Yes, it can happen in SE TX! Real, cold smoked, Scotch cured, Alaskan salmon! The finished product
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/Smoked01.jpg)
Now for the rest of the story ...
The cool weather lately has let me catch up on a bunch of cold smoked goodies. At the tops of the list for SWMBO was cold smoked salmon. Being fish, I wanted to be sure that temperature wouldn't be a problem. The weather solved that for me.
But then came the second challenge -- finding good quality salmon that I felt comfortable cold smoking. We don't get much salmon down here, and about all we usually see is the farm raised Atlantic salmon, "color added" (and gawd knows what else). No thanks, I'll pass. Then last week I stumbled into a sale at the local Randall's (Safeway group) on "Wild Caught Alaskan Sockeye". Checked it out with the meat dept. manager - processor frozen, in the original cryopac, processed in July. Looked good, so I decided to give it a try. The fact that it had been processor frozen and kept it that way also solved the issue of freezing for parasite destruction for me.
What follows is from the second run with some fine tuning of the recipe based upon the initial results last week (couldn't get pics last week due to software issues). This is a modification of the recipe in Ruhlman & Polcyn's Charuterie.
First, the salmon - two filets between 1.5 and 1.6 lbs each out of their cryopacs. rinsed under cold running water for about 2 mins each, and then blotted dry with paper towels.
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/Filets01.jpg)
Next was some slight modification of the dry cure to be used. Based on the initial trial I upped the sugar to be equal in weight to the salt, but kept the salt and cure #1 as called for in the original recipe. At the same time I omitted the "sweet spices" called for in the recipe (allspice, cloves, and mace), but kept the ground bay leaf at 1/2 the original amount. Finally, rather than sprinkling with dark rum, I used a good Scotch whisky.
I decided to use the Zip bag technique that works well with bacon. Each filet got its own bag. They just fit on a diagonal and that ends up working very well. First half of the cure for each goes on the skin side.
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/RubOnSkin.jpg)
Fold the sides in to the fish, turn it over, and then drizzle 1.5 Tbls of a decent Scotch whisky on the flesh of each fillet.
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/Scotch01.jpg)
Then goes the rest of the cure for each on top of the soused fillet. Close the bags, fold up the sides, and place them on a half-sheet pan, initially skin side down.
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/Cure01.jpg)
Cover with a second sheet pan and weight them down. With two fillets I upped the weight from 8 lbs to 10.
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/Weighted01.jpg)
Back into the refrigerator for some curing time. The initial trial came out high on the salt side. My belief is that was due to the thickness, or lack of it, of the Sockeye filets compared to what Brian Polcyn would get in MI. So I adjusted the curing time from 36 hours down to 24 hours. During the curing cycle I turned the fish from skin side down to skin up after 6 hours, then back to skin down 12 hours later for the final 6 hours of the 24 hour total.
After curing each fillet got a good rinse under cold running water for ~ 2min, blotted dry with paper towels, then onto an elevated rack over a sheet pan and back into the fridge to dry for 12 hours to set up a good pellicle.
Early this morning the temp outside was 37 °F, and the cured, rinsed and dried fish got 6 hours of Bradley Alder smoke. Smoker cabinet temps ran from ~ 50 °F at the start to a high of 61 at the finish. The end product ...
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/Smoked01.jpg)
The smoked filets caught 4 hours of chilling in the refrigerator and are now wresting under plastic wrap. A little QC sample en-route was fantastic. This is really good stuff! The wife is very pleased.
The final cure formulation
For each 1.5 lb of Salmon fillet:
125 g Kosher salt
62.5 g sugar
62.5 g brown sugar
6 g (1 tsp) Cure # 1
3 g (1 tsp) white pepper
1.5 g (1/2 tsp) ground bay leaf
1.5 Tbl Scotch whisky
Beautiful! Those look awesome! Just out of curiosity, and if you don't mind me asking, what do you have to pay for Alaskan sockeye in your area?
Very rich in color. Thanks for the walk through.
JJ
Quote from: aces-n-eights on December 13, 2010, 06:18:12 PM
Beautiful! Those look awesome! Just out of curiosity, and if you don't mind me asking, what do you have to pay for Alaskan sockeye in your area?
A lot!
On sale, $8.99/LB; regular price, $10.99/lb.
Not a fish guy but the step process is an awesome job.
A++.
I have to admit, I misread the subject and immediately clicked on what I though was a post about Scotch and Sex. I survived my initial disappointment and read it anyway, slowly realizing that you look to have hit this one out of the park (and, for the veg-heads, you even found a good use for canned tomatoes). One minor (but important) typo correction - there's no "e" in "whisky" if you're talking about The Macallan and its Scottish brethren.
Nice write up Eric looks Great
Quote from: Ka Honu on December 13, 2010, 07:31:10 PM
I have to admit, I misread the subject and immediately clicked on what I though was a post about Scotch and Sex. I survived my initial disappointment and read it anyway, slowly realizing that you look to have hit this one out of the park (and, for the veg-heads, you even found a good use for canned tomatoes). One minor (but important) typo correction - there's no "e" in "whisky" if you're talking about The Macallan and its Scottish brethren.
No e in Whiskey? Geez, it took me years to realize it had a h in it. Thought it was Wiskey. ;D
Mighty fine indeed Eric
Quote from: Ka Honu on December 13, 2010, 07:31:10 PM
One minor (but important) typo correction - there's no "e" in "whisky" if you're talking about The Macallan and its Scottish brethren.
Dang KH, you got me. Seems even with the proper Scottish form staring me in the face I veered to that alternative version of English for spelling. Thank you. Corrected.
Very nice "drunken salmon" Eric! Around here, The Macallan SHM 1976 is a step above "decent" ... ( in Nov of this year The Macallan sold a bottle of '64 Year Old in Lalique' for $460,000 (£288,000) @ Sotheby's in NYC!!) Hope your Sockeye appreciated that 1.5 tbl ... ;) ;D
Quote from: Kummok on December 14, 2010, 01:27:42 AM
Very nice "drunken salmon" Eric! Around here, The Macallan SHM 1976 is a step above "decent" ... ( in Nov of this year The Macallan sold a bottle of '64 Year Old in Lalique' for $460,000 (£288,000) @ Sotheby's in NYC!!) Hope your Sockeye appreciated that 1.5 tbl ... ;) ;D
Kummok, you have a great eye for fine Scotch Whisky. I've had that bottle for more than 10 years and save it for very special occasions. This salmon is for one of those. It was but one less drink for me. I don't know if the salmon appreciated it, but I sure did. ;D
Just so nobody thinks I am completely deranged, I just checked the current price -- in the UK the 1976 vintage, 18 year old, currently sells for £419 = $665 with VAT, ex VAT it's $565. When I bought it, it wasn't even 3 figures.
edit - I had to go check this. The auctioned bottle sold last year at Sotheby's was billed as 64-year old vatted from three casks of 1942, 1945 an 1946 vintages. The decanter was probably worth more than the whisky inside.
Dang, looks great and a very nice write up Eric.
Nice Eric!
I use the 6-1's in my pizza sauce :D
That salmon looks great!
I also thought that recipe was a little to salty, got the same book, and cut the salt back but kept the rest of the spices in there.
Wild caught Salmon goes for $10.99 + here too.
Very Nice! ;D
Will some of it even make it to the vacuum sealer or is it all gone!
SamuelG
Quote from: SamuelG on December 14, 2010, 06:20:00 AM
Very Nice! ;D
Will some of it even make it to the vacuum sealer or is it all gone!
SamuelG
;D
I'll tell you next week. This is for an occasion dinner on Sunday (along with the slab-o-beef that's in the Drybag).
I have two more of those fillets in cryopacs resting at -20 °F. :D
Ka Honu was inspired by some dufous cooking chili. I am being inspired by salmon from SE TX! I will have to do that over Christmas. I know I've got some Laiphroaig leftover in my fishing flask. Saw some great looking (supposedly wild caught) Alaskan salmon at Fresh Market the other day. Alaskan Salmon wild caught at this time of the year?
That is beautiful BLSH. May have to give that a shot as I happen to have 2 Sockeye salmon fillets cryovaced in the freezer myself!.
Quote from: Caneyscud on December 14, 2010, 06:55:21 AM
....Alaskan Salmon wild caught at this time of the year?
For the more hardy fishermen/women, this is the best time of year for feeder Kings....don't have to worry about meat spoilage from the heat. You've gotta pick your days though....it's gale force w/ freezing spray out in calm ol' Kachemak bay right now.. :o
BTW....wild caught Kings are still in the $800-$1200/lb range here (not a typo....that price includes the cost of boat/fuel/licenses/maintenance/dock/tackle/etc... ;) )
Quote from: Kummok on December 14, 2010, 09:28:57 AM
Quote from: Caneyscud on December 14, 2010, 06:55:21 AM
....Alaskan Salmon wild caught at this time of the year?
For the more hardy fishermen/women, this is the best time of year for feeder Kings....don't have to worry about meat spoilage from the heat. You've gotta pick your days though....it's gale force w/ freezing spray out in calm ol' Kachemak bay right now.. :o
BTW....wild caught Kings are still in the $800-$1200/lb range here (not a typo....that price includes the cost of boat/fuel/licenses/maintenance/dock/tackle/etc... ;) )
That's about in line with the price of wild duck, deer and elk ...... :D
or brook trout
Years ago I had a friend in MI who decided to go in "whole hog" for Lake MI salmon fishing. Bought a boat, a weekend house near where he kept the boat, gear, tackle, etc. When he caught his first salmon he figured it to be worth something like $6,000 / lb. ;D
Beautiful looking salmon!
I'm curious about the use of Cure #! in the brine. I can't recall it being included in any other recipes I've seen.
I'd be interested in knowing how many people use cure in their brine?
After hanging out in the fridge for six days, the time came. As plated and served with capers, homemade creme fraiche and lemon, served with some homemade baguettes. Wife said it turned out incredibly good. They must have liked it - the plates came back empty.
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/SalmonPlate01.jpg)
Hungry crowd awaits -- 3 kids, 5 adults
(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll27/divedaddy/Smoke2010/SalmonPlate02.jpg)
Looks great Eric. Probably a $50 appetizer at a fancy restaurant and you made it at home.
Right on the money! I'll take about 5 pounds!
Quote from: Tenpoint5 on December 20, 2010, 06:52:55 AM
Looks great Eric. Probably a $50 appetizer at a fancy restaurant and you made it at home.
Yep - a bunch cheaper at home, even having to pay TX market price for the salmon.
And for my taste, better too, but then I am biased. :D
I checked current price (internet) on cold smoked sockeye -- depending on where I was finding typically $35-$40 for a 1.5 lb filet. My total cost, including pucks and cure was ~ $21/filet. Not cheap, but for something truly special, a bargain.
Nice looking scotch smoked BLSH! I am going to put some sockeye in the salt in a few days to do the same thing since my August batch is all gone. This AM I'm putting 8 racks of Kummok's strips in the smoker for xmas gifts.
QuoteBTW....wild caught Kings are still in the $800-$1200/lb range here (not a typo....that price includes the cost of boat/fuel/licenses/maintenance/dock/tackle/etc...
Kummok--You are welcome to come and visit here on the Island anytime--but never mention this subject to my wife!!! :D
T2
Quote from: tsquared on December 20, 2010, 09:19:12 AM
..... Kummok--You are welcome to come and visit here on the Island anytime--but never mention this subject to my wife!!! :D
T2
They KNOW..... our fishing time = their shopping time! Bought my wife an iTouch last year and she doesn't even know when I'm at home anymore... ;)
The fish looks great Eric ....looks raw to these old eyes, but great...I still haven't eaten cold smoked, (which is kinda weird, cause I have eaten raw salmon @ a sushi place in San Diego)...I gotta do the lox one-o-these-days and yours is as tempting as I've seen ;)
Ahhh that does look delicious! I'll have to get myself to the fridge and slice some.
BLSH, did you make any without the glorious spirits?
Thanks.
SamuelG
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Nope. But as best I can tell it's just for flavor and not necessary.
I do have a plan for another variation involving different flavoring and a different spirit for the next round.
Thanks for this post BLSH........ because of it I made a last minute switch from Navy Rum to Irish Whiskey on one of the sides of salmon I did with Scotch Whisky on the other for my Christmas cold smoked salmon and I was not disappointed! ;) :D
Hopefully it will go down well on Christmas Day ...... Merry Christmas to all! ;) :D