I'm new to smoking and am trying my second batch of spring salmon today. The first batch had a very bitter taste I smoked it according to the Bradley timing in the manual but I am thinking this taste was caused by too much smoke. Can anyone tell me how long to leave the smoke on? Do you leave it on the entire time you have the fish in the smoker or do you shut the smoke off after a certain time and just leave the heat on?
Welcome to the forum, the fish experts will be along shortly to help you out. It would help to know what temp you smoked at, what wood, was your vent open or closed (should never be fully closed) and anything else you can think of that you did so they can give you a better answer.
Hey Brucep, sorry that your first run of Salmon was not the best, however the more you smoke the better you get and the more you eat.. ;D
However Kummok has a thread about salmon which everyone uses as a guide. It gives great information. Check it out and we hope that it can help.
Click on Me or the Pic (http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=107.0)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v728/Kummok/134-3407_IMG.jpg) (http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=107.0)
Bruce, the bitter flavor you experienced could result from several possibilities, or a combination of them. Smoke time - I use three hours. Wood - I use alder. Bradley also recommends other milder woods such as maple, cherry, Pacific Blend, Special Blend, or even mesquite, for fish and seafood. Vent position - fish is a fairly high moisture content product. Your vent should be open about 3/4 of the way to allow moisture to escape. Some forum members, including me, have removed the movable part of the vent damper without adverse effect on our smoking. I did this after I accidentally left the damper closed during the first hour or so of a sausage smoke. The sausage came out tasting sooty and looking kind of gray. So I decided I needed to goof proof my smoker. Brine/seasoning - is there something in your brine that could contribute the bitter flavor? I dry brine with a mixture of kosher salt, brown sugar, garlic powder and onion powder that I found in Warren Anderson's book on smoking. Works well for me.
Hope this helps you pinpoint the cause of your bitter flavor. Part of the challenge is dialing in the flavor profiles you like best. Many folks keep a smoking log to help them duplicate past successes and to provide a starting point reference for fine tuning.
with you being new to smoking the most likely reason is that the top vent is not opened wide enough... have it wide open,....