overall weight loss of 17-18% after a period of between 24-60 hours smoking. If my experience with trout is anything to go by, this would produce a very smoky product. I prefer the sound of yours. :D

I wonder, firstly, whether the same weight loss is necessary if (say) the finished product was vac packed for storage or eaten shortly after smoking and, secondly, how much weight loss is required for the product to be 'safe'? I am aware of certain advice about 'flash' freezing to get rid of any parasites, but taking this into account, and in the knowledge that salmon is often eaten raw in japanese dishes, I would assume that there isn't any other particular hazard involved - can anyone advise?

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Postby Hangin_Salami » Sun Jun 01, 2008 1:56 am

24-60 hours of smoking for a fillet??? you sure thats not a typo lol. Why not just drink a shot glass of liquid smoke. crazy stuff!

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Postby wheels » Sun Jun 01, 2008 11:35 am

Chris

I couldn't agree more. However, Erlandson's text is supported by this document (originally posted by Oddley here):

http://seafood.ucdavis.edu/pubs/smoking.htm

Cold-smoking requires a longer brining time, lower temperature (80-90�F) and extended smoking time (1-5 days or more of steady smoking). Cold-smoked fish contain more salt and less moisture than hot-smoked fish. If the fish has been sufficiently cured, it will keep in the refrigerator for several months.


(Bold type - my amendment)

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Postby Hangin_Salami » Sun Jun 01, 2008 8:59 pm

thats rediculous.
:shock:
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Postby wheels » Sun Jun 01, 2008 11:00 pm

Chris
This topic continues atthis thread.

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Postby Batman » Mon Jun 02, 2008 10:27 pm

Just to add that Iate some of the smoked cod trimmings which were very good, maybe a little salty on the tail end but pretty good in the thicker flesh. I followed Erlandson's approach which is to use 80% brine but not to rinse, maybe I should rinse the tail end next time, or lift the tail end out of the brine after 5 or 6 minutes.
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Postby Batman » Mon Jun 09, 2008 8:05 am

The smoked salmon was eaten on Friday and generally considered to be some of the best tasting smoked salmon that friends had eaten. I will definitely be doing this again.

I followed the general dry curing method suggested by Dave(?). Any ideas re flavour modifications, alternative spirit to whiskey? Maple syrup instead of honey? Others?
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smoked salmon

Postby deeps-23 » Mon Jun 09, 2008 9:00 am

i use small hypodermic to inject whisky great flavour i also dry cure
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Postby saucisson » Mon Jun 09, 2008 11:04 am

I've seen Gravadlax made with a splash of Gin and simple sugar, perhaps that's worth a try on smoked salmon? In fact I may give it a go and report back:)
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Postby vinner » Tue Jun 10, 2008 9:33 pm

I make my gravlax with a cure of salt, sugar, pepper, dill and a splash of Pernod. I don't concern myself with weight loss. Rather, starting at about 24 hours (with the fish wrapped in plastic and weighted), I check to see when it is firm at the thickest part. Then it is ready. It certainly is interesting to see how qquickly 1 kg of salmon can disappear... breakfast, lunch and dinner. :lol:
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Postby saucisson » Thu Jul 03, 2008 12:27 am

I packed a kilo bag full of wild salmon steaks with a handful of crushed juniper berries, 20g salt and 10g sugar today as a really good experiment, after my gin idea, then did a search here, just to be sure it really was my idea:

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopi ... ht=juniper

Where Fallow Buck uses juniper

and then this one

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopi ... ht=jumiper

where dougal used juniper and gin...

I sure know how to re-invent the wheel OOPS

:oops:

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