Salmon OK...

Where did you order the wood from? I would be interested in that.

Thanks

I2BBQ -- You have a point about masking the flavor.... Many folks that I know around these parts will cook up the fresh fish without too much fuss and alder smoke the ones that don't look to be quite as, well, good tasting (due to size, marbleing, color, etc.).

In fact, I see this much with White Sturgeon (caught locally here in a couple of rivers). The smaller they are, the better the fish. As they grow larger, the flavor is just not quite as good--as a result, they tend to smoke the larger ones (and it is yummy too). They also tend to smoke the Green Sturgeon (saltwater version if memory serves me), as it has a more "fishy" flavor than most White sturgeon.

Getting back to the salmon, I have the recipe for the BEST smoked salmon that you will ever taste (my grandpa's recipe). The recipe is as follows:

A little of this, a little of that.

Doggone it......he never did offer any more information than that other than that!! Oh well, when I duplicate it I'll let you know!

I live on the California coast and get the salmon right off the boat. I find most people over season it and dry it out too much for my taste. I have developed my own recipe. Here it is:
1. I rub in a abundant mixture of brown sugar, salt, and black pepper to your taste.
2. let it sit overnight in the fridge
3. wash it off good and put it in the smoker(cold)
4. I add some oak chips and turn on Frosty
5. Bring the temp up to about 100 degrees
and every hour add about 15 degrees until you reach 170. Total cook time between 5-6 hour
6. add a second handful of wood as soon as the first one finishes


Your salmon will be sealed on the outside and under that crust it will be oily and melt in your mouth. This has become quite popular, and I am now smoking salmon and duck breasts for a upscale French restaurant in Sonoma Ca. This is how I make my play money. Here is a picture link to Frosty. I built him for only $300.00 and he has an internal cooking area of 60" tall, 27" deep, and 25" wide. Walter

go to the picture links to see Frosty


http://www.fenderforum.com/guestbook.html?user_name=Walter%2520Tore

Walter,

Is that a whole salmon, steak or fillet? How much does it weigh?

Thanks

I agree with Walter 100%!!

I also think that people dry it too much, and much prefer the taste when it is moist!

BTW -- Frosty looks like it is very spacious!! Sure could have fun with that!

I second that; it's easy to overwhelm a decent chunk of salmon, especially with sugar and garlic. Smoking seems to work pretty well with cheap farm-raised salmon (about the only thing it's good for, in my opinion), since it tends to be kind of mushy to begin with and drying it out a little helps.

Try grilling a good wild-caught king salmon filet on top of a thin (1/4 in) piece of untreated cedar; the cedar smokes just enough to flavor the fish. And don't go more than 135 degrees internal. Man, that's good stuff.

Cheers;
gk

Anybody who's ever enjoyed a Mississippi River smoked carp knows that smoking does a lot for really bad fish, both in terms of changing the flavor and dripping out some of the fat and gelatiny glop.

[URL=Click here: JUST SMOKED SALMON BRINE & ALDER WOOD SMOKER RECIPES FOR FISH, MEATS, & SEAFOOD ]Tennessee Style Bourbon Smoked Salmon[/URL]


Friends, at this site you can see the bourbon marinade recipe I used. The alcohol seemed to make the fish firmer. The rub was delicious. I ate it by the spoonfull.

Pleasant outcome, but as I say, the fish became a vehicle for the other goodies.

And, there's still a pint of Wild Turkey to take care of.

i2,

You got a bad link there.


Is this the place?

Just Smoked Salmon recipes


Smokin'

My fish experience is limited to a whole 8kg peacock bass that I did with a pesto sauce. Really tasty but a little bony, and Lau Lau filets, this is a kind of catfish from the Orinoco that can go to 200kgs, I did a marinade with soy and cane sugar (papelon), real simple, real nice. Has any one done shark? Here the catfish is cold smoked and is considered a delicacy.

quote:

Is this the place?

Yep, thanks. The Tennessee Bourbon recipe was the one.

...and what's a pellicle? To smoke salmon right, you need to have a pellicle, and then move on.

Or so I'm told. I live in Florida. No pellicles here.

Aren't pellicles those big beaked birds that dive bomb the water for no apparent reason and make the top of yer fishin hat white?
You've seen www.3men.com i2? Haven't tried what they have in the saltchuck dept. but looks good!

A pellicle is a thin skin of coagulated protein. The skin that forms on old-time hot chocolate? That's a pellicle.

If you dry salmon in cool moving air you'll get a pellicle on the surface of the meat. It helps keep the fish from drying out too much, and absorbs smoke.

I make drugs for a living (the real, legal kind) and pellicle formation is a problem sometimes with gelatin capsules that don't dissolve right.

Hope this helps;
gk

I guess I was mistaken with the bird thing, but got it with the white fishin hat?

Here is a salmon recipe that is dry brine method for lack of a better term. I also find that the liquor recipe do cover up the salmon flavor. This can be done on a grill hot and fast or at 225 to 250� and allows you to put more smoke on the fish.

"Cardog's BBQ Salmon"

Dry Rub
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup non-iodized table salt
3 TBSP granulated garlic
3 TBSP granulated onion 1 TBSP dried dill weed
1 TBSP dried savory
2 tsp dried tarragon
Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Turbinado sugar may be substituted for brown sugar. To substitute garlic salt and onion salt, reduce table salt to 1/2 cup and double garlic salt and onion salt to 6 TBSP.

Finishing Rub
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 TBSP granulated garlic
1 TBSP granulated onion 1 tsp dried savory
1 tsp dried tarragon
Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Turbinado sugar may be substituted for brown sugar.

Buy a fresh, 3-pound salmon fillet, preferably Sockeye or King. Remove the pin bones using tweezers or needle nose pliers. Do not remove the skin. Place skin-side down in a glass or stainless steel pan.

Pack the dry rub on the flesh side of the fillet, approximately 1/4" thick. Let the fillet rest in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours (the longer you leave the rub on, the stronger the salt flavor). Rinse the fillet in cool, clean water to remove the dry rub, then pat dry. Allow to dry for about 30 minutes, until the flesh becomes tacky.

Heat a barbecue grill to medium to medium-high. Sprinkle finishing rub on the fillet (twice what you would use as if you were heavy salt and peppering). Cook with the lid closed to an internal temp of 140-155*F (your preference) measured in the center of the thickest part of the fillet.

We recommend using wood to produce smoke while cooking. On a charcoal grill, just sprinkle a few wood chips on the coals. On a gas grill, place wood chips in a pouch made of aluminum foil. Poke holes in the top of the pouch and place it on the hottest spot under the grill. Alder is our wood of choice, but fruitwoods are a wonderful substitute.

You can also smoke it at lower temps of 225-250*F; this allows for more smoke on the fillets.

Jim

I can vouch for Jim's recipe,as I have been using it for a couple of years with great results.

Jim Minion, thanks for that tremendous contribution. Will down load, and use pronto.

(I really ought to tour the West Coast and find out first hand about these smoked salmon and such.)

Smoked Salmon,been doing it for sometime .Simple recipe,lets the flavor of the fish come through and is very workable into spreads etc.Fresh filet,skin on or off whatever,being in Arkansas we only have one chance when the salmon run starts in the Arkansas River so we take what we can get.Large plastic or glass container you can place fit the filet into.If filet is too big cut it.Cover the bottom of the container wit rock or kosher salt,goodly amount,place filet on top of salt,then cover the filet with salt so no flesh on showing.Cover place in fridge for 3 hours.remove and dump the salt,very carefully as the filet is very tender,place into a running cold water bath for 1 hour.Place on a cooling screen and back into fridge uncovered overnight.Day 2,
place into your CS,with about 2-3oz apple or pecan,set your unit at 225 , let it bump for 1-1/2 hours,remove and enjoy.Great hot or cold,we sell bunches of it.I too would like to use alder,and there is an alder street in the city,but no alder trees,had my chainsaw ready to go too if I saw one.Hope the helps the salmon question.
Papa Shaka

quote:

Originally posted by dmaclaren:
[qb]Where did you order the wood from? I would be interested in that.

Thanks[/qb]

http://www.barbecuewood.com/

quote:

when the salmon run starts in the Arkansas River

Dang! Here I am, older than I care to admit, and I didn't know there were salmon in Arkansas. Arkansa River Drains to the Gulf, no? Through the Mississippi. Salmon in the Gulf of Mexico? Aye,aye,aye. So, they must be landlocked?

Live and learn in the world of BBQ.

Gotta go study up.

Hey I2
When it's low tide on the Arkansas River we go dig clams,which is once in a blue moon,I'm waiting for the next one.
Come see me,I'll show you
Papa Shaka