Smoke Time for Salmon????

[Birddog]

I just got a new smoker and tried it for the first time last night on some pheasant. It turned out a bit too strong of a smoke taste. No where in any recipes online or in the book does it tell you how long to generate smoke. Is this supposed to be obvious because it isn't to me. I want to try some Salmon. The recipe calls for about 6 hours of cook time, but I don't know how long I should generate smoke. Suggestions?????

[Wildcat]

Have not done fish yet but I think I have seen others post here that indicated 2 to 3 hours.  As a general rule, 4 hours is plenty of smoke on any meat.  Some use less - it is a matter of personal preference/taste.  Experiment a little and remember, not enough smoke is better than too much.

Welcome to the forum.

[Ontrack]

Salmon is one of my four or five favorites to smoke. I use 1:40 to 2 hours of smoke max. Of course, this is just a personal preference of the wife and mine, I do like a heavy smoke flavor on anything I smoke. I have used hickory, apple, and maple, and will try another different one next time, but so far I think maple was our favorite.

[KyNola]

Birddog,
Welcome aboard.  I'm with Ontrack on this one.  Did 5 pounds of salmon yesterday.  2 hours of alderwood and then continue in the tower is the way I go.  Thick solid cuts of meat take no more than 4 hours of smoke.  Poultry will act like a smoke sponge.  Did an 18 pound turkey for Xmas with 3 hours of smoke.  You will learn your taste.  My hours of smoke may be way too much or way too short for your taste.  This weekend I am doing 20 pounds of pork loin for canadian bacon (Thanks Habs for the recipe)  No more than 3 hours smoke, may do less.

Have a great time learning and the guys on this forum who really know what they are doing will be you greatest source of knowledge.  I'm just learning my own self.

KyNola

[Birddog]

I read what it means to FTC, but I don't understand what the benefit is? What does it do?

[Arcs_n_Sparks]

Birddog,

Welcome to the forum. First, you Fill The Cup, then you Follow The Chicks. That is the benefit...   :o

Actually, it is Foil, Towel, Cooler. This is taking your finished product, wrapping it in foil, then wrapping in a towel, and placed in a cooler. This keeps your wonderful product nice and toasty while you start and finish several adult beverages before serving it up for dinner. A convenient way to have flexibility in planning your smoke, since you can finish early and keep everything hot.

[Gizmo]

In addition to what Arcs said, for certain types of food, it is my opinion that the FTC can also help with moisture and tenderness.  If you leave Ribs in Foil with a little AJ or Jack, to long, the meat will fall of the bone when touched.  The foil will help keep more moisture in the meat as I believe it retards the evaporation of the moiture into the atmosphere.  Your experiences will eventually be your guide to the product your taste buds like the best.  For the tenderness of a rib, a competition rib should not fall off the bone but should yield just slightly.  My mom would like to gnaw a little more as she puts canines to shame.  I know others that prefer that there is no effort to getting the meat off the bone.  The restaurant "Hustons" delivers those every time.  I brought a few fellow workers to the Houstons in LA and told them before we went that they didn't need a menu or a knife.  One of them forgot and picked up a knife before eating.  I looked at time and when he saw me, he put the knife down.  We had the waiter remove the knives after that.  When touched with a fork, the meat on that rib bone fell on the plate.  I just don't know how they kept the meat from falling off the bone before setting the plate down on the table.  I don't try to get there myself but have been real close (more on accident than design).
Enjoy.

[kiyotei]

Its important to let any meat you cook to rest a bit after the cooking.  this lets the juices redistribute evenly through out the meat and helps the flavors mellow a bit.  The FTC keeps the meat warm while this happens.

[jakomatic20]

did smoked salmon when i got the smoker. first thing i did in it. i smoked the salmon for 3 hours and i will say that they come out tasting very smokey. kinda nasty tasting so next time i am thinking no more than an hour 4o min. i used hickory.

[Carter]

Kummok salmon is the Number 1 thing I smoke because it is so good and my wife loves it.  I don't use that much smoke.  Only about an hour and 20 (4 pucks) to an hour and 40 minutes (5 pucks).  I've thought about adding more, but with the results from my taste testers, why mess with a good thing?  I use Alder, but plan to try Apple next time to see what happens.

For timing of Salmon, follow Kummoks recipe would be my recommendation.  You'll notice that there are three stages of cooking.  Smoking, Slow Cooking, Finishing.  Notice that he gives you a fairly big range on timing for each stage.  I generally smoke with the generator heat only.  I leave the box off.  Stage 2 will depend on outside temp.  If it's hot, you may not need to do anything.  If it's cold outside you may need to fiddle with the slider to get up to Stage 2 temperature.  No need to rush this, there's no need to overheat the box.  Let it arrive at the temperature slowly to limit the fatty bits.  Once you've had it sit at stage 2 for the alloted time, move the slder over a bit more until you reach stage 3 temperature, cook for an hour from that point and you're done.  Then enjoy.  Don't worry too much.  As the recipe says, it's pretty hard to ruin your salmon.

2 nights ago we did this:
Smoked Salmon and Pesto Penne.
Steps:  Boil up some Penne and then drain.  Put back into pot drained.  Mix in 1 TBS pesto (go to the trouble of making your own rather than buying the off the shelf stuff), 1TBS Cream Cheese, mix in one of your slabs of smoked salmon, add a little parmasean, sprinkle on a few pine nuts, make up a nice salad and you're on your way.

Good Luck and enjoy your results.

Carter