Problem

[thebandit]

Hello everyone, I have had a Bradley for a few years now and love it. But I have had a problem a couple of times and I hope somebody can figure out what is causing it. Sometimes after taking my smoked salmon out of the freezer, I find it has gotten really soft, almost a pasty texture to it. It's only happened a couple of times, but it kind of ruins the salmon. The only thing I'm doing different is I may have rushed drying it in the smoker as much as I should have before freezing, and maybe the extra moisture didnt do the salmon any favors, what do you guys think?

[thebandit]

I think I know what it is, as I looked at a piece that I found a bit soft and pasty, I realized that it was a fattier piece of fish, I guess Atlantic salmon can get like that.

[iceman]

Can you give us a bit more info thebandit? What type of salmon, was it vac sealed, was the seal broken and did it have ice crystals on it? The more oily the more it needs to dry out in the smoker. Smoke times vary so much depending on the type of fish and how much is in the smoker, weather, temps, etc. Any additional info would help to determine the cause and we can get this problem fixed for you asap.  ;)

[CB]

Here's a chance to endorse Wild Caught Alaska Salmon! Not that farm raised, fed pellets and food coloring salmon.  ;) (No offense intended.) And from experience with both - I do believe wild caught Alaska or Canadian salmon is of higher quality all-around. Hey we all know the best way to get good results at the end of a cook - start with good ingredients. Some cuts of beef and pork are not prime cuts so smoking and slow cooking is the way to coax the best from them. Salmon is one of those proteins that is better on the plate when you have good fish to begin with. Hope you have some good luck with it and love to see some pictures.

One step I've begun taking to improve the quality of cooking any variety of fish - particularly when cooking whole fish sides or fillets - is to trim the belly meat away from the thicker portion of the meat. That way I get consistent thicknesses in the various pieces and more consistent cooking. If I purchase smaller packaged cuts sold in grocery stores, I can still do this - and regardless of the prep method, the results will improve.

Of course, you can always cut the whole salmon into steaks and smoke it that way. If you like a harder smoke - and it seems as though you may - then steaks can be evenly cooked and enjoyed.

And as the previous post asks - at that point how the salmon is finished and prepped for freezing is gonna play a big role. You mentioned the Atlantic salmon and that got me off on my rant. my apologies!

[smokeitall]

I will send you my address.  Take all of the salmon from your freezer and send it my way.  I will personally taste every piece and let you know what I think it could be.   ;D

[thebandit]

Well I have to agree with the fresh salmon theory, I used to live in Vancouver and the fresh sockeye was the best, but now and then living in Calgary I end up buying the farm raised Atlantic. It was all vacuum packed and sealed well, actually only frozen for a few days when I pulled out a fresh pack. I marinated it in my own brine, dried it the next day to form a good pelicle, smoked it for 2 hours with Alder, and dried it for a few hours in the smoker. It was getting late so I brought the salmon in and let it further dry uncovered in the fridge. While I was eating a piece I noticed that between the flakes there was a fair bit of fat, and this is what was so pasty and soft. The rest was dry and just right. Man I miss the fresh sockeye, dems was good eatin.