Smoked Salmon

[superevent]

I'm pretty sure this is very, very basic to most of you guys. I have two large fillets of fresh Salmon come my way today. (Whole carcass of venison last week, Whole Salmon this week, life’s a bugger at times!!!) Anyhow, some one able to aim me at an idiot-proof method with weights etc if poss. of cold smoking a traditional Smoked Salmon product. All help much appreciated.

Regards to all.

P.S
ASAP would really good id like to get this started first call tomorrow to use the fish in its best condition.

P.S.S
Is it a problem if my cold smoking takes place at a very low temp? Reason I mention this is that I use a remote smoke generator, the evenings at moment are pretty cool/cold and my smoker might just be too cold im told? Thoughts from all you experts please!!!

Cheers.

Tony.

[saucisson]

I've done it in the snow salmon I do by eye so weights and measures would be a bit tricky....

Sorry,

Dave

[grisell]

How about this?

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopi ... ght=salmon

I was always very happy with it.

[grisell]

[---]
P.S.S
Is it a problem if my cold smoking takes place at a very low temp? Reason I mention this is that I use a remote smoke generator, the evenings at moment are pretty cool/cold and my smoker might just be too cold im told? Thoughts from all you experts please!!!

Cheers.

Tony.

I smoke salmon at 15-25 C (60-80 F). Never let the temp rise above that if you want a cold smoked salmon. I don't think that a lower temperature than 15 C is a problem, on the contrary. It will probably take longer time, though. Otherwise, 16-24 hours is normal.

I don't think you will ever get the smoke much colder than 15 C, though. When I smoked in an outdoor temp of -16 C (3 F) a few years ago, the smoke plummeted to around 10 C, so I had to fire up a little. I guess it's not that cold where you live?

If you use wild salmon, I'd recommend freezing it (either before or after smoking) to kill parasites. The smoke alone won't kill them.

[superevent]

.Got hold of a superb fresh salmon yesterday. Filleted fish this morning. Too be frank, only when handling and filleting the fish did I realise what a beauty it is. (That's said after having more salmon than you could point a stick at) Good fresh fishy smell, nice firm flesh, pink gills and all in all a good size. Cleaned and filleted produced 2.8kilos near as damn it of prime fillets.

Laid fish with Salt and unrefined sugar. Sugar is very on the dark side, but a pal of mine in the states does the same. tends to produce a darker Smoked Salmon as a result of the darker sugar? Then I guess all you guys know this anyway's. Anyhow, just salting at moment, smoking tomorrow. I work my butt of 24/7 during the summer now is a quieter time for me and get the chance to play with some foodie projects. At the moment I have two loins of venison, two legs of venison and two hams on the go. God knows what I will do with it all, assuming of course it is edible.

We shall see?

Regards to all

[superevent]

Gotta tell you guys my two fillets of smoked salmon, are deeeeeeelishious!

Well chuffed, certainly well chuffed for a first shot. I'd post pictures but then, photo of two fillets of smoked salmon are pretty normal to you guys. Thanks for the help.

Regards to all.

[tinca]

Good luck with yer smoking, i have just done me first smoked salmon fillet, used 1 cup flaked sea salt , 1/2 cup mixed brown and white sugar and plenty of dill, rubbed it all in and vacpacked overnight , quick wash, and dry , thenleft in the fridge for a day, smoked it for 6 hours then back in fridge then another 4 hours if i remember rightly the next day, it has a nice lightly smoked flavour but very good , suprised me as i dont like smoked salmon better tan the commercial stuff goner do a shoulder of pork today gaz

[grisell]

tinca & superevent: Try without sugar next time! I think it is considerably better.

[superevent]

Ill give it a shot...... no sugar next time!!!

Regards to all.

[wheels]

Due to their importance I've split the posts about freezing salmon into a separate thread.

Phil

[onewheeler]

I'm dead chuffed having just cold smoked my first salmon fillet. I made a CSG along the lines of kevster's not-quite-a-Pro-Q-clone, bought some oak dust from Ebay and a salmon side from Sainsburys. Salted for about 18 hours in two parts salt to one part brown sugar (it was supposed to be a shorter salting but a warm wife and drowsy slumbers overtook me). Fifteen minutes rinsing, then onto a mesh sheet (Aldi special non stick) in the BBQ.

I'd preloaded the CSG with sawdust and left it in the simmering oven of the Aga overnight. It lit first time so went into the BBQ and on went the cover to keep the wind out. Checked a few times and the CSG just steadily burnt away. A lump of random cheddar from the fridge also went on for a few hours, and a head of garlic (stripped of its loose outer leaves).

The CSG burnt for about 9 hours. Wasn't sure about the fish, and the garlic didn't look very smoked at all, so I recharged the CSG and gave it another go overnight (18 hours total). For the second load it only had fifteen minutes warming in the simmering oven.

End result was a weight loss of about 12% (is that reasonable?) We had some with home made rolls this evening and it was pretty good. If I were to be critical, I'd say it should have had around 12 hours on the smoker, and possibly a shorter salting to meet my taste preferences. I would probably freeze the fillet first to encourage weight loss without an excess of salt.

Not too impressed by the cheese, but the family like it and I hate cheddar anyway. Will try the garlic tomorrow. The CSG is brilliant!

Martin/

[Richierich]

I use a similar salt/sugar ratio, but only cure overnight. Would then leave it in the fridge uncovered for a day to dry before smoking, I think I hit 17% loss last time. It was approaching 10% before it hit the smoke.

Was it a shop you bought the dust from on Ebay or a private 1 off sale?

[steelchef]

Try this site:


http://www.justsmokedsalmon.com/alderrecipes.htm

My "Low Salt - All Purpose Rub" is obviously our fave but there are many wonderful recipes for rubs and brines here.
Also, Alder is NOT the secret to these recipes. There are many alternatives but definitely NOT hardwoods.
Salmon, in fact all seafood needs a mild smoke. Since I'm not familiar with your native species I can't recommend any.
I use native aspen, which includes alder plus any and all fruitwoods. For a really different experience, a small amount of cedar adds a unique touch.

[onewheeler]

Ebay dust came from item number 270652143883, he appears to sell it as a regular item. I bought from him mainly because he's local enough to go round to give him a good talking to if it were cr*p.

The smoked salmon recipes site looked good - well some of the recipes did, some sounded pretty vile

Is there a commonly used nomenclature to distinguish between hot smoking, which is what I do with a lidded tin with wood chips over a meths burner, and which takes about fifteen minutes to cook / smoke most small items, and what sound like "warm" smokers (as opposed to cold smokers) which run at 70 - 80 C -ish, and which I'd perhaps call smoky slow cookers?

Martin/

[steelchef]

I prefer my salmon, Lox style. The more raw the better. When it becomes overdone, my wife enjoys it better. As far as a common term, can't help you with that. Just know that everyone is different when it comes to their preferred state of (doneness?)