Simple hot smoked salmon?

[BoxcarBetts]

Okay, first off, I'm well aware of how Kummock's recipe tastes!  I haven't done it yet and it is on my to-do list, but for this question, please don't refer me to Kummock's salmon!

My in laws are coming over tomorrow with a fillet of salmon that they want to smoke.  So I have no brining time and a couple of hours to cook it.  Does anyone have suggestions for just simple seasoning and hot-smoking to eat immediately afterwards?

[ragweed]

Much like smokealittlesmoke, I pour on a little olive oil, sprinkle on some ginger, garlic powder and lemon pepper, sometimes a little dill.  Then smoke/cook at 220* F using Alder pucks for about an hour.  Very easy, very good.

[pjplovedog]

I have done this many times and its been wonderful. Alder is my choice as well.  I just use some seasoned salt, black pepper, and let her go until the IT is where I want it.  Personally I like my salmon at 145*, but I will pull it a little earlier and let it rest- it will keep on rising, usually about 140*.  Now if you like more well-done fish, then go higher.
In this type of cook, sometimes I just place it in a baking pan, instead of trying to mess with the racks and everything.  Into the pan with the skin side down.  Season the flesh side and smoke!
This has produced many wonderful smokey salmon dinners for us. Always a huge hit. The leftovers, if any, are fabulous cold like a traditional smoked salmon, less the brine.
Sounds YUM!
PJP

[BoxcarBetts]

Thanks guys!  Alder will be what I'm using too.  I take it both of you let the smoke go the whole cook time?  If it's done in an hour, hour and a half I assume yes?

[pjplovedog]

Thanks guys!  Alder will be what I'm using too.  I take it both of you let the smoke go the whole cook time?  If it's done in an hour, hour and a half I assume yes?

I let the smoke go the whole time.  It depends on the size of the filet how long it takes to cook.  If it is HUGE, it will take much longer, such as a King or Chinook whole filet.  If it is 1-2 pounds, it would take much less.  It is so difficult to say, just have some snacks ready for the waiting period.  Sometimes mine sneaks up on me, and it is done much more quickly.  Here's where I wish I had kept notes on everything so I could answer better.   ::)
Everybody will LOVE your salmon. 
:)
BTW, for a salmon prepared like this, I never use sugar.  I did that once, and it was not good at all.  Unlike brined/smoked salmon, where the sugar will offset the saltiness of the brined, sugar on fresh uncured salmon is not at all attractive.    ;)

[BoxcarBetts]

Awesome!  Thanks again for the tips.  I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow!  Err... Today as I look at the clock.

[Habanero Smoker]

I know I'm late on this, but I have cooked salmon and other fish (especially red snapper) hot and fast in the Bradley. You can use any grilled or oven baked salmon recipe, convert the cooking times & temperature, and cook it in the Bradley. I use a cabinet temperature of 240°F, cook and monitor the salmon to my particular doness; which is around 135° - 140°F. I can't find my favorite salmon recipe right now, but it is a plank salmon with mango salsa. If you do a search there are several listed, but I can't find the one that I use. I didn't use the plank in the Bradley; just cooked in on the racks. I used maple.

Cooking salmon hot and fast you increase the chance of getting "boogers", (layer of albumin that coagulates on the surface), which can easily be blotted off before serving. A trick I learned from Cook's Illustrated is to give the salmon a quick 10 minute brine in a 9% solution. Remove fish, pat dry; do not rinse and do not season the fish with salt. A 9% brine is about 13 oz. of salt per gallon, or 3.25 oz per quart. This will greatly reduce the chance of this occurring, plus improve moisture retention.

[Salmonsmoker]

 
:)
BTW, for a salmon prepared like this, I never use sugar.  I did that once, and it was not good at all.  Unlike brined/smoked salmon, where the sugar will offset the saltiness of the brined, sugar on fresh uncured salmon is not at all attractive.    ;)
[/quote]

pjp is right on this. High oil content  fish is complimented much better with savory seasoning than sweet seasoning.

[pjplovedog]

All this talk about salmon got me in the mood.  Guess what's for dinner tonight?  You got it! Fresh smoke-cooked salmon from the Bradley-It's Salmon season now!
I hope to have a weather window without rain at least for 1 hour or so.  I can finish it in the oven if it gets too wet outside, the perils of living in the Puget Sound area.   
Let us know how your salmon turns out Boxcar! 
:)

[Rainsmoke]

Yeah I'm in the Puget Sound too. Don't let that rain stop you.
Another good salmon recipe is to marinade it in soy sauce for 20 minutes to over night.  Then season as you like. I usually put garlic powder,  onion powder, cracked black pepper, and salt.  It comes out great. Just got my smoker so I haven't yet cooked one in the Bradley but I'm sure it will only improve the outcome.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

[BoxcarBetts]

We even had sunshine for a good part of the day until I went out to preheat the smoker.  It started just horkin' down!  But, that's why I keep the smoker in its shack.  :)

Salmon was a success!

Here's what I did:

Foiled a rack, similar to what PJP suggested.

I then considered all your seasoning suggestions and came up with squeezing 1/2 a lemon into some olive oil, whisked, and coated the fillet. Then I seasoned with garlic powder, salt, pepper, fresh ground ginger, and tarragon leaves.  I love tarragon on fish. 

Here's before it went in the smoker:



I then hot-smoked with alder at about 110-115 deg C (230-240 F) for 1h40.  Checked the inside temp after the smoke cycle and it was maybe a bit high, about 65 deg C (150 F), but it was delicious, not dried out, and everyone loved it, including my brother-in-law who isn't crazy about salmon for some reason.

Here's the finished product:



Next time I might add some more lemon or dill to add some tanginess to the seasoning and I might drop either the cook temp to about 105 deg C  (220 F) or reduce the smoke cycle to 1h20.  Probably the former because the amount of smoke was bang on.

[Salmonsmoker]

Nice job BCB!

[pjplovedog]

Fabulous!  Looks wonderful and I am so happy it went well for you.
I love tarragon on fish as well.   
I smoked some up yesterday also, and it was fabulous.  Mine also got away from me, probably because it was a smaller piece of fish, but it was still amazingly moist even at 150* 
So happy it's fish season again.

Also- if you ever have access to Black Cod- aka Sablefish, it is terrific cooked this way as well.  That one can use a little soy, sherry or rice wine etc, even a tiny bit of sweetness on it, and it comes out excellent as well.  I've had rave reviews on that fish as well.  I also full-on brine, cure and smoke the sablefish, brushed with a bit of applejuice concentrate at the end and it's a hit!!!
Bon Appetit!  Le poisson!