Another Sockeye Attempt

Fisher · November 13, 2011, 08:05:53 PM

Hi Gals and Guys.....

The weather cloudy and damp, temp dropped to 7C (45F). Not much to in the yard. The leaves are all raked up. So I thought I would pull out some Sockeye from the freezer. New to smoking I learn something every time I smoke. The DBS temp set point at 120F with a deviation of 32F, 106F to 138F. After 2hrs I set the set point to 140F and checked for rack rotation and found the fish to the front of the bottom rack had boogers. I don't understand. I thought you get boogers when you smoke to hot and too fast. I know I should have taken some pictures but it was running late and it was dark outside. The hole day and night was not going well. You know Murphy's Law, and the Vacuum sealer was giving lots of grief too. Well I did take pictures of the air drying of the Sockeye.

aces-n-eights · November 13, 2011, 08:16:02 PM

You know, sometimes i get boogers (on my fish!) and i just can't explain why. I've started to use 100F as an initial temp, then 120, 140 and on up to 170. This has seemed to help with boogers. I also get a good pellicle - don't short this step. I turn the fish during the air drying (pellicle) so the pieces get a good tacky surface on all sides. Don't know if this will help... Good luck! Smoked sockeye, even with buggers is still awesome!

Fisher · November 13, 2011, 08:35:21 PM

Quote from: aces-n-eights on November 13, 2011, 08:16:02 PM
You know, sometimes i get boogers (on my fish!) and i just can't explain why. I've started to use 100F as an initial temp, then 120, 140 and on up to 170. This has seemed to help with boogers. I also get a good pellicle - don't short this step. I turn the fish during the air drying (pellicle) so the pieces get a good tacky surface on all sides. Don't know if this will help... Good luck! Smoked sockeye, even with buggers is still awesome!

Thanks for the fast reply aces....

Yes it helped I will flip the fish on the air dry. The air dry on this batch was three hours. The DBS low limit set point is 120 and I thought of going to 100F but no can do. I will be buying A PID soon.

Quarlow · November 13, 2011, 09:05:09 PM

Sometimes you will get real fatty fish and boogers are going to happen. You can wait till the boogers happen and then brush them with a paint brush to get most of the boogers off. The rest will kind of melt away.

Kummok · November 13, 2011, 10:55:39 PM

Based upon the limited info in your post and the pics, your pellicle stage might have been a little short and it's possible that smoker venting was a little tight?!?!? It's a good thing to strive for "booger-free" salmon by working with the pellicle forming, heat/time, vent all being in cosmic alignment but just remember that boogers aren't a curse by any stretch....like As&8s says, "sometimes they just happen" and like Q says, "bush 'em off" and eat the great results.

Fisher · November 14, 2011, 10:06:57 AM

Quote from: Kummok on November 13, 2011, 10:55:39 PM
Based upon the limited info in your post and the pics, your pellicle stage might have been a little short and it's possible that smoker venting was a little tight?!?!? It's a good thing to strive for "booger-free" salmon by working with the pellicle forming, heat/time, vent all being in cosmic alignment but just remember that boogers aren't a curse by any stretch....like As&8s says, "sometimes they just happen" and like Q says, "bush 'em off" and eat the great results.

Thanks kummok, that helps.

Sorry about the lack of info. I have a lot to learn, and the Bradley forum is the place to be to do that. Everybody is great. Your right about the damper, because I had it half open or half closed at the time I saw the boogers, and I opened the damper full because I had no boogers with the previous batch with it wide open. The reason I had the damper half closed was the previous batch was dryer on the edges with an IT of 115F. For the air drying I will follow up on your recommendation. Like I said I have lots to learn. Three + hours of air dry I thought the pellicle was good, but it was 7c (45F) so now I'm thinking it would need more time with the temperature as low as 7c. Again thanks for all your help Kummok.

ghost9mm · November 14, 2011, 03:33:37 PM

Now that is some really good lookin sockeye...we eat that like candy...nice job..

TomW · November 14, 2011, 04:10:14 PM

Boogers dont effect taste....in fact boogers taste.....well...nevermind...
Keep after it!
Tom

Keymaster · November 14, 2011, 05:35:48 PM

I always pat dry my fish with paper towels right out of the brine then put the fan to them, usually takes about 8 paper towels. That might help if you did not do that. it looks really good on the drying table and I am sure it taste just as good finished.

Kummok · November 14, 2011, 06:34:05 PM

Heck, Fisher...you're off to a flying great start...with Reds no less!! Somewhere else on one of these g'zillion posts is a thread that I started waaay back to share our mistakes made while smoking fish...there were some doozies but boogers don't even qualify as "mistakes"... ;) ;) Keep on sssssmoookin'!!

Fisher · November 14, 2011, 07:04:24 PM

Quote from: Kummok on November 14, 2011, 06:34:05 PM
Heck, Fisher...you're off to a flying great start...with Reds no less!! Somewhere else on one of these g'zillion posts is a thread that I started waaay back to share our mistakes made while smoking fish...there were some doozies but boogers don't even qualify as "mistakes"... ;) ;) Keep on sssssmoookin'!!

Hi Kummok...
I talked about having no boogers with the previous batch with the damper wide open. Some pictures of the Chum drying, and after the smoking.

Chum dried

Chum Smoked

muebe · November 14, 2011, 08:00:21 PM

Great color on that fish ;)

JZ · November 14, 2011, 10:37:52 PM

I get boogers on my fish too. But it still tastes good.

I think it is mostly because I don't dry it thoroughly and don't give it enough time to form a pellicle. I do the same as you, 2-3 hrs of drying with a fan and then into the smoker so I can get it finished in a day.

Not sure how others do this but the logistics don't seem to work if I brine for 12 hrs (overnight). If I did, then how do I get a 12 hr dry without smoking the fish in the middle of the night? Anyways the fish is still tasty.

Nice Job!!!!

mikecorn.1 · November 15, 2011, 08:05:54 AM

Nice color.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Kummok · November 15, 2011, 05:40:02 PM

Quote from: JZ on November 14, 2011, 10:37:52 PM
...Not sure how others do this but the logistics don't seem to work if I brine for 12 hrs (overnight). If I did, then how do I get a 12 hr dry without smoking the fish in the middle of the night?...

I'm not real big on exact hours for either brining or pellicle stages....normally I'll put the fish in the brine around 6-8 in the morning, take 'em out around 6-8 in the evening, dry overnight and smoke the next morning. I'm retired though and more in control of my daylight hours (if you can call it "daylight" in Alaska Winter?!?!?)

@Fisher...That fish looks great...definitely drier, especially around the edges. Dry edges with moist centers is why I process mine into pieces that are all pretty much the same thickness...takes longer to do (see "retired" above ;) ) but worth the consistency of final product to me. It's all about personal taste and what's good for YOU is the priority...

Another Sockeye Attempt

Keymaster