RESULTS of my 2nd attempt @ Indian Candy

[Gman74]

Well, this is the second batch of Indian Candy I've made as I screwed up the 1st little batch as I was not made aware to use coarse/pickling/sea salt instead of regular iodized table salt!  First batch was incredibly satly but it disappeared along with a few bevies ;D

Here's the recipe I'm following http://www.bradleysmoker.com/maple-bisquette-recipes.asp#2 which basically requires a 1:1 ratio of salt to brown sugar and let the fish sit for 12-124hrs then put in smoker for 4-12 hours depending on desired chewyness.

So, here my fish sitting in the 1:1 mix which draws out all the moisture from the fish and you basically end up with a slushly maple syrup like liquid. During this time the strips of salmon become rigid and absorb some of the color from the brown sugar, here's a pic @ the 24hr mark



Here's a pic of the strips just after being rinsed off under cold water to allow the pellicle to set-up, now I only rinsed each piece for several seconds



Since I had never really made it before and it's not supposed to be jerky I decided to cook it for a total time of 8 hours @ 120F and only smoking for 3 of those hours with maple pucks and here's the final results after a light dusting of real maple syrup on one side




It still tastes quite salty!

My questions is, has anyone else here made indian candy, what recipe did you use and how did it turn out?  I find mine is still a quite salty but maybe that's just it, I guess maybe because I see all that sugar in the 1:1 mix that I would expect it to be sweeter? It is much much much less salty than my previous batch I even used a little more sugar than coarse salt this time.  Maybe I'm just expecting it to be more sweet than salty since it was "candy" in the name!

Guess I'll just have to go get me some more and try again till I find a formula that works for me

Any tips, hints, or suggestions is appreciated.

Cheers G.

[smokeitall]

I have never done fish yet but when I do Habs Canadian bacon I rinse well for a minute, soak for 15, rinse well for a minute, soak for an additional 15 minutes, rinse well then let dry overnight to form pellicle.  Maybe its possible that you didn't rinse them long enough.  I guess I should go find some Salmon and try this out.

[Gman74]

Well a friend of mine who also fishes and does a fair bit of smoking has made indian candy quite and bit and advised the salt content in the above braley recipe is way too much, recommends to cut it down to 1/3 cup salt to 1 cup brown sugar and and in a cup of apple juice at the same time.

I'll give it a go in the next coupla days and let ya'll know.

Cheers G,

[darth21]

i've made several batches and am fixin to put some on tonight. i ran into the same problem (too salty) the first time. i use a 2 to 1 ratio of demerara sugar/brown sugar, a little real maple syrup to sea salt and sometimes add a little stout or imperial ipa beer. i baste at the end with a few different combos. happy ending (sweetwater brewery) or tenfidy or gubna (oskar blues brewery) & real maple syrup or honey and sometimes a lil cayenne.