HELP 1st time smoking in progress

[Fluff]

[V]Can anyone help??  I have installed a smoke generator in a wooden box 5feet high x 2feet x 2 feet.  I have had salmon smoking for 3 hours now and it just looks and feels the same as when I put it in.
Am I doing something wrong?[:(]

When I open the door there is just smoke no heat I presumed this was normal?  How do I tell when salmon is done?

I put a tray of water in the bottom of the cabinet purely because it pictured this on the box.  For some reason I came with a recipe book but no instructions[:(!]

Roughly how long does it take and does the machine automatically switch off if it were to run out of briquettes or do I need to be on hand to switch it off?

If I wated to hot smoke how would I do this?

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Fluff[8D]

[whitetailfan]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Fluff</i>
<br />[V]Can anyone help??  I have installed a smoke generator in a wooden box 5feet high x 2feet x 2 feet.  I have had salmon smoking for 3 hours now and it just looks and feels the same as when I put it in.
Am I doing something wrong?[:(]<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
No, when I cold smoke salmon it looks the same when I am done, just smells better.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><br />When I open the door there is just smoke no heat I presumed this was normal?  How do I tell when salmon is done?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Cold smoked salmon is done when you have applied the amount of smoke you wanted to use.  For me that's 2 hours.  As far as "done" refers to cooking, you are not putting any heat here, so it will never be "done", your meat preservation took place then you brined it.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><br />Roughly how long does it take and does the machine automatically switch off if it were to run out of briquettes or do I need to be on hand to switch it off?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
You need to turn it off.  The motor and burn plate will run forever (theoretically speaking).  I use the amount of pucks I want for smoke flavour, and then the burner stays on for added heat (in a hot smoke scenario).

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><br />If I wanted to hot smoke how would I do this?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
You need a heat source other than the 150watt burn plate on the generator.  The Bradley smoker has a 500watt element to hot smoke with.  If memory serves, the generator may come with rough instructions on how to build a smoker out of an old fridge.  Choosing and installing a heat source is probably not covered but will be your biggest challenge.  Have a look around this main topic, and there should be some designs and suggestions for smokers.

Hope that helps - good luck with your salmon.


<font color="green">whitetailfan</font id="green">
"Nice Rack"
Lethbridge, AB

[iceman]

First you might want to ditch the water pan. The whole idea is to get rid of the moisture in the fish to firm it up. You also want to make sure you have air flow through the smoke chamber. If the smoke stays in to long and mixes with the moisture and drips back on the fish it will take on a tar taste from the pitch in the smoke. Yuk! Whitetailfan is right about having to add a heat element to bring the temp up. I don't know what you ambient temp is so I can't tell you the wattage/BTU that you would need. I would guess that a hot plate single or dual burner from the local hardware store might work. I have my heat elements custom made by a local HAVC outfit and control them with a remote bulb thermostat. The humidity outside the smoker is also going to effect how long it takes to dry the fish properly. You'll figure it out after a few test runs. You don't want to heat the fish up to fast or you'll seal in moisture and the center will stay soft mo matter how long you smoke it and you stand a good chance of breeding a bad dose of bacteria. Not a pleasent thing. It doesn't hurt the generator to keep cycling after it runs out of waffers but it burns up electricity and cuts down on the life of the machine. I hope this helps out a little. Good luck and NEVER give up smoking!

[tsquared]

Both Iceman and WTF's advice is right on the money. My question is "Did you brine or dry cure your fish prior to this smoke?" If you didn't then you can't leave it "drying" in the slightly warmer air provided by the generator for an extended period of time because of possible bacteria problems. If you did brine or dry cure your fish prior to your smoke, then you have the leeway to try and follow Iceman's advice on trying to firm up your fish. Next time you do fish, try to get the firmness during the curing part of the process. I personally prefer a firmer, drier cold smoked salmon and therefore like to do a salt/sugar dry cure prior to smoking as I find I can control the firmness much easier.
Good luck and don't give up, we've all been there.
T2

[Fluff]

Thanks all for the help,  Just about to have another go with a whole side fillet of Salmon.  I didnt know I had to cure it first[:I], hope it works this time as its getting very costly now.[:)]