Mixed up a half recipe of Kummock's brine last night and put it in the fridge. Put the salmon in this morning, (4 lbs) but I am a little concerned. The salmon I used said wild caught Alaskan pink salmon, four ounce portions individually frozen in vac packs. They seemed pretty soft, some were even borderline mushy it seemed like. Probably serves me right for buying the 2 lb frozen packages for $12 instead of the $12/lb fresh stuff at the meat counter. My only comparison is the fish I catch myself, which doesn't include salmon, but the perch/crappie/walleye sure seems a lot firmer? Nothing to do now but proceed I suppose, but my expectations aren't very high at this point. Not likely to find anything on Christmas morning. Which reminds me: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tailfeathers
Pink salmon is a generally soft fleshed fish compared to reds or silvers. If you smoke it low and slow and spend the extra time in the smoker you should be able to firm up the fish with just dehydration. Keep the vent wide open and take your time. When I was younger I worked a couple of summers in Alaska salmon canneries. We did mostly Pinks and they firmed up in the can once they were cooked.
Oh did I forget to mention northerns in my list of firm fleshed fish? Sorry pikeman, and thanks for the response. I gotta admit most of the snot rockets I catch get released, not because they aren't delicious but I'm to lazy to learn how to take out the y bones. I keep one now and again for pickling because then all I worry about is getting the ribs out .
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So if I understand correctly I should use some additional time at the beginning lower temps?
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Yes you need to keep it in a dehydration temp from 125-130 F for as many hours needed to reduce moisture. You can check it by pushing down on the flesh with your finger. If you do this from the start you should be able to tell when it starts to firm up. After it gets more firm then you can start to raise the temp. 140 for a couple of hours then finish it off at 175 for a hour or more. All the time I would test the firmness as I go.
As for the northern pike I have a lot of experience at taking the Y bones out. We put lots of filets in the freezer each summer. I spear fish them with a spear gun.
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/Pike%20pictures/IMGP4631.jpg~original) (http://s943.photobucket.com/user/pikeman_95/media/Pike%20pictures/IMGP4631.jpg.html)
Yea I saw a post from you with a bunch of pike you had speared. Looks like a blast! And I never turn down a meal of them if someone who knows the right way to fillet them makes me an offer. They eat as good or better than any of the other more popular (at least around here) varieties of fish. Thanks again.
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Tailfeathers, the brine will firm up the fish quite a bit. Shouldn't be a problem. The salt pulls moisture out of the flesh.
Thanks everybody. Fixing to pull the fish out of the brine shortly, that will be at the twelve hour mark. My plan is to put it on Pam sprayed frog mats in the fridge overnight and hopefully it will have a good pellicle by tomorrow morning.
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Well it didn't seem at all tacky this am so I brought it in, turned it skin side up on the racks and put a fan on it for an hour. The skin side then felt pretty sticky do I turned it meat side up and stuck it in the Bradley preheated to 100. My plan is to leave it at 100 for about 1.5 hrs or until it seems tacky, then 130 with smoke for a couple hours. Then 140 for a couple more hours without smoke, finish at 175 for 1-2 hours. Sound about right? My first attempt at salmon. I know for sure next time I'm investing in higher quality fish.
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Make sure your racks are sprayed with Pam and them put them skin side down. If you have frog mats they should go on your racks with the fish on them. The last batch I did the fish just slid off.
Yep, they're skin side down on pam sprayed frog mats. In at 100F right now to try to get a pellicle set up.
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Did the flesh firm up at all?
Quote from: tailfeathers on December 26, 2013, 08:19:13 AM
Yep, they're skin side down on pam sprayed frog mats. In at 100F right now to try to get a pellicle set up.
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Quote from: pikeman_95 on December 26, 2013, 07:51:26 AM
Make sure your racks are sprayed with Pam and them put them skin side down. If you have frog mats they should go on your racks with the fish on them. The last batch I did the fish just slid off.
tf,
I always scale the fish before I fillet them out. I don't like scales stuck to the flesh. It ruins presentation and once dried, impossible to get off. Ditto on the stick-release. I found another product used by commercial size smokers called Peel-Ease. It comes in concentrated liquid and you add water to dilute it to the right stength. I think sausagemaker.com carries it. Also, after smoking I put the fish in the fridge-covered- for 24hrs to let the flavors meld. Then vacpac and freeze.
Things are looking better than I thought they would at this point, the fish has firmed up nicely and no boogers as of yet. Been going lowww and slowwww. Been on five hours now at 100 for 1.5 120 for 1.5 with smoke and now 2 at 130 with smoke for the 1st hour. I'm thinking 175 in another half hour to finish.
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Must be done by now. How did ya do?
It turned out better than I had hoped. Delicious!!! It's in a ziplock in the fridge til morning then I'll zip seal it. I'll post some pics. Thanks everyone for the helpful advice! LOVE these forums!
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Great !!
I am glad that it worked out well. Now that you have some great smoked salmon in the fridge can I give you a couple of suggestions for some of it. Try a Cesar salad with crumbled Salmon on top. My grand daughter just loves it. The second is mince some up and mix it with a cube of cream cheese a few chopped up onions and then roll in some crushed walnuts. A smoked salmon ball that is made with some like you have now is just so much better then what you can find in the store.
(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/SOCKEYE%20SALMON%20SMOKE/101_7268-Copy2.jpg~original) (http://s943.photobucket.com/user/pikeman_95/media/SOCKEYE%20SALMON%20SMOKE/101_7268-Copy2.jpg.html)
Thanks, that salad looks fantastic!
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Well I vac sealed most of the salmon this morning. Here is a shot of the finished product before sealing.(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/28/y9yhy8a5.jpg)on the left is maple and creole (Tony Chachere's) on the right. There was also a small rack of the thinner and odd size pieces that was done with cayenne but unfortunately the photographic evidence exists only in the smoker pic from the earlier post, it was consumed prior to the final photo session.
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Well I vac sealed most of the salmon this morning. Here is a shot of the finished product before sealing.(http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/28/y9yhy8a5.jpg)on the left is maple and creole (Tony Chachere's) on the right. There was also a small rack of the thinner and odd size pieces that was done with cayenne but unfortunately the photographic evidence exists only in the smoker pic from the earlier post, it was consumed prior to the final photo session.
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A minor suggestion: when you take fish out of a smoker, don't put it in a plastic bag, because you'll get a lot of condensation in the bag as the fish cools. Put the fish on a plate in your refrigerator to cool down and dry out for about 12 hours before you vacuum pack it.
Another easy but tasty recipe is to crumble up some smoked salmon and mix it into an omelette with some chopped green pepper or zucchini.
Quote from: pmmpete on December 27, 2013, 10:20:12 AM
A minor suggestion: when you take fish out of a smoker, don't put it in a plastic bag, because you'll get a lot of condensation in the bag as the fish cools. Put the fish on a plate in your refrigerator to cool down and dry out for about 12 hours before you vacuum pack it.
Yep. I use a raised wire rack or even a Bradley rack turned upside to place the smoked fish on in the frig to dry as pmmpete suggested.
Another possible "post-smoker" method that has worked well for me for years is to slid the pieces directly into a large Ziploc bag (I use gallon size) and put directly into the freezer (unless your batch is especially soft/moist). I then let it sit there for a while, 1-5 days, and then reduce it to smaller portions that get vac-sealed and back into the freezer. The smoke flavor that I love seems to permeate the meat better and actually tastes better to me than it does right outta the smoker.
Doing that right now, to take a large batch down to the Cook Islands this Saturday, and it will all go down in a large Ziploc as frozen baggage...drives the airport drug dogs insane so I always allow extra "early arrival before departure" time!
This method is for my small bite sized pieces and I wouldn't recommend it for larger pieces and full slabs......