lox--straight dry method vs dry/finish brine

[tsquared]

I tried Spyguys method of dry salt/sugar cure then finishing brine on 12 lbs of coho/spring salmon out of curiosity. I have always done a straight salt then sugar dry cure described at http://www.bradleysmoker.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=555&SearchTerms=lox. I loved Spyguy's recipe in terms of the texture as it was so silky and melt in your mouth. The salt level seemed just right too. The only thing I missed from my old recipe was the tang of the rum that I rubbed on the surface of the fillets. Somehow I'll have to work that in. Any way, I took some of the end product into work for my staff and they went nuts over it. My only complaint was I somehow mixed in one puck of mesquite with the alder.[xx(] Nobody else could taste it but I could. There's starting to be a few bare spots in the freezer....more fishin' coming up!
Still messin' around with fish...
Tom

[The LoxSmith]

Hi:

   I have been using Spyguy's recipe for lox in my home-made smoker.  I have switched from Alder to 100% maple and my friends love it.  (Unfortunately [:(!] I have some kind of condition where I cannot smell or taste anything, but I love their reports>)  My goal is to come close to (or beat) the Ovenhead smoked salmon (from New Brunswick, Canada) but I cannot taste to compare...aaargh!!!  Anyhow it's fun to do it for my friends.

   I only cold smoke.  I have smoked cheese, many almonds, salt, cihpoltes  --had to dry them separately -- and of course, the lox.

   My homemade smoker is 100% home made, using an old single drawer (less the drawer) file cabinet as the smoke box, and a soldering iron in a coffee can, connected via a metal flexible duct (3 inch dryer vent) to the smoke box.  

   Other than the salt & sugar the only spice I add to the lox are whole peppercorns to the wet brine.

   I hope that you folks don't mind my presence here, given I do not have a Bradley.

   If anyone wants pictures of my smoker, I can try to post some, if they tell me where to post them.

[Oldman]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">I hope that you folks don't mind my presence here, given I do not have a Bradley.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">No problem on my end... we are all God's Smokers under the sun[:D] [:D] So next time you come grab a cold one and sit a spell [^]
 <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">If anyone wants pictures of my smoker, I can try to post some, if they tell me where to post them.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Seeing how your unit is not a Bradley I would think you could post your pictures on the New Topic forum. I'm sure we would all like to see what ya got!

As far as the recipe site goes you are more than welcome to use anything there and you are more than welcome to download the recipes and reader I have listed there.

Good luck with your smoking!

Olds

[tsquared]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">My homemade smoker is 100% home made, using an old single drawer (less the drawer) file cabinet as the smoke box, and a soldering iron in a coffee can, connected via a metal flexible duct (3 inch dryer vent) to the smoke box.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote"> I've got a few file cabinets that I'd like to set fire to but I can't for a few more years til I retire. In the meantime Loxsmith, welcome to the forum! I smoked my fish in an old fridge with a remote smoke chamber made from a 1940's era Calgary street lamp cover for years. Worked great but the Bradley involves less babysitting.
Tom

[JJC]

Welcome to the Forum, Barry!  Looking forward to seeing pix of your smoker setup.

John
Newton MA