My First Smoked Salmon: Kummok Recipie

scotts87 · August 27, 2009, 05:55:36 PM

FINALLY!!! I caught this awesome 44 lb King Salmon back in early June, but because of work obligations, waiting on the Alder pucks, and other things (not Bradley related mind you), I have just today put the lovely salmon strips into the Bradley!! Its 4:30 in the afternoon, so I am looking forward to an awesome midnight snack :)

2 days ago got the process started with the brine. Decided to use Teriyaki instead of Soy. The brine tasted awesome...hehee good sign. Took the fish out of the brine after about 15 hours, then for the last 24 hours had them forming a nice pellicle.

Now they are in the smoker getting all happy with about 100-110 F cool smoke (Alder of course), then slowly increasing the temp later on. I plan about 4-5 hours of smoke....hope that's not too much. Its a small batch this first one, so I can afford to make a mistake. Also nervous about my ability to control the temp...I just don't want to get it too hot, and end up with those dreaded boogers :P

Wish me luck!!
Scott in Palmer Alaska

Up In Smoke · August 27, 2009, 06:15:06 PM

Great catch! and best of luck on the first run.
photos if you get time between snacks!
and i will pm my address when you are ready to ship. ;)

aces-n-eights · August 27, 2009, 06:35:00 PM

Awesome, Scott! I also like to smoke salmon with apple - it's a bit milder, but definitely flavorful. Let us know how it turns out.

scotts87 · August 27, 2009, 06:59:03 PM

Will do!! Apple, I will definitely give that a shot next.

By the way, any tips on posting pictures to this forum? Ive looked all over, but can't find any info on this.

Thanks!

Mr Walleye · August 27, 2009, 07:06:27 PM

Hi Scott

Good luck with the salmon... It is awesome! ;)

Here is a link to the FAQ on posting pictures to the forum.

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showpost.php?p=768&postcount=11

Mike

HawkeyeSmokes · August 27, 2009, 07:52:37 PM

Sounds like a great catch there Scott. Hope you have a pic you can post of it.
And good luck smoking it. Keep us posted on how it goes.

BTW, welcome to the forum. ;D

KyNola · August 27, 2009, 08:36:19 PM

Scott,
Good for you! Let us know how it all turns out. If you develop the boogers, they will wipe off especially if you catch them early. Either way be happy with just how good that salmon tastes.

Congrats my friend.
KyNola

Kummok · August 27, 2009, 09:34:53 PM

Smoke On, Scott!! Kinda nice to be able to brine a whole smoker full with ONE fish....44 pounder is GREAT catch!! I wouldn't be too concerned with messing anything up...it's a King and ANY way it comes out of the smoker will be tasty!! (Good move on the Teriyaki for Soy substitution!!)

scotts87 · August 27, 2009, 10:04:04 PM

Thanks everyone!! Oh and this batch is just like a FRACTION of my total haul from this fish. Id say I probably have 3 lbs of fish in the smoker at the moment. Still got a TON in the freezer....but if this turns out good, I suspect I will be doing a lot more in the coming weeks / months. Not sure if I have enough to last me until next King season (here in Alaska)....I doubt it, because Ive been going thru it pretty quickly with the cedar plank grilling, and now the smoking.

The Bubba Pucks are about ready to drop, so by now I figure I have about 40 to 60 mins of smoke left. Heat is increasing a little. I will keep an eye out for boogers, and wipe them off as needed, but so far its been good. Been staying on the low side of the temperature scale (120-140F). Will finish off during the last 2 hours with no smoke and about 170F.

Now for my next question......I wonder if its better to then put the tasty morsels back in the fridge and taste them the next day? Or are they good warm right out of the smoker. Something tells me that they will be better after a little chill on them. But still, its gonna be impossible to resist the urge to have a few bites later on tonight!! ;D

scotts87 · August 30, 2009, 03:37:51 PM

Definitely a winner of a recipe!!! I thought I'd be able to taste a bit more spice with the Cayanne in the brine, but no real heat. I love the subtle sweetness from the brown sugar!! Turned out to be pretty moist, but if I had to do it over again, I think I would not cut such narrow slices. Keeping the skin on (no issues with scales BTW) is definitely the thing to do, as the skin does help retain oil. The 5 hrs smoke and 8 hr total time following the temperature guidelines was spot on, no boogers! :) I don't think it ever really got hot enough for that. I don't think I ever really hit 170F.....maybe 160F tops. The majority of the time in the Bradley was at the lower end of the temperature scales (anywhere between 100F up to 140F).

dbrown1 · September 24, 2009, 05:07:56 PM

Congrats Scott and welcome aboard.... Yeah Kummok is definitely the man with the plan for smoking Salmon!