Right now where I live, it's like 89F (32C) but feel likes 111F (44C) due to the humidity.. Is it a bad time to do any hot smoking because of this extreme heat and humidity? Any advice to get some fish smoked in this heat would be appreciated :) TIA!
I don't know why you could not hot smoke your salmon. You, of course could not Cold Smoke very easily. For the low temp start, you might just use the smoker generator for heat and not the element, and then cut the element on, after the initial smoke. I have hot smoked salmon at 200+ - you just get more "white goobers" (I don't mind them) and you have to watch very closely so you don't overcook. 89F is not all that hot. If I couldn't smoke at temps above 89F, I wouldn't be able to smoke at all during the summer! And I'm in TN - by far not the hottest state!
If you find you need to cool the cabinet temperature down - add some ice to the water bowl - or in a foil pan on a rack.
Thanks Caneyscud! I just wanted to make sure before I ruined a few good fillets of wild salmon :)
Hot smoking salmon is excellent
I'm kinda quiet on this one cuz I have absolutely no experience w/ smoking in hot/humid weather....just doesn't happen here. I can tell you that I've made just about every mistake possible with smoking salmon and have yet to see ANY result that I would call "ruined". Salmon is extremely forgiving (except farmed, which makes one leg grow shorter than the other AND makes you glow in the dark! :o ;) ) and with Caney's venting suggestions (and adopting his white-booger-tolerance ;)) I doubt that you will be unsatisfied with the results. By giving it a try, you will at least know what the results are so you can advance in your personal tastes from there.....
Quote from: Kummok on July 06, 2010, 02:04:01 PM
I'm kinda quiet on this one cuz I have absolutely no experience w/ smoking in hot/humid weather........
Yeh, rub it in. However, our winters aren't as long! ;D ;D
I'll be up in your latitudes this weekend - Northern Sask.....err however you spell it. Hopefully tying into some large walleye and larger Northerns. Flying in if we get high enough to see you - I'll wave. ;D ;D :D :D
Thanks Kummok! I'll definitely give it a whirl. I'll also stay away from the farmed salmon as much as possible ;)