Kummok's Smoked Salmon

[rcger]

I'm planning to follow Kummok's recipe and smoke some salmon.  In the thread I was reading, he stated that after smoking it, you could vacuum seal it and after thawing, it tasted even better.  Now, I have a really stupid question, but is smoked salmon meant to be eaten hot or cold?  If it's meant to be eaten hot, what's the best way to reheat it after thawing?  Also, do you smoke it to a certain IT or until it flakes? 

[Orion]

There is no hard and fast rules regarding how to eat smoked salmon. It is pretty oily when hot and usually consumed cold. Like most things , it usually tastes better given a day or two to rest in the fridge.

[pmmpete]

Smoked salmon is great on a cracker, and it's also great in many tasty recipes.  Add it to an omelet, serve it in pasta with basil or dill, mix it into a dip - the possibilities are endless.

[Salmonsmoker]

Smoked salmon is generally eaten cold for snacks, apps., etc, w/ cream cheese and crackers, smoked salmon spread. The list is endless. Hot smoked salmon is usually used as an ingredient in hot dishes. Smoked salmon and pasta, smoked salmon chowder, smoked salmon omelette.....the list is also endless. When used in hot dishes, I always add the salmon at the end so it doesn't over heat. I posted this previously. It's from Cooks Illustrated.
Tips for reheating fish:


Fish is easy to overcook, which makes the prospect of reheating leftovers even more daunting. Here's how to do it.

Fish is notoriously susceptible to overcooking, so reheating previously cooked fillets is something that makes nearly all cooks balk. But since almost everyone has leftover fish from time to time, we decided to figure out the best approach to warming it up.

As we suspected, we had far more success reheating thick fillets and steaks than thin ones. Both swordfish and halibut steaks reheated nicely, retaining their moisture well and with no detectable change in flavor. Likewise, salmon reheated well, but be aware that, thanks to the oxidation of its abundant fatty acids into strong-smelling aldehydes, doing so brought out a bit more of the fish's pungent aroma. There was little we could do to prevent trout from drying out and overcooking when heated a second time.

To reheat thicker fish fillets, use this gentle approach: Place the fillets on a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet, cover them with foil (to prevent the exteriors of the fish from drying out), and heat them in a 275-degree oven until they register 125 to 130 degrees, about 15 minutes for 1-inch-thick fillets (timing varies according to fillet size). We recommend serving leftover cooked thin fish in cold applications like salads.

[ragweed]

Maybe I'm over simplifying this but this is how I look at salmon.  Smoked to me means following Kummok's recipe.  Usually eaten cold.

Smoke/cooked salmon is where I sprinkle some seasonings on a filet or steak and smoke/cook for an hour or so using alder.  Then serve as the main dish, hot.  Just my Czech heritage induced opinion.

[Smokeville]

Take it out of the fridge, wait 1/2 hour, put it on a serving board with a triple cream brie and a bottle of white wine with 2 glasses....

[renoman]

Take it out of the fridge, wait 1/2 hour, put it on a serving board with a triple cream brie and a bottle of white wine with 2 glasses....

2 glasses????  Oh..... one for each hand.

[pikeman_95]

We eat it cold flaked over a Cesar salad. You can take it our of the freezer if it is vacuum packed and it still it great.

[Smokeville]

My wife and I sell smoked salmon and trout at Farmers' Markets. The 'triple cream brie and a bottle of white wine' I mentioned is how we sell it.

However, in the summer, my wife will say: "Just imagine, later this afternoon, you're relaxing out on the patio.... the kids are having their nap.... and you've got this nice piece of smoked trout and a bottle of chardonnay..." It's almost a sure sale. We jokingly call it "food porn" because it is so suggestive...

However, many of our customers tell us amazing ways they have used either smoked trout or salmon. Some add it to pasta at the very last moment, like in a carbonara sauce. Or flaked into a caesar salad. The most innovative was someone who put it into a sushi roll.

I've heard it used in place of cold smoked haddock in Finnan Haddie but haven't tried it.

Rich

[Kummok]

I've never given any thought to heating up previously smoked salmon...nothing wrong with the notion, just hadn't thought about it at all. I've eaten the salmon directly from the smoker while still hot/warm and I just prefer it cold or room temp...I even like it still frozen, like it is when I take it out on the snowmobile. As has been mentioned, it works well in cooked dishes, 'Fish Eggs' being one of my favorites...recipe for that is discussed on another thread, but it's really just crumbling up some smoked salmon and Wild Alaskan Silver Sage in scrambled eggs. Making my mouth water just reading all your posts and thinking about 'Fish Eggs'!

[pikeman_95]

We also make a smoked salmon ball by mixing some crumbled smoked salmon into a block of crème cheese and some diced onions. make a ball out of the mixture then roll it in crumbled walnuts. We eat it with Ritz crackers and a little wine and you have a special treat.