Andi.....Salmon fillets.?

I am smoking for canning, so I only do it briefly. The canning finishes the cooking, and I must say, I am cranking out the Worlds Finest! I started with a dry brine, which I prefer, but is too expensive for the amount of salmon I'm doing. Now I make 5 gallons of wet at a time. Are you going to can, or smoke for eating soon? You cannot believe how delicious salmon is warm out of the CS.

Let me know what your plan is. I have a recipe for a dry brine you will love!

Also, Tom, what species of salmon do you have? The fat content makes a diff for brining...

Hey,Andi.....Dealing with supermarkets down here,they only know what we tell them ..I know they are whole in wet packs and they think they are reds....They have the Alaska shipping labels,so at least they are not farm raised....Getting late for Reds?..Maybe pinks?...I grill a bunch,and like them hot out of the smoker ,also.....I won't be canning any....Thanks for the input.

If the meat is really Red, they are Reds...and it's not too late. What did you pay? If you have Pinks, the meat is light and the tails have black spots on them. I've got Reds brining right now...as soon as I rack them to dry, I'll come in here and give you a brine recipe and method for smoking. See ya in about an hour or less...

OK, Tom, here is a great dry brine:

1 lb. canning salt
1/2 lb. brown sugar
1 tbs. saltpeter (optional)
1 tbs. white pepper
1 tbs. crushed bay leaf
1 tbs. allspice
1 tbs. clove
1 tbs. mace

Make sure your fish is free of any blood. Rinse fillets and dredge them in the above mixture, making sure all are coated well. Cover and reef for 3-12 hours. Rinse and scub lightly to get rid of all traces of salt. Dry with paper towels and set on your smoker racks on cans to let air circulate. Dry with a fan on them (Never in the sun) or outside in a breeze until a pellicle is formed. This can take up to 6 hours or more or less, but it is THE most important step to smoking fish. When you touch the fish, your fingers remain dry and the fish is shiny. I brush with maple syrup about halfway thru the drying time. Then smoke with hickory until your fish is as dry as you want it. I go at 150 degrees w/3 oz. wood and start the smoke going before I put in my fish. Any questions?

PS: This brine will smell to high heaven like cloves. Do not be put off thinking your fish will be cloven. Ha! It's a really tasty brine.

Thanks much,Andi.....They are about $4.50/lb. or a little less for skinless fillets,if that is how I want them.....They ran out of Reds last week so I had a shark festival....They were great and we just finished all of it.

Like THAT answered my question. If they ran out of Reds and you had a shark festival, then you have no salmon? I don't get it!?

Huh? What? I gave you my top secret brine for naught?

I don't think it was for naught, Andi . . . I think it was for shark!

And for someone who claims to eat anything that has had a recipe made up about it, where does the prejudice against shark come from? It ain't salmon, but it ain't chicken, beef, pig or moose either!

If it lies still . . . prod it with a stick. If it still lies still . . . smoke it!

Hey,Andi....The shark was last week.....I pick up the salmon tomorrow.

Ha ha, Cogster! I love the prod thingy! Funny! I have no predjudice about any food, except maybe boiled okra. Yuck!

Ok, Tom, ya gonna do that brine or do you want my wet one? Wet one is easy, except my amounts are for a five gallon bucket. Actually for 10 lbs. of salmon, it's perfect.

Thanks,Andi....I'm going dry....I mixed it this afternoon.

"Going dry"? Well, I guess I have to crack a beer for ya...LOL!

Are you using my recipe?

Andi,I'll follow it to the letter and see where it leads me.Thanks.

Andi,bad news!....I got there to pick up my Reds and they were gone!....He had Atlantic farm raised for $8.00 that he would replace for $2.99. Right after he agreed to wax my car, visit with my in-laws, and support any of my children that brought home kids ,I put away the 9mm. ...Andi will understand the reverance for farm raised salmon. I'll report in, but I should have gone with shark !...Really they are great!

Bummer! I can't believe the dogfood raised farmed "salmon" were more spendy than the wild REAL thing! Folks just don't get how to buy fish. Tell your fishperson you want the real thing! Farmed fish lack the good Omega 3 fatty acids.

Dangit - I wish i had a good fish market close by Well actually the salmon i just smoked was my 1st one and judging by my guests reaction and mine it turned out Great.
I used a wet brine, smoked w/hickory chips at 200 degrees for 1hr and 20 minutes. MMM
I'll try that dry brine next time.

Andi,

Had a question via email (some of the lurkers don't like to ask for fear of laughter).

Define the "canning salt" in your ingredients list. What is it, is a pound necessary, are their substitutes?

Smokin'

Must be a regional thing, cuz I know you know the answer to that question. Canning and Pickling Salt is merely salt with no iodine in it. Same as used for curing meats, although I see you guys use Tender-Quick and such. I mix my own Salts w/saltpeter, or nitrates. Canning salt is available at most grocery stores and Morton puts out one in the bag...should be next to the Tender-Quick.

For dry brining fish, the ratio is two parts salt to one part brown sugar. Then any amount or type of spice you want. I made a fillet for testing yesterday with Jamaican Jerk seasoning in the dry brine and it was wonderful! You don't have to brine for long...30 minutes to an hour to 8-12 hours. All depends on the depth of flavor and how salty you want the fish, though all the salt should be rinsed off prior to drying and smoking.

I use rock salt from the fish cannery for my wet brine. I have also ground it when I ran out of canning salt. This isn't road salt...it's food grade sea salt. Any salt, as long as it's not iodized, will work. Kosher, too.

Virtually any large grocery,or even hardware stores, will have canning salt....It only costs about $0.25/lb. versus sea or Kosher salt.

Andi,the salmon were good......Your recipe part did all I could have hoped.....Took about 2 hrs.+ to 160� internal.....As you know,you don't get the firmness or the flavor you expect from Alaskan salmon......The longneck Shiner's Bock for the group and they were happy campers Thanks again.

I've been trying to arrive at the optimum internal temperature of my salmon for canning, instead of the ole finger and taste test. Haven't been able to do it. Was your salmon fully cooked, or kippered, at 160? Since you were not trying (or unable with that soft farmed crap) to achieve a hard-smoke, as in Squaw Candy, then I take it your fillets were for a dinner thing? Or a snacky thing? How thick were your fillets? I smoke in long strips, and then cut to fit the jars after they have cooled.

Hey,Andi....The salmon was probably a hair undercooked,but close....It was about 1 in. fillets ,cut into 1.5 in. strips....It was sort of a " snack dinner", since I chilled it about 4 hrs. before serving....It was to go along with New Orleans olive salad, cheeses ,stuffed pickled jalapenos,salsas, chutney and chunks of fresh jalapeno bread and herb butter....If it had been Alaskan,I'd have smoked a couple more hours and vac packed for snacks....I'm sure it will be even better when I get home today....I'm still trying to learn the process,as I am on most things.

Well, then, what you had was what we call a Kipper up here. That's the way I like it. The inside goes all buttery...mmmm. That meal sounds wonderful! Totally! I like those kind.

My next few packs will be hard-smoked, but not Squaw Candy. I'll take some temps, now that I know what a good baseline is...your 160, and relay what I arrive at. Of course, like I said, I go a little under, as I'm canning. 120 minutes in a pressure canner and she be cooked!

Did you, by chance, brush the salmon with anything? Like maple syrup? I do. How long was your drying time?

This is like ping-pong salmon! Tom-Andi-Tom-Andi. When you guys get the steps ironed out, I would love to know how to smoke a salmon. Whew. You got your pellicle, your maple syrup, your thin strips, your fillets, your cooking time, your brining time, your drying time, and your salt peter. Salt peter?! What's that doing in there?
I just might stick with mullet. Acarriii

Ha ha! I think you are jealous! LOL! Maybe I should write a 101?

Smoked Salmon is highly subjective. And easy. You learned nothing here?

Want that Mullet. Perhaps you could tell the class your method for smoking Mullet? And do a test at the end! I love tests!

Hey,Andi....I brushed with maple syrup after three hrs. ,as you suggested....I ended up dry brining in the refrigerator almost 24 hrs.,and mine was pellicle in about 4 hrs....I had ceiling fans going and about 76� in the house....It maybe dried a little faster from the extra time the salt worked on it ? Or maybe the fact that I had no canned peas and was forced to use adult beverage cans[ the alcohol evaporates off more quickly]....Like most of my projects ,I'll get it figured out after the season is over. We'll try again next year when Reds are available and really cook up a bunch.

Andi says:

quote:

Maybe I should write a 101?

I for one would welcome it. But then, I'm about one antler short of a rack, as I think they say in Alaska. Did you notice that Qdogg did a salmon the other day? He was very happy with it. Photos and everything. But, no pellicle. He did what seemed to me a simple preparation; more like the simple mullet prep. Wipe on some rub, then smoke, skin on, 'til tender. Then eat. Very different from the multi-step process you are talking about, yet equally able to result in happiness and contentment.
So, yes, do a Salmon 101. But check around first. Smokin Okie has 101's tucked beneath every bag of charcoal in Ponca City. ACARRIII

ith the popularity of Fish recently, I've added "Fish 101" to the list. I'll certainly be adding a lot of these posts in that forum and inviting anyone with info to just keep posting away and it will get added.

I would ask if you're doing some Fish, take some digital photos of the process, that's the most popular part of the 101's.

No digital, Okie, it's just not in my budget now. And I'm bummed! I would love to send photos! The nearest developer for regular film is a 200 mile r/t.

So, Tom! Did you notice after that long in the dry brine, it made it's own wet brine? When I smoke for vaccuum pack or just eating, I leave it in the brine until it does that. And, sometimes the pellicle will form in an hour, if the conditions are right.
I love that kiss of maple, don't you? Sounds like ya done real good! Too bad it wasn't The Real Thing! Next year, we'll get you some Reds.

Andi,

You take all the pictures you want, and send me the rolls of film and I'll get them developed and turned into digital, probably even get reimbursed by some friends of mine when we use them on the site. How's that for a deal.

I think we could work together with you to do a great Fish 101 and the photos are a must.

We take care of the cookshack nation around here.

OKIE!!!!! That is an offer I CAN'T refuse! Oh, how wonderful of you! I take back everything I've told these guys about you in private e-mail! LOL!

I used to be into photography pretty heavy. Then I became a single Mom and had to hawk my equipment. What we have around the house is an el-cheapo 35mm. No SLR and no thru-the-lens view. Let's give it a try...what do you say...200 or 400 ASA? 400 is great for my lighting situation, but past 5X7 the reciprocal values go to hell. I can use 200 with some added lighting. Advice, Kind Sir! How exciting! Now I have to really clean my background so youse guys don't think we're slobolas around here! You know, pose stuff and such. Way cool, Okie!

well, more of my background.

I worked as a Professional Sports Photographer, it's an old passion of mine.

I would go with the lower ASA (also tighter grain), but I would add some lighting (even a room lamp, or a engine trouble light or spotlight). Taking the before pictures isn't bad, but remember that everyone will want to see details and details and oh yeah,details.

We can discuss the photos via email. The key is always trying to figure out a script (that's the 101) and then figuring out the photo sequence to try to "educated" those uneducated about fish. More photos the better.

And go ahead an say what you want in those private emails (they send me copies anyway....) LOL

Smokin'Photographer

Tighter grain was what I meant by reciprocal values.

Details? You want details? I'll take you every step of the way. I know what to do, and I'll describe each shot. What fun! I can't wait! Of course, please remember the cheap camera. I hate it when you look thru a viewfinder not thru the lens. Let's do one and see how I do, ok? I'm doing some Reds tomorrow. We leave for the Fair on Tuesday.

Yeh,Andi.....I kept it in a hotel pan,covered by a hotel pan with three bricks in it. Works like a charm.....You da woman !

quote:

Originally posted by Andi:
[qb]No digital, Okie, it's just not in my budget now. And I'm bummed! I would love to send photos! The nearest developer for regular film is a 200 mile r/t. [/qb]

Andi,

You take the pix, mail me the film and I will get it developed, scanned and online. What a deal!

Same goes for anyone else who does not have a digital camera.

Send it to Donna Johnson, 1811 Industrial Blvd. #111, Norman, OK 73069.

Donna in Norman, staying in her house until after the first OU game of the season starts because it is not safe to venture out with all those crazed football fans

quote:

What we have around the house is an el-cheapo 35mm. No SLR and no thru-the-lens view. Let's give it a try...what do you say...200 or 400 ASA? 4

Andi: Be not afraid. With Smokin helping out, this can be real easy. I say so, because the ribs picture I posted awhile back (where is that pic, anyhow?) was taken with a tiny point-and-shoot Pentax with 200 asa, with a flash (takes care of your film speed issues, and I think throws nifty glossiness into the image). No SLR at all. Color print, mind you. Then I scanned the print into the computer. If Smokin can do that, you're in business, and there seems to be nothing Smokin cannot achieve.
You ask, was the photo any good? I offer the drooling response to that image of no less an accomplished gourmand than Topchef himself. Acarriii.

Tom: Killer idea for weighting the fish. Man! I have all that stuff, too! I've been using the Beer Fridge (to spouse's chagrin) and weighting with a cast iron frying pan. Dang good idea, Tom!

Donna: Okie made the same offer...heh, heh. Can you top his? LOL!

Acariii: I'm ready to jump right in. I won't know how they come out until they either get on here, or Okie tells me not to quit my day job! LOL! I am excited about doing this!