I had just returned from a very successful Salmon fishing trip off the west coast of
Vancouver Island and it was time to do some smoking.
I have been concerned about how well my Amerique would work in this application
as the process involves drying the Salmon and we all know these are very moist
cookers. Not to worry! The fish turned out great and the smoking was much easier
than with my old gas smoker!
The process I use is called Kippered Salmon and comes from an excellent book
"Smoking Salmon &Trout" by Jack Whelan.
I took three Chinook Salmon in the 20# range and filleted and de-boned them.
Then cut the fillets crosswise into approximately 2" strips.
I then brined them overnight in a solution of 3 parts pickling salt, 1 part sugar, 11
parts water. Cool brine before using and make sure the pieces are completely
submerged. After removing fish from Brine, rinse well under running water and pat dry
with paper towels.
Spread over 4 racks keeping thicker pieces together. Put racks on table and set up
a fan to blow across the fish for preliminary drying. This will form a skin on the
surface called the pellicle and takes about an hour, this will combine with the smoke
to give it the flavor you want.
While this is drying, bring the smoker up to 100 degrees F.
After the pellicle has formed it is time to load the smoker, put the rack with the
thicker pieces on the lower positions. Leave the door gapped open about ½" and
cook for 3 to 4 hours.
Now put in 1 chunk of wood (Hickory in my case) and latch the door closed. Cook
for another hour. This will be a very light smoke step.
The next step is called "Tempering", you want to gradually over the next hour raise
the smoker temperature to 175 degrees F. This is where the Amerique's small
heater is an advantage, Just set the temperature to 175 and it will take just about an
hour to get there. As the temp starts to rise you will start to see some good smoke.
From here it will take from 0 to 2 more hours depending on the thickness of the
piece. When they hit an internal temperature of 165 degrees F take the rack out.
You want to cool them as rapidly as possible to around 40 degrees before vacuum
bagging and throwing in the freezer.
Now you have snacks for a year. Yum!!!!
At your next party, defrost and put out a half pound of this and some crackers out
and watch how fast it disappears. For a large party, you are going to need more!!
There are a pair of pictures in my adjacent post.
Jim
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