Bradley Smoked Wild Alaskan Salmon

[meathead]

Thanks very much!! Thats what I'll do

MH

[iceman]

I would wrap in plastic wrap first then into the zip lock. If you are storing more then 30 days, I would add a layer of aluminum foil over the plastic wrap before placing in it the freezer.

What Hab said plus DO make sure it is completely cool before wrapping it or it will go bad on you much quicker. ;)

[manxman]

Alaskan Wild Salmon is on special at the supermarket again today at £2.99/$5.80lb, as mentioned in a previous post not sure what type it is but figure it has got to be better than the farmed variety. ;)

Now got about 15 - 20lb in the freezer, this is one of my planned pre Christmas smokes. Just need a break in the weather, high winds and torrential rain now for several weeks does not make smoking easy!  :o

The farmed salmon has always come out well, got VERY high hopes for the real thing!!  :D

[tsquared]

Sounds like nasty weather, MM. I am curing a batch of coho, spring and sockeye salmon to cold smoke later this week. I'm glad i wasn't trying to do it today as we had 100 kmh winds and rain....not good smoking conditions.
T2

[manxman]

I'm glad i wasn't trying to do it today as we had 100 kmh winds and rain....not good smoking conditions.

I get a 5 day forecast sent to me from the local met office every day, the 5 day forecast is cr*p with yet more gales and severe gales. Maybe the salmon will have to sit in the freezer until the New Year!!  :'(

[Habanero Smoker]

I'm glad i wasn't trying to do it today as we had 100 kmh winds and rain....not good smoking conditions.

I get a 5 day forecast sent to me from the local met office every day, the 5 day forecast is cr*p with yet more gales and severe gales. Maybe the salmon will have to sit in the freezer until the New Year!!  :'(

Extended forecast are usually wrong, especially coastal and mountainous areas. Amazing! Even with today's technology and knowledge, they still can't accurately predict beyond 72 hours, and that is pushing it.

[iceman]

Manx your getting hammered way to much over there. Keep bundled up and hope for some decent smoking weather. I'll cross the fingers for you. I have to do a bunch of turkeys this week end for co workers. Time to break out the big boys so I can do them all at once. I'll have an extra hot toddy for you. ;)

[manxman]

Even with today's technology and knowledge, they still can't accurately predict beyond 72 hours, and that is pushing it.

Very true HS, my brother is a meteorologist with the Royal Air Force and I tease him so much about how often they issue cr*p forecasts. Trouble is in the summer I keep my boat on a deep water mooring and when the forecast changes at such short notice it leaves me in deep doggy do's! I have already lost it once on the rocks and got away with it, won't be so lucky a second time!! :o

Keep bundled up and hope for some decent smoking weather.  I'll have an extra hot toddy for you.

Thanks Pat, everyone is grumbling at the moment about the weather! We need a good fall of snow..... could just do a white Christmas!

[Habanero Smoker]

Even with today's technology and knowledge, they still can't accurately predict beyond 72 hours, and that is pushing it.

Very true HS, my brother is a meteorologist with the Royal Air Force and I tease him so much about how often they issue cr*p forecasts. Trouble is in the summer I keep my boat on a deep water mooring and when the forecast changes at such short notice it leaves me in deep doggy do's! I have already lost it once on the rocks and got away with it, won't be so lucky a second time!! :o

Keep bundled up and hope for some decent smoking weather.  I'll have an extra hot toddy for you.

Thanks Pat, everyone is grumbling at the moment about the weather! We need a good fall of snow..... could just do a white Christmas!

I know what you mean. The favorite saying here in the northeast is "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute and it will change!"

[iceman]

It's been that way up here for sure Hab. Freezing rains end of last week, then snow this weekend and now clear and cold with snow coming later this week.
Opps, I should get back on subject here. I seem to have wondered off on this thread. :o :D

[manxman]

"If you don't like the weather, wait a minute and it will change!"

I have forwarded that to my brother, sure to give him a laugh..... not!!  ;D ;D ;D

[meathead]

Well the Salmon came out very tasty, but a little dried out. I left it till meat temp was 160 Degs for 30 mins, as I read somewhere (to ensure all the crawlies were dead), but this was way overkill.  :o Next time I'll shoot for 155, then stop immediately.

Live and learn   ;)

[tsquared]

I had to bundle my dry cured salmon into a cooler and put the smoker, fish and cold smoke chamber and cooler into my truck to take to a friend's place who still had power when the fish was ready to smoke. We were hammered week before last by 2 big storms and lost power for 3 days. The cold smoked fish came out great tho, and it's been a big hit at our xmas gatherings. Hope everyone has a great holiday. I'm going to go out on the 28th and start catching more salmon to replenish the freezer. A little brandy in the coffee thermos and it's holiday fishing!
T2 

[oguard]

T2 what recipe are you using?,I have a couple sides of spring left and was hoping to cold smoke them.The weather is crazy for sure Snow wind and rain ,makes the smoking a little difficult.

Mike

[tsquared]

Hi Oguard--here is the recipe I use with great success. It comes from an excellent book called "Smoking Salmon and Trout" by Jack Whelan, published by Aerie Press here in British Columbia.(I think Jack is on his second  edition which has been updated.) He calls it Scotch smoked salmon, although being a wise man he applies the scotch internally and uses rum as part of the curing process! Dry salt your salmon, injecting brine into very thick pieces. Times for dry salting vary according to the fattiness of your salmon and thickness. Put very little salt on the tail of the fillet(I don't even smoke tails anymore, as it is tricky not to oversalt them.)Make sure you drain your fillet during this process.
1.Salt a 1 in. fillet of a fatty fish 12 hours and lean (chum) 7 hours. Fillet should spring back when pressed with your finger if it is done enough.
2. Rinse your fillet off, and dry for 6 hours. I do this by putting it uncovered in my beer fridge.
3. Rub it with vegetable oil and then back in the fridge for 6 hours.
4. Rub off oil with a rum soaked cloth. (Scotch may be applied internally at any time during this process.)
5. Cover the fillet with brown sugar just as you did with the dry salt, then back in the fridge for 6 hours.
6. Wipe off the oil again with a rum soaked cloth and dry with a fan for a few hours, then the salmon is ready to smoke.
<b>Smoking</b>
1.Smoke the fish AT NO MORE THAN 85f for between 2-4 hours depending on your smoke and how much smoke taste you like. I use a remote fire box to stick my generator in and dryer hose to connect it to the Bradley box.
2. Continue to dry fish with 85 degree air in the smoker box for several more hours until the fish is firm enough for slicing. (Use the Mark 1 finger to test this) I have done this for up to 24 hours, depending on the feel of the fish.
3. Give the fish a polish by bringing the temp up to 100 F for 15 minutes. This has the effect of bringing some oil to the surface, giving it an attractive look.
4. Let fish cool, unwrapped in the fridge for several hours.
5. Enjoy!
In his book, Jack has much more detail than I give here. I can attest that I have used this recipe again and again with superb results.I have tried Spyguy's recipe which uses a wetbrine--it's nice but I prefer a drier, easier to slice product. You can play around with different spices like fresh dill or juniper berries or different booze. I have tried a lot of different stuff but I found that it's hard to beat the taste of well cured and cold smoked salmon. The key is getting the fish to a good firmness for slicing. I know at first glance this recipe seems complicated but most of these steps take 2 minutes and then you stick the salmon back in the fridge and forget about it.
Hope this helps.

Merry Christmas !
T2