Cold Smoked Salmon

[NewfieSmoker]

Hello All,

I have Hot Smoked Salmon various times, following Kummoks recipe, and have turned out top notch salmon.  I just tried my first cold smoked version, with unsatisfactory results.  I dried cured for 12 hours, wet brined for 12 hours, air dryed in refridgerator for 2.5 hours, then smoked with Apple and Alder for 2.5 hours.  Temp did not go above 71 degrees. I kept the damper almost closed, since there was no heat or moisture to escape.

The texture was very nice, firm but still creamy.  Salt level excellent.  But I kept getting this slight bitter after taste.

I used lower quality salmon, as it was the only thing available.  I will be using fresh atlantic salmon from the fish market in town when it opens for the season.  I suspect this will improve overall texture and appearance.

We want to feature our smoked salmon on the breakfast menu at our inn this summer, and I need to get it perfect.  Why the bitter taste?  The damper maybe?

Newfie Smoker

[aces-n-eights]

Rob, good question...  It sure sounds like you have the process down right.  I have noticed a slight bitter taste when i hot smoke salmon using alder.  My current favorite wood for salmon is apple.  I have found that the taste i like the best is a little more apple (smoke time) than i used with alder.  The alder just had a bit of an edge, but i found if i smoked the same amount of time the apple didn't give quite enough smoke flavor.

Might just try apple and see what happens....  stick with your 2.5 hours of smoke as well...  don't want to change two variables at once... if that doesn't do it, maybe try less smoke time...

Hope it works for you!

[FLBentRider]

What kind of salt did you use?

Iodized salt can cause an aftertaste.

[NewfieSmoker]

Thanks for the quick replys!  I used Kosher salt.

I'm thinking it was because I had the damper almost closed.  I usually leave it almost open for all the other hot smoked items, but I didnt expect a lot of moisture or heat(the racks were not even wet), so I kept the damper almost closed to get a good fog of smoke.  Maybe i over smoked it?

[FLBentRider]

Maybe i over smoked it?

I would wrap it in plastic wrap, put it in the fridge a couple of days, then taste it again.

[Mr Walleye]

Thanks for the quick replys!  I used Kosher salt.

I'm thinking it was because I had the damper almost closed.  I usually leave it almost open for all the other hot smoked items, but I didnt expect a lot of moisture or heat(the racks were not even wet), so I kept the damper almost closed to get a good fog of smoke.  Maybe i over smoked it?

It could be the vent. My experience (not necessarily with salmon) is you want the smoke to gently kiss the product on it's way by as opposed to being trapped in a smoke filled cabinet which can become somewhat of a stale bitter type of smoke.

Just my 2 cents

Mike

[Quarlow]

I tell you exactly what it was. It was from not having the vent open. It is the same as when I was a kid and my dad used his plywood smoker. It had no vent in it other than where the smoke could get out around the door. It always had that taste you are getting. You need to have that smoke flow threw or you get stagnate smoke which permeates the fish. If you get that smoke flowing threw the smoker you won't get that flavour. You end up with concentrated smoke and then any bad flavour concentrates on the meat. If it is flowing out the vent you get a refreshening of the smoke and no concentrating.

[tsquared]

Newf--the other possibility for that after taste is not properly drying your salmon after getting it out of the brine or salt prior to smoking. It is critical that the  flesh has  that nice shiny pellicle on it before going into the smoker or you get this slightly ashy taste which is really off putting. I put my fillets in my nice cool basement to air dry. You can use a fan but it is very important for cold smoked salmon that you don't over do the use of the fan because it will cause a hard, dried out layer on top which is not what you want for cold smoked fish. It is a weird comparison but cold smoking cheese is the closest comparison I can make for the importance of starting with a dry product to prevent that ashy after taste.
T2

[NewfieSmoker]

Thanks for all of your replys.  It is certainly sound advice I'm sure.  I just finished the last of the salmon.  The bitter aspic taste diminished slightly in the refridgerator after a few days, but it was still there.

Next time I try, I will use a better quality salmon.  Im sure this will improve the product greatly.  If it is fresh, I will freeze for 3-4 days and then thaw and use.

12 hours dry cured, salt and sugar and probably fresh dill if I can get some this time around

12 hours wet brined

Then I will experiment with the freshening time.  I freshened 20 mins last time and it was ok.

As I mentioned before, we want to feature this in our breakfast menu and serve to the quests at our inn.  It will be used in an omlet, Smoked Salmon eggs benidict, and classic Bagels and Lox.  All of those dishes use small amount of salmon to flavor them. I would prefer to have a stronger smoke taste, perhaps a little saltier, to really impart the flavour of the salmon throughout the food.  This last batch was not too salty at all to eat straight up, perfect actually, but the other flavours over powered it when mixed into a dish. 

As I mentioned, my goal is to get  this salmon perfect and it may be a work in progress for the next couple of months before our season starts.  I will update this tread with progress and pics as i go

Thanks for all your help!

Newfie Smoker

[NewfieSmoker]

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I will try strictly Apple smoke next time around, and leave the damper 3/4 open to hopefully correct the bitterness.


Newfie Smoker

[Quarlow]

I am sure with the vent open you will see that acrid taste go away. And keep a log of all aspects of your processes so you can analyze it after and make small changes to it.

[dribron]

I have found that a combination of maple and apple is nice. It has a nice smokey flavor without the edgy sharness of alder. I have used this combination of woods for several years no, sence I worked at Stokes in Monterey California. It was well accepted there.