Keep or remove river Salmon thick skin?

[precookingsmoker]

Dumb question probably......

It appears from comparing store bought Salmon from Canada or the Northern territory's to that of local Salmon from the Sacramento river, that the local river Salmon have much thicker skins especially around the backbone to mid section. Even the cat won't eat the skin when cured & smoked.

So since I am copying Kummok's magnificent brine & smoke procedure under FISH topics with store bought Salmon I need to ask if it is best to remove the skin before serving it as Smoked Salmon if I am curing & smoking a Salmon catch on the local river?

I understand the benefits of cutting the Salmon in strips to keep the meat together during proper brine & smoking in all cases, but should I serve it with skin on and let the folks gnaw through the local river fish skin as best they can?

The removal of the skin will not make it look like traditional Smoked Salmon. It will appear like a can of Tuna....somebody dumped on a plate.  :-[

[Habanero Smoker]

I never eat the skin of salmon. If I smoke fillets with the skin on I generally will peel the skin off, after the salmon has rested for awhile, but while still warm. If I left the skin on, I would either remove the skin just before serving, and place it on the plate so the side that had the skin was down, or serve it with the skin but not expect the guest to eat the skin.

[ExpatCanadian]

Not a dumb question... but i can tell you I'm with Hab... the skin gets removed prior to brining in my case, and the one time i did brine and smoke with the skin on I removed it afterwards before serving.  It's just so much easier to do one quick pass with the filleting knife along the whole fillet than mucking about de-skinning individual pieces.

The removal of the skin will not make it look like traditional Smoked Salmon. It will appear like a can of Tuna....somebody dumped on a plate.  :-[

As for your comment above...  not sure what you're doing to yours, but my salmon certainly doesn't look like can of tuna on a plate!

From a recent batch:

[precookingsmoker]

Excellent answers from you both Habenero & E.Canadian!  ;D

Clears up my doubts. I had thought that the meat would crumble if I took the skin off afterward. Doing it when warm would be a bonus proceedure I will use.

Making a massive amount of Kummok style salmon now....went into frig for 12 hour brining at 9:30 AM this morning. The brine smelled so tasty.....it was difficult to pour the extra 1/2 cup into the sink without a sip!  ::)

Now if I only had a digital Bradley....... <reaches for crying towel>  -Larry  :-[

[Quarlow]

Around here and since we was little'ens, the whole slab goes on the table skin and all. We make short order of everything right down to the skin. As a kid I would even chew the dark stuff right against the skin which is some of the fat. Of course we all know how good that Omega 3 stuff is for us. Dang I need to make another batch soon. The trouble is around here by the time I share with my brother and a friend or 2 there isn't much left.....Ok, I do get my share.  ;D

[precookingsmoker]

Habanero's idea of removing skin while salmon is still warm worked GREAT! Only two pieces broke in half peeling it off(my fault in how I held it).

BUT, BUT, BUT, I ruined the smoked salmon in converting Kumook's recipe from Lbs. of brown sugar to cups of measure...... Still edible but it was too salty. I used 1/2 the amount needed when I divided everything into 1/4 in volume to fit the square glass brine bowl..... :'(

-Larry <30+ hours down the drain.....> 

[Habanero Smoker]

Sorry your smoke salmon came out too salty. I had that happen once, but not with such a large load. I was able to use it in salads, scrambled eggs (really good), salmon cakes, spread etc.

Here are some ideas:
Fish Egg
Fish Pate
Rosee Pasta Sauce with Smoked Salmon