Bradley Smoked Wild Alaskan Salmon

pmmpete · October 12, 2015, 06:45:30 PM

Quote from: Kummok on October 12, 2015, 10:36:14 AM
the pellicle stage was complete after 7 hours of drying on my custom rack (which provides plenty of air space for proper venting). The first 6 hours were inside my house at around 72*F, then moved outside at around 45*F for an hour to cool. The fan was blowing on 'High" the entire time and I rotated the rack 90* about every 1.5 hours.

Kummock, what is the typical humidity in your area? In Montana, I set my brined fish on racks inside my house in front of a fan to form a pellicle, and it takes way less than 7 hours. But the humidity is normally quite low.

Kummok · October 15, 2015, 10:04:01 PM

We are a coastal community here...I can watch whales breech through my front Windows. Average humidity is 70-80%...it is 79% at the moment.

Sniper-T · October 16, 2015, 06:51:36 PM

Quote from: Fuzzybear on May 16, 2004, 03:44:38 PM
...
Note that if you get that white milky stuff on your fish, you are cooking to fast at to high a temp...just a note....

"A mans got to know his limitations"
Glendora, CA - USA!

Good info... learnt the hard way!

pmmpete · October 19, 2015, 08:48:17 AM

Quote from: Kummok on October 15, 2015, 10:04:01 PM
We are a coastal community here...I can watch whales breech through my front Windows. Average humidity is 70-80%...it is 79% at the moment.

That explains why it takes so long for your fish to develop a pedicle! In Montana, where the humidity is normally quite low, I can develop a pedicle on fish at room temperature in front of a fan in under an hour and a half.

kelly61 · December 05, 2015, 05:48:12 AM

I am a newbie when it comes to smoking fish but my mouth watered when I read about Kummok's salmon - all hale Kummok you're my hero

Kummok · December 05, 2015, 11:43:21 AM

ThanX for the kudo....like most good things, my recipe/process is the result of many folk's trial and error (smoked salmon errors are still edible!) Be sure to post your results!!

PAhardwoods · December 13, 2015, 08:12:33 PM

Kummok,

I'm hoping maybe you can help me out, during a trip to Alaska 6 years ago visiting friends who at the time worked for PWSAC - they sent us home with a bunch of canned smoked salmon - it was amazing!!! I'd love to be able to smoke a bunch of salmon and can it

My questions are is it better to cold smoke or hot smoke salmon that is going to be canned? Do smoking times very for canned salmon i would assume that canning the meat may intensive the smoke flavor??

Also does any liquid need to be added to jars or does the smoked fish still have enough oils and moister in it to produce liquid when smoked

Thanks for your time

Kummok · December 15, 2015, 07:37:35 PM

Sorry PAhardwoods...absolutely 0 hrs experience with canning anything at all so whatever I would tell you about it should be considered highly suspect! Every bit of salmon I smoke gets vac sealed and frozen. While canning would prolong the shelf life, nothing I put in the freezer stays in there for more than a year so I really have no need to can....

Salmonsmoker · December 16, 2015, 07:22:23 AM

PA,
When I can smoked salmon I've only hot smoked before canning. Cold smoking would reduce moisture loss in the flesh, which is one of the main drawbacks of canning smoked salmon IMO. The high canning temp pushes a lot of liquid out of the flesh. Although I'm not a food expert, I think the canning process will kill any pathogens developed during the low temp. cold smoke. I can smoked salmon in 1/2 pint jars and I add one Tbsp. of good quality olive oil to each jar before sealing. This helps with keeping more moisture in the fish. Canning 1/2 pint or 1 pint unsmoked salmon requires 100 minutes @ 11 pounds pressure in a dial gauge pressure canner or 10 pounds pressure in a weighted gauge pressure canner.(Quart jars @ 160 minutes) Canning SMOKED salmon requires 110 minutes at the same pressures.(there isn't a time/pressure for quart jars of smoked salmon/fish) which usually means that testing showed inconsistent results and safety of the food product couldn't be assured. For more canning info, the Cooperative Extension Service at the University of Georgia is one of the major food preservation research stations in the country and work in conjunction with USDA food safety. I've taken food preservation classes here locally through the WSU extension service and most of the teaching material comes from UofG. Hope this helps.

PAhardwoods · December 16, 2015, 11:54:02 AM

Thanks for the info it is greatly appreciated!!!

banff_springs · February 13, 2016, 09:40:06 AM

Can this recipe be applied to Lake Trout and/or White fish?

Kummok · February 15, 2016, 01:54:59 PM

I haven't so I can't speak to the experience. That said, I and others have used it for halibut and rockfish with great results...don't know why it wouldn't work for lake trout and whitefish. If you give it a go, be sure to post your results!

Salmonsmoker · February 15, 2016, 05:39:02 PM

The Lake Trout is an oiler fish like salmon, the whitefish is more like the rockfish or halibut in oil content. If Kummok says the recipe works great for the them, I'd give it a go. I grew up enjoying smoked lake trout, northern pike etc. It was all good.

pmmpete · February 15, 2016, 10:25:07 PM

Kummock's recipe works great on Lake Trout, which are oily fish which are similar to salmon, and also works very well with less oily fish like rainbow, brown, and brook trout.

banff_springs · February 16, 2016, 04:40:31 AM

Will post results. Bradley Digital 4-rack SG decided to "crap" the bed. Pucks don't want to advance. Not a happy camper. Read a few posts on here as to troubleshooting non-advancing pucks. Sadly, failed. SG not very old and worse yet, barely used. End product looks like I was able to save it (advanced pucks manually for 4 hrs). When I get my pic's uploaded to PC, will be happy to share my results. I vacuum-sealed to seal in the flavour. Had to beat the family off with a stick. Did keep a couple pieces out to appease the masses.