Candied Salmon

RAF128 · August 24, 2011, 05:34:34 AM

A couple of weeks ago my neighbor at the lake gave me a package of Candied Salmon that he bought from a place in B.C. that makes it commercially. It was cut in strips like jerky. It was great so decided I had to make some. When we came home went hunting for some salmon. Found a deal at the local Safeway. Buy one and get one free. Bought 2 whole salmon. Then searched here for a recipe. Found several and finally decided on one. 4.5 liters of water, 1 1/2 cups of soy sauce, 2 cups of brown sugar, 1 cup kosher salt, garlic powder and 2 cups of maple syrup. The salmon were filleted and cut into strips like jerky and put in the marinage for 24 hrs. Took it out, dried it off and then put in a zip lock bag with a 1 cup of maple syrup. Squished it around and coated all the pieces. Salmon was then put on racks to dry with the assisance of a fan. Dried it for 8 hrs with the fan. Turned it over once during that time. At bed time turned the fan off and left it on the counter over night. It was almost transparent this morning.
Eary this morning took it out to the smoker to get it started. First problem was to program the PID. Been awhile since I used it so had to do a little thinking. Then had a problem with the vent. Since it's been a while since I used it, it was stuck. Finally got it loose and opened it all the way. 2 hrs at 120, 3 hrs at 140 and 175 till finished. 8 pucks of hickory will do the trick. Looking forward to the finished product later this afternoon.

ExpatCanadian · August 24, 2011, 09:31:55 AM

I too am looking forward to hearing your results! I've got a freezer full of various sized bags of salmon "scraps"...(belly trimmings, and the ends of fillets that I've squared up). My wife and I have a little one on the way, and I'm under strict instructions to clear out the freezers to make way for lots of frozen meals for us when the rug-rat arrives and we're too busy to cook. Personally I figure, how hard can it be? But, that was said out loud exactly once :-\. My suggestion that we simply buy another freezer also didn't go down so good either :D

So... If your recipe works out then maybe I'll do up a few kg and make the Mrs. happy too!

PS. Have you always been in Saskatoon? I only just noticed that on your post....

Smokeville · August 25, 2011, 05:42:32 AM

Expat, after a lot of trial and error and error, I found that the belly makes the best Salmon Candy, IMHO. Plus, I can get it dirt cheap from a local supermarket where it is cut off when they prepare hyper-expensive centre cut fillets.

Here's my recipe: (from http://www.fishsniffer.com/recipes/salmon12.html)

Skin belly, and cut salmon into 1/4" wide strips.
For 2kg of skinned strips, mix 1/2gallon water, 1 cup salt, 1kg demerara (brown) sugar, 1 cup maple syrup.
Brine the strips for 2 full days, stirring as often as you remember.
Drain and rinse lightly.

Put on racks with frogmats or jerky screens the night before you smoke and place in fridge.

These strips are small and should cover 5-6 racks.

Set the PID for 2 hours at 140, then bump to 160 for 2 hours, finish at 170 for maybe 2 hours.
Use maple. Rotate racks.
Brush with maple syrup several times.
You will know when it's done - it will be chewy but not hard when hot.

My wife and I sell this stuff and folks from BC say it tastes like what they have had there.

Whatever you do, don't tell Kummok we use Atlantic salmon.

Regards, Rich

RAF128 · August 25, 2011, 07:38:58 AM

I took the salmon out of the smoker yesterday afternoon. Of course I had to try some. IMO it's very good. It's not as sweet as the stuff my neighbor gave me but for me it's better. Some of the strips were thicker than others so I had to take them off a little earlier. My wife likes it too. We can actually have more than one piece because it's less sweet. It's been vacuum sealed. Like jerky you get back a lot less than you started with. There were 2 5lb fish and I doubt whether there's 1 lb that came out of the smoker. No doubt we'll make this again. Now all I have to do is find another deal on salmon.
Oh by the way the recipe I found and used was posted ronmexico I believe.

ExpatCanadian · August 25, 2011, 09:45:47 AM

Quote from: Smokeville on August 25, 2011, 05:42:32 AM

Whatever you do, don't tell Kummok we use Atlantic salmon.

Regards, Rich

That's great, thanks! I'll give it a go... and don't worry, I won't mention it to Kummok... especially since farmed Atlantic (Salmo Salar) is pretty much all I can get over unless I want to pay mucho £££££££!!!

Smokeville · August 25, 2011, 05:22:53 PM

I made some today: the strips should be 1/2" Not 1/4"

Kummok · August 26, 2011, 12:32:48 AM

Mmmmm Mmmmmm Mmmmmm....salmon belly is the BEST part of the BEST food in the world. I've shared my experience and longer smoking methods for these tasty morsels in other threads ( as 'salmon bacon' ). It is still amazing to me that it can be purchased separately, almost as "scraps"....don't know how much longer that will last (like the "culled" White Kings from a few years back :'( ) but I'd take advantage of stocking up wherever I could find it...it will actually freeze well in vac sealed bags for up to three years (my personal best ;) ) without any taste degradation....I found that out by accident when a bag of bellies slipped in behind some other stuff in freezer #3.

I won't belittle the use of "Soylent Green" fish (opps...just did! ;) ;D )...a smoker's gotta do what a smoker's gotta do...but come up here and sample a fresh King (as my guest!) and you'll be ruined for life!! Here's the haul from this Monday...7 Kings, 4 Silvers, 9 halibut, and one dinky Rockfish...a GREAT day and I am one VERY thankful fisherman...I LOVE this stuff!

ExpatCanadian · August 26, 2011, 02:12:50 AM

Hey Kummok... just pulled my trimmings out of the freezer this morning to thaw for brining this evening.... turns out I've got more than I thought.... around 5kg of belly strips. I'm going to do half as the candied salmon in this thread, but I'd quite like to try your "salmon bacon" also.... but although I can find MANY references to it on the forum, I can't seem to find a specific recipe or method, unless I'm just being completely blind. Do you just use your standard brine, and brine/smoke for longer periods until the strips dry more than usual?

Smokeville · August 26, 2011, 05:36:34 AM

Quote from: ExpatCanadian on August 26, 2011, 02:12:50 AM
Hey Kummok... just pulled my trimmings out of the freezer this morning to thaw for brining this evening.... turns out I've got more than I thought.... around 5kg of belly strips. I'm going to do half as the candied salmon in this thread, but I'd quite like to try your "salmon bacon" also.... but although I can find MANY references to it on the forum, I can't seem to find a specific recipe or method, unless I'm just being completely blind. Do you just use your standard brine, and brine/smoke for longer periods until the strips dry more than usual?

Salmon Bacon is our all-time biggest seller at the Farmers' Market. My only complaint is that since it is so thin, and smoking economics are related to rack square footage, it is expensive to produce per pound compared to the rest of the salmon.

Take the full belly strip and cut it into two so that you separate the flat and the point. Sounds like brisket, eh? Use Kummok's brine. You can brine overnight or even much longer. Kummok recommends longer, which would be preferable because of the high fat content. Air dry as normal. When you rack, keep the different cuts together. It actually won't make a difference in the cooking time -- it just makes it easier to organize.

I use Crown Royal (which is Oak) mixed with Oak since CR is now history.

Because of the fat content, I use higher temperatures to start. 2 hours at 135F, 2 hours at 155F, then bump to 170F until they are nicely brown, maybe 3 hours or so. It is almost impossible to overcook. Boogers are not a problem.

Here is a plate of salmon bacon....

As Kummok says, it truly is the very best.

Rich

Smokeville · August 26, 2011, 05:39:05 AM

And, I must add, it was Kummok who gave me the idea of making this stuff. Plus the name of salmon bacon. Calling it salmon belly wouldn't be nearly as appealing to people.

Thanks Kummok!

ExpatCanadian · August 26, 2011, 08:37:02 AM

Great, thanks!! Just got back from the store, had to pick up sugar and salt..... got a Costco sized jug of maple syrup and some catering sized jugs of Kikkoman teriyaki that I keep on hand so I'm good to go otherwise.

Here's a question for you:

My wife is away in Canada for a couple weeks visiting her folks... it's Friday evening, nearly home-time from work, it's the start of a long weekend... and I'm planning to spend the evening preparing and brining salmon belly.

HOW BLOODY BORING AM I!!!?? :P

Smokeville · August 26, 2011, 10:40:21 AM

You're as bloody boring as I am. :-[

It's Friday afternoon. Sunny afternoon. I just tested some salmon gravlax I made on Tuesday. I've got 24 trout fillets in the 2 smokers, and 20 more I did yesterday I now have to vacseal and freeze. The product samples for the Market have to slightly defrost and then get diced into little portions. When my wife gets home from work she will make 10 tubs of trout pate and 5 tubs of salmon pate. When the 24 trout are done I have to decide whether to seal them up tonight or wait until tomorrow after we get home.

Up tomorrow at 6am.

I'm getting tired just writing that!

Kummok · August 26, 2011, 10:31:18 PM

Dang...I LOVE boring people!! You guys ROCK! 8) 8)

Smokeville · August 28, 2011, 07:44:11 PM

OK, here is the batch ready to hit the smoke....

6 full racks. Right now they are done and in the fridge "steeping" overnight and I will post a photo of them tomorrow....

My daughter-in-law ate several pounds --- I mean pieces --- while they were still warm so there isn't as much left as should be....

Rich