Cold smoked Salmon

[mbird]

Hi Guys,

Just thought I'd share my first attempt at Oak Smoked Salmon (a favourite here in the UK, but no so big across the pond I understand?).

I used a cure that was taked from a Hugh Fernly-Whittingstall recipe book (yes, my American chums, people in the UK really do have names like that!), and was meant for home cured Bacon. I had some left over from the bacon, so I bought a big Salmon fillet to give it a go. I rubbed the cure ovar the salmon then covered and refrigerated for 24 hours.

After the cure, it simply washed off the salmon, wrapped it tight in cling film and refrigerated overnight again, before cold smoking (using the remote cardboard box and vent hose trick) with oak pucks for 2 hours. The fish was then re-wrapped in clingfilm for another 24 hours to let the smoke flavour permeate the flesh.

The result was actually very good when thinly sliced. The only thing I will do next time different is to soak the fish for an hour or so to get rid of more salt.

The cure was simply:

500g salt
100g brown sugar
2 finely chopped bay leaves.

By the way, the bacon turned our pretty good as well (cured for 4 days with the same mixtrure, re-rubbing every 24 hours).

Cheers

Mark

[LilSmoker]

Hi mbird, that sounds great, as you say lots in the u.k. really love the cold smoked salmon, i get through loads of it, my brother and i eat it like our lives depend on it!  ;D

I have to say though that hot smoked salmon is now just as popular at my place, my dad and one of my brothers are constantly on my case about "doing some more salmon", they've even started to bring their own fish round, and ask me to smoke it for them  :o
I think it's time they both got their own BS's  ;)

[Wildcat]

Nice going mbird.

LS  your dad and brother are missing out on all the fun by not having a BS.  Of course if you talk them in to it, you may have to cut down on some of your own fun, LOL. ;D

[LilSmoker]

Nice going mbird.

LS  your dad and brother are missing out on all the fun by not having a BS.  Of course if you talk them in to it, you may have to cut down on some of your own fun, LOL. ;D

Haha! yeah, you know Wildcat i never looked at it like that, i best keep quiet and carry on smoking their fish!  ;D  ;)

[manxman]

I have to say though that hot smoked salmon is now just as popular at my place,

Yes, same with me too. Love both cold and hot smoked salmon now that I have a BS.

Good news with your bacon and salmon smokes mbird, my first attempt at cold smoked salmon was way too salty but a lot better nowadays.

Several people here on the forum have got Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall books after they were recommended a while ago, I really do find them hard to beat.

Interestingly he has a great and very simple recipe for mackerel sushimi in this months Sea Angler using English mustard and soy sauce, something I am definately going to try when this years mackerel season kicks off.

Doesn't matter which side of the pond the really good books are published, just as I have found US published books like Smoke and Spice and Charcuterie, The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing very helpful.

One thing I have not been able to find to date is a really good knife to slice the salmon with.  :-[ Any recommendations?

[LilSmoker]

One thing I have not been able to find to date is a really good knife to slice the salmon with.   Any recommendations?

Hi manxman, yeah i had the same problem, especially once i'd cut a few slices and the fillet became thinner, i now have a fairly decent slicing knife, it has a serated edge and can slice incredibly thin with a steady hand. I got it just before christmas at a farmers market, i paid £25 for it, he did have some much better ones that he was asking £70 each for  :o
Anyway mine is very similar to the one in this link, the pic doesn't really show the serated edge very well, but this knife is better quality than mine, and if mine blunts too quickly i'll be getting one of these:

http://www.formanandfield.com/salmon-knife-p-1791.html  ;)

[manxman]

Anyway mine is very similar to the one in this link,

Cheers mate, I will be getting myself one of these.  ;)

[iceman]

Hey LS that looks just like the Forschner knife I have for salmon slicing. They work great! They really shine through on pastrami and brisket slicing too. I was thinking about trying to thin slice some smoked turkey breast next. I usually use the meat slicer but it is such a pain to clean up after just a few pieces of meat. Good score and the price looks good also. :)

[LilSmoker]

Hi iceman, I've heard the name Forschner before, do they make all kinds of knives? and is the quality good?

Thanks........LilSmoker ;)

[iceman]

Hi iceman, I've heard the name Forschner before, do they make all kinds of knives? and is the quality good?

Thanks........LilSmoker ;)

It's a fairly decent quality made more for the pro chef group. They have all kinds of knifes to chose from. I'll try to get some pics for you in the next few days. I have the pro series set I got for a present a few years back and will take some shots and post them.

[Toker]

Hey guys i read somewhere else on the web that regular cold smoking time for soked salmon  is between 12-14 hours on a regular (not bradley but more industrial one) snoke house so what is the difference between this 2 smoke house bradley cold smoking time rarely go aver 4h why? whats would happens if i cold smoke my salmon for 12 hours using bradley? why never seen some kind of time period of smoking with bradley? thx

[LilSmoker]

Hi toker, i replied to this in the other thread  ;)

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=4901.msg46318#new

[Gizmo]

Nice going mbird.

LS  your dad and brother are missing out on all the fun by not having a BS.  Of course if you talk them in to it, you may have to cut down on some of your own fun, LOL. ;D

Haha! yeah, you know Wildcat i never looked at it like that, i best keep quiet and carry on smoking their fish!  ;D  ;)

And at the price of Salmon, let them keep paying for it.  Just make sure they bring over enough for you.  LOL