Can I do salmon & ribs at the same time

[shaner]

I'm smoking some beef ribs today, so I'll obviously have it set for around 225.  I'm doing mesquite. 

Can I do a salmon fillet at the same time?  It doesn't have the skin on it.  Is 225 a good temp to smoke salmon?  Is mesquite a good flavour for salmon?  How long will the salmon take? 

[KyNola]

In a word, yes.  The salmon will finish much much quicker than the ribs so you will need to watch the salmon closely.  Also, mesquite can be a very strong flavored smoke so I would think about putting the salmon in the Bradley with only somewhere between and hour and an hour and 40 minutes left in the smoking cycle.

[tskeeter]

According to the folks at UC, Davis, you should hot smoke your fish to an internal temperature of 140 degrees in order to kill any parasites that might be present.  You can expect this to take about 6 - 10 hours, depending on how thick the fish is, whether you are smoking in the round or fillets, etc.  Your planned temp of 225 is a bit high for smoking fish.  The Davis guys recommend 2 hours at 90 degrees and the remainder of the time at 150.  Warning.  Increasing the temperature too quickly will cause proteins to cook out of the fish.  This results in whitish/yellow deposits on your fish.  The technical term for these deposits is boogers.  Many folks will ramp up the temperature in 3 or 4 steps an hour or two apart to minimize the tendency of fish to form boogers.  A good pellicle (the tacky, glossy film that appears on food when exposed to air) also seems to reduce boogers.  (The boogers can be blotted off of the fish with a paper towel before they dry to improve the appearance of you smoked fish.) 

Take a look at Kummok's post stickied at the top of the fish forum.  It's a good how-to for fish smoking.

[Habanero Smoker]

I will often cook fish in the Bradley at 225°F or higher, especially when not brining and/or I am converting a recipe that was originally made for a kitchen oven. You may get some coagulated proteins, but it doesn't alter the taste of the fish, and they can be blotted off with a paper towel. As mentioned, cooking salmon at 225°F, it will not take long to finish.

[KyNola]

Smoking salmon at 90-150 degrees is exactly why it takes the guys at UC Davis 6-10 hours to hot smoke a salmon fillet. ;D  The Food Police strikes again!

[pmmpete]

Shaner, did you want to produce smoked salmon for eating cold later, or cooked salmon which you were going to eat hot right away?

Tskeeter, do you have a link or a citation for where I can get the article from UC Davis?

[KyNola]

Pete, check this link.  Plenty of reading material for you, most of which is a reprint of all things "FDA".

http://www.ucdavis.edu/search/index.html?cx=004393900062766886059:da23-x1vm6k&q=cooking%20fish&cof=FORID:9