Salmon

[flat-fish]

New to the forum, been lurkin awhile, I have been trying kummocks salmon recipe (which is excellent!) with fresh caught chinook on the columbia river .I have a "white booger problem lol" ,they seem to appear before i move the temp up above 120, I have probs keeping the temp below 140 so i have been using ice in the water pan and/or a screwdriver wedged in the door to keep the temps down. I have a maverick temp probe an appears that the bs therm is correct . I called bradley about the probs keeping the temp down and he said to make a box and use dryer vent hose (cold smoke box?) like those seen on this site. I bought this smoker to smoke fish and was not expecting to have to modify it. Also my outside temps have been 60 to72 when smoking. On the plus side the fish i have smoked taste great  , just was concerned with the ' if your gettin white boogers you are to hot or to fast'.My salmon cuts are usually 1/2" to 5/8" with the skin on.

[flat-fish]

Also most important
 THANKS to all on the forum
 going to try oldmans ckicken rollups tomorrow[:)] can't wait!!!
 flat-fish

[Chez Bubba]

FF,

Is your slider all the way to the left? Is the heater bulb glowing orange? I can't imagine more than doubling ambient with an ice tray in place. Maybe it's a faulty connection because the puck burner should only add about 25F to ambient, which would be negated with the ice.

Kirk

http://www.chezbubba.com
Ya think next time I check into a hotel & they ask "Smoking or Non?" they would mind?

[Oldman]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><font size="2"> oldmans ckicken rollups tomorrow</font id="size2"><hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">I like to take credit when credit is do. However, I'm not the member here who originally came up with the idea.... But thanks anyway~~!

Olds

[flat-fish]

Yes slider is all the way left and cabinet heater unplugged. Vent between 1/2 to 3/4 open,  smoke cabinet will heat beyond 145 with 4 racks of fish on the smoke generator alone. I just finished a batch tonight turned out great but trying to keep the initial bs recommended  smoke temp times of 1-2 hours @ 100 to 120 seems to be a bit of a challenge, smoker will hold  155+ fine. I am new to smoking foods and appreciate all the help! Also have noticed that fish with the skin down tend to stick alot more than the cuts placed on their sides (using non-stick racks).Think the skinless way is going to be my next attempt.I have pic's but cannot figure out how to post them yet.
Thanks flat-fish

[psdubl07]

Flat, I get the white boogers too no matter how low I keep the temp.  It tastes so good, I just gave up on trying to not have them.

[bighoof]

FF, if your're smokin' springers it's hard not to get boogers, and kummok's brine is the best! Usually I use the heat just from the smoke generator then the last couple of hours I bring the heat up. Is your vent all the way open?

[flat-fish]

Thanks Bighoof for the help, I will try your method as it seems i am putting way to much effort into temp and booger controls!
 FF

[Kummok]

Hi Flat Fish (Halibut?)!!
"Boogers" have only occurred for me when I smoke Kings (chinook) too hot or too fast. I'm of the belief that not allowing the pellicle to form or not opening the vent could also cause it, but I haven't made either of those mistakes (yet![;)]), so can't say for certain.

I'm not familiar with the term, "springer", but I'm guessing that it's PNW jargon for a spawner.....spawners have stopped eating and storing up fats for their last big hoorah and I'm also guessing the saltwater/freshwater thing could be a factor, since I really don't get that booger problem with the feeders, unless I do the "too hot/too fast" thing.

All that being said, once you get control of the heater element/temp guage and know that things are reading properly there, the only other suggestion I'd have is pre-dry the meat to pellicle point before smoking and to vent well.  The really GREAT thing about, (that'd be "aboot" for my BC and Great Lakes buds![;)][:D]), smoking salmon is that it's almost impossible to make it taste so bad that it's inedible [:p][:p]

BTW....I should be reporting soon on the results of smoking King salmon that has been frozen for 1 year. I just found a Sept/Oct 04 stash, buried under some old halibut in the freezer, as we were tossing last years "extras"....too mnany freezers![;)][:D]

35 years of extinguishing smoking stuff and now I'm wondering WHY!
Kummok @ Homer, AK USA

[Mikey]

Hey Guys, I'm sure the white boogers is fish blood. If you have ever fried a pork chop and found little beige blobs in the pan this is also blood. I know it does little for the appetite so I just scrape them off with a spoon when they cool down for the people who might not like it, heck I chow r down.

[SoupGuy]

The boogers are oil and water. They are more difficult to avoid when smoking boneless fillets since the removal of the pin bones makes for a nice channel for the liquified oil/water to travel. But even bone-in fillets will booger; just less.

A WHOLE salmon never boogers! [:D]

I've found that the boneless skinless fillets (Atlantic farm raised Salmon) are the most difficult to smoke w/out getting boogers. Here is what I do....

When the fillets are almost done (and presumably full of boogers), using a garden hose set to fine spray, wash the boogers off, PAT dry the fillet using paper towel and return to the smoker with smoke ON and dampers fully open. The surface will dry out again after 10 to 20 minutes and you won't ever know it was 'washed'. Never tried this on a Bradley though.

The other method is to chill the fillets after smoking and pick them out with the tip of a sharp knife.

Honestly though, leaving the boogers on although unsightly, doesn't deter from the taste!