kummoks salmon how to know when done

[pensrock]

Hi, I just put my first batch of king salmon in the smoker. When reviewing the times and temps to shoot for all I seen at the end was "170 degrees for 1-2 hours till done". How do I know when it's done? I have my maverick in one of the bigger pieces can I use that as an indicator? What temp should I be looking for?
Thanks and I'll post pics as I take them.

[pensrock]

Just put into the smoker.

[Carter]

When you hit stage 3 and raise that temperature to 170 degrees, you just have to trust that after an hour or two, the salmon will be done.  It just is.  As soon as my smoker hits 170, I give the fish an hour from that point and then try a sampler (usually a larger one and on the upper rack).  If it pulls apart like cooked fish, I consider it done and figure the rest must be done too.

[MoSmoke]

Pensrock,
Looking at the photos and being some what jealous of the load of salmon I noticed the location of your temp cables.  You might want to run the Maverick temp cables down the vent opening rather through the door opening to keep from damaging the door seal. I've made Kummok's salmon before and it is fantastic. Carter is right on with the time thing and the doneness test.

John

[pensrock]

   I just went out to rotate the racks front to back and top to bottom. I smoked for 1 hour 40 minutes using Alder and am 2 hours into the 140 degree heating phase.  When I opened the door I was shocked to see water everywhere. Dripping from the top of the tower, running down the door, on the product. I quickly wiped the inside down with paper towels, emptied the water bowl then fully opened the top damper, it had been 1/4 open during the smoking and two hours at 140 degrees. I hope this will not effect the salmon to any great extent.
   I still do not understand why I keep having so many moisture problems and Bradley has not been able to come up with a good solution. Last time I talked to them, this happened before when smoking sausage, they suggested I open the louvers in the 'V' tray as much as possible. Mine are now bent so far open that once in a while the drippings fall through the louver openings. I thought the problem was fixed because I have not seen the moisture again till today.
   Well hopefully things will improve since I wiped it down and opened the vent completely. Time will tell. Fingers crossed.

[Habanero Smoker]

Did you allow the salmon to air dry and form a pellicle? If not that may be a cause for your moisture problem this time.

[pensrock]

Habs, yes it was dry and sticky before putting into the smoker. I've had a similar problem before doing sausage. I still believe that the water in the bowl is evaporating causing a lot of the moisture.

Well I have the salmon out of the smoker and it looks pretty good. Some of it stuck to the jerkey trays and fell apart when taking it off of the trays. But for my first fish smoke it looks good.

[Arcs_n_Sparks]

pensrock,

Very nice...

Sparkler

[tsquared]

Looks good Pensrock. Well done!
T2

[Habanero Smoker]

The salmon looks real good. If you ever discover what is causing so much moisture in your cabinet please post it. That problem is going to drive me crazy until I know the actual cause. ;D

[Carter]

Looks great.  How does it taste?

[car54]

Man that looks good .

[pensrock]

The salmon was a real big hit! Everyone who tried it loved it. The first question from the guy who provided the salmon was "how many can you fit in one load?"
Thanks Kummock!!! It is better than expected.

[Gizmo]

To which you replied, "how fast can you bring them?"

[pensrock]

Giz, My reply was something like that. What I said was when are we going to catch some more?