Smokin' Salmon in Alaska

Congrats on the win!

Welcome to the forum.

While we're waiting for some people to come in with some specific info, look at a post just below yours "Smoking Cheese". There is some good "cold smoke" info in there.

Welcome again

Thanks and you ain't ever getting rid of me! LOL! Moose season coming up and there will be pastrami in Smokey (my name for her). This family smokes everything and I might add, after reading some posts, I have the required 12-pack. Who can smoke without beer? I think I'll just do the ole finger test on the salmon...feel for give and firmness. Will opening and closing her to check product mess up the smoke?

So, Andi, you can the salmon?

You mean you eat what you can and what you can't you can?

When you get over that fabulous joke, I want to talk about a swap for smoked mullet. Don't listen to Texaskingfish. This mullet is righteous fare. Good trade for wild caught, Alaska smoked salmon. Ask anybody. Ask Bobby Que. What do you think? Maybe 2 mullet for 1 king salmon? 3 mullet? ACARRIII

You made me spit beer thru my nose! Talk about alcohol abuse! LOL! I do trades all the time and you bet we can dicker. Frankly, I don't even know what a mullet looks like, much less what it tastes like, but I will eat purt near anything! King season is over, but I am doing Reds now, and will do Silvers when they come in. I can in pint jars. The first 16 cases are spoken for, but I put up close to a hundred. Also, Fireweed Honey if you are interested. My smoked salmon has a wee bit in it. I plan on doing a fresh-pack Humpy with garlic sauce, too. Great for crackers, soup base, omelettes, whatever! People scoff at Pinks, but we love them canned. Remind me to tell you about the Pepper-Pak sometime!

I'm smoking a salmon as we speak, because I could not find a mullet.

In my mind, this would make the ratio of mullet to salmon much higher!

all kidding aside, andi, how do you smoke salmon on your smokey?

I don't know yet...haven't done any. Just received Smokey a few days ago. My plan is now to brine and dry brine tonight and let her sit overnight, then rinse and dry to form the pellicle tomorrow, and then smoke. I plan to turn her into a sort-of cold smoker by getting the smoke going at the lowest temp, then shutting her down and plugging the vent. I may have to do this once, twice, who knows? These fillets I am doing now are a test of taste/method. I will let you know how it goes. Whaddaya think?

quote:

acarriii wrote:
I want to talk about a swap for smoked mullet. This mullet is righteous fare. Good trade for wild caught, Alaska smoked salmon. Ask anybody. Ask Bobby Que. What do you think? Maybe 2 mullet for 1 king salmon? 3 mullet?

Andi, don't listen to these sharks! He's just baiting you! 3 mullet for 1 king salmon??? He'd never follow through with a trade like that. That would be nuts!

Maybe even-up or 3 salmon to 2 mullet. That's fair.

Heck, I'll even pay half of the air freight on an even-up exchange. Fair is fair, Andi.



-Ron

Andi says:

quote:

I don't even know what a mullet looks like,

Andi, my friend, I've been thinking about this problem. What does a mullet look like? Hmmmmmmmmmm.
Listen. Try this. When your wife walks by, jump up and give her a kiss on the cheek (or whereever). Now HOLD that. Keep that pucker. That's it. Hold them lips just like that and go look in the mirror.
There's your basic mullet mug shot.
Get the picture? The fish is an algae eater. Cute little lips for sucking algae. It's true. Just ask Bobby Que.
2 mullet = 3 salmon? You might have something there, Redneck Almost Trained.
Now,Andi, about that moose you got in mind for this fall, do I have a deal for you!
(All kidding aside, sounds like God's country up yonder.)
ACARRIII

Well, well, well! How many guys do you know named Andy? Do they spell it with an "I"? Get the picture? So, I guess to picture a mullet I could ask the ole man to drop `em and bend over? LOL! You guys having fun teasing the naive Alaskan? Keep your old mullet...I'm having fresh King Crab tonight!

Still haven't got the fish in the smoker. It's raining hard and it's taking a long time to dry out the fish. Have a big fan on it now...

Andi: Very sorry! I should have noticed. Too much BBQ smoke has pickled my brain. But, I would like some salmon. I'll get in touch. Good luck with that new machine. ACARRIII

No sweat! No offense taken...kinda cracked me up, in fact. The Red Salmon are showing up in huge numbers. Spouse works at a processing plant, so I get all I want. They had 400,000 lbs. yesterday.

It's so dang wet today, I'm thinking of firing up the woodstove and hanging the fish in the garage. But it gets major hot in there and I'm afraid it'll cook it, not dry it. Dilemma!

Andi: Wet fish? What kind of wet? Would a hair drier get the job done? Long shot, but I'm far away. Good luck. acarriii

Now that might be an idea...keep the dryer on cool. The most crucial part of smoking any fish is to dry it to form the pellicle or skin over the flesh. Depending on the weather, it could take an hour or 24 hours. Though, I have other stuff to do than stand over fish with a hair dryer, I will if that's what it takes. Damn good idea!

quote:

Originally posted by Andi:
[qb]The most crucial part of smoking any fish is to dry it to form the pellicle or skin over the flesh[/qb]

Andi - I have a question for you. Why is the pellicle so crucial? When I smoke salmon, I apply a rub and then throw it into the smoker. I seem to get positive comments about it and have not taken the time to allow the salmon to for the pellicle. If it makes a significant difference, I may have to change my cooking method.

And thought Texas Folk were a little out there,but lets look at this again:
Cold smokin' in Alaska.....????
Drying a wet fish ....do you use a little bath robe to.
Oh boy do I even wan't to give them a chance to start the Red Snapper jokes....

Andi-
Your posts were wonderful. I'm still chuckling! Please let us know how you end up smoking the salmon.

I smoked a filet yesterday that probably was farm-grown. It had a pellicle of sorts on it I think, but it came out looking beautiful and tasting to salty! Obviously, a brine problem?

If you have time, could you explain the process you use to "brine and dry brine" your salmon and possibly describe it on the basis of doing one side of a fish for us who are salmon deprived.

Hey, folks, how do I individually post replies? I am still learning to navigate this forum...

The pellicle is crucial because it holds in the moisture and fat. Have you found the white stuff coming out of your fish? That's fat. If it doesn't bother you, then have at it, but for a beautiful bronze product...the pellicle is most important. In fact, I was just coming in here to update you guys on my salmon...it is gorgeous so far!!!!! The pellicle is almost formed and I'll heve her in the smoker about 7:30P my time. It's 6:19P here now. It is wonderful and not salty at all! I s**tcanned the idea of the wet brine and dry brined it this morning at 8A until 5P this afternoon...that's when the dry brine formed with the salmon juices and melted. I rinsed and dried the fillets and they were firm and bright red! I have them on racks held up with vegie cans and a fan on them now. Use two parts canning salt to 1 part brown sugar. My spices are a secret...but I add a little saltpeter, too. Anyway, you know you have a pellicle when you touch the flesh and don't stick to it...it's dry. Reef the fish while dry-brining. I don't plan to can this batch, so I will smoke/cook it at 100 to 200 all the way. I won't let it fully cook for canning. The pellicle keeps it firm in the canning process (100 minutes @ 10 lbs. pressure) so I don't end up with mush. Or Squaw Candy.

Hey, Tex! What about Red Snapper? Were you going to say something? Ya know what Alaskan's favorite pasttime is? Telling Texan jokes...and if ya run out...just sub any blonde jokes for Texans...and it works! LOL!

Well, all you Baby Boys are in beddie-bye now, and I just put the salmon in the smoker. Have her set at 175 and am using the top two racks. The fillets were perfectly dry on top when I set them in there. I'll check every hour to see how they are going. Let's see, for me that's about 2 beers an hour...so if my half-rack is gone before she's done I'll crank the heat up. I gotta feeling these are gonna be great! Wish I could send you all a taste of this batch...will report the success in the morning! Say goodnight, Irenes! Sweet salmon dreams!

Andi,

what do you mean "individually post replies?"

You can only post replies in a single "thread". A thread is one such as this "Smoking Salmon in Alaska". You can't reply individually to a particular post within this thread. It's just one long running story between you in Alaska and those Hurricane Fans in Florida

And be careful about those Blonde Texan Jokes in Alaska...I know a Big Blonde Texan and she could probably come up there and ...tell a few jokes of her own.

Don't happen to have a digital camera handy? The photos of the salmon would be great. Of course the Gators in Florida won't take pictures of mullet -- I hear it's pretty ugly.

Mullet? Ugly? Only a goldfish has a nicer face. You want ugly, look at a toothy kingfish.
I'm trying to figure where to find a mullet pic. Maybe Tom can get one this weekend. He found a semi-load of mullet over there near the space shuttle. Good project: Bobby Que has the camera, Tom's got the mullet. Come on, guys, let's settle this glamor fish thing.
Smokin, looks like Andi has a "method." I'm not familiar with brining or smoking fish, but she is, for true! Is her technique unique, and can it be captured in your archives? (And where do I find 400,000 pounds of salmon to practice on?) ACARRIII

I think Smokin's just jealous, 'cause with this heatwave he is having there isn't enough water to support a fish.

Hot, it's not Hot.

I played 18 holes of golf yesterday afternoon, it was only 102 with 60% humidity.

That's not hot!

I'd just rather be golfing than fishing...but I haven't figured out how to smoke all my "birdies" yet.

Thanks, Okie, for the advice on the forum. and the blonde Texans!!! I just finished the fish...had to turn it off and get some shut-eye last night, but finished her off this morning. Absolutely Delicious!!! I don't have a digital, unfortunately, but these fillets are gorgeous! First time outta the chute for my Smokette and she didn't disappoint me. I see, however, that I need to get a schedule down for brining, drying, smoking, and canning. There is no way I can do it in one day. No way. And she doesn't hold but 6 red fillets, about 1/2 a case, so I'll be doing this night and day for quite awhile! The flavor of this fish is worth it! I just had some warm from the smoker...right proud I am!

And for the record, Boys, the ugliest fish in the world is a Wolf Eel! Creepy and scary and dangerous on the deck! Good eating and damn good bait. Hates to come off the hook...the skin is so tough.

ACARRIII: I tried responding to your private message and it said either you or Okie has it blocked.

E-mail me the regular way at alf@seward.net with your regular e-mail. We'll work something out. Whaddaya got to trade?

Here is a mullet pic, I think this mullet has had plastic surgery,mullet pic
or is this
mullet

I don't think it ugly! I think it's quite a nice looking fish actually, but I've been in the seafood business for so long, any fish you can eat looks good to me. You would not believe some of the strange species Russ and I eat. We eat anything and everything that comes outta the sea. I'm not real fond of freshwater fish, cuz I'm spoiled rotten with sea fish. Smoked trout is a different story, though!

Mullet.com!!!!!!!!! Oh my God. I cannot believe it. My hat's off to you, Texaskingfish. acarriii LOLOLOLOL

http://divingthenorthwest.com/scuba/pics/critter/wolf3.jpg

Check out this ugly critter!

Someone above asked what a mullet looks like?

Well, after extensive research on the internet (google images= mullet) I found this site which will tell all you mullet deprived landlubbers more then you want to know about this neat little fish.

If you surf around the site, you will find a simple recipe on how to smoke the little devils. Lots of mullet-lore here.


This is the link to the definative website on the Mullet among us.

Enjoy

Ooops- I looked above and saw that the Texaskingfish also found this obscure website. at least, this validates it as an honest resource of mullet lore!

You MulletHeads ought to start your own site to really show what you can do with Mullet as a source for Q.

Already 30 replies for Fish...well, I'm landlocked in Oklahoma but I love the sea (spent two years in Australia and learned what I was missing)

Guess I'll head to the seafood shop (they have a Cookshack by the way for cold smoking) and pick up tonights dinner.

Good Fishing to all!

Anything and Everything I ever wanted to know about Mullet...I learned here! LOL! I think it's a fine looking fish and may your hooks be empty for dissing it!

I gave away most of my first batch of smoked salmon, and now have orders for more! Smokey done me good! Quite a few folks have said it was the best they ever had and that makes me proud! Couldn't do it w/o my Smokette and now I want a biggun. I'm going for the Grand Prize this year! Call me a Contender!

Hey, Okie, ya got fresh water Perch there? Only had it once and loved it! Smoke some!

Today is devoted to making Fireweed Honey, which I use to tease the fish. Got up at 4:30 and headed up to Summit for the freshest clover. Saw 6 Moose and a Brown Bear...goats aplenty, too, on the mountains. Life is good!

Hey Andi do you smoke your salmon with alder?I've caught some of those monster Halabut up there and was wondering if they are good smoked? When you say you are doing reds now do you mean Sockeye salmon? Regards, JJ

Hi, JJ! I used Alder for years, but this year I'm going with Hickory. Tired of peeling Alder, which I might add is growing all over my property. If I can't find Hisckory chunks in the stores, I have enough Alder for a lifetime! Year before last, I had a wonderful arm roast from a Moose. It was too pretty not to do something spectacular with. So, I corned it for 15 days in the fridge, then cold-smoked for 15 days. It was the middle of winter and we had set up a jury-rigged cold smoker. Worked good! But, I sat and peeled Alder all day long in 10 below weather for those 15 days! Talk about a labor of love? That smoked arm roast was the finest pastrami anyone in Moose Pass has ever had! This year I plan to do a few in Smokey, and I will probably use Alder.

Smoked halibut is good! Very, very rich, though, so what I do is put a very light smoke on it, and finish it in the oven in some kind of sauce to hold in some moisture. When I can it, I add oil so it stays moist. And yes, I am doing Sockeye Salmon right now. These are Cook Inlet Reds and they are having a good year! Beautiful fish!