Smoking Salmon

Nevermind I found the answer to my question.

Thanks.

Always a good thing when folks go to the FIND at page top,put in a topic ,to all forums,and see what comes up.

The Forums,as well as the great SmokinOkie 101 s.

After answering 95 % of their own questions,we are able to chime in on the specifics.

Some things,and bacon and fish are two of these, have traditionally been cold smoked. Cold smoking is a whole different process from what the Cookshack units are designed for.
Cookshack does make a baffle for cold smoking but it's still not the same. I know, also , that I will probably hear from all those who "Rube Goldburged" their Cookshacks wih boxes on top or use limited heat to get the wood smking and then turn it off.

Still it's not the same. A real cold smoker has a really far offset so that only cold smoke enters the smoker. I have smoked a ton of fish over the years and the one thing I watch is that the smoker never gets over 80 deg.
One big thing to pay attention to is that if you are going to truly cold smoke your meat or fish MUST BE PROPERLY CURED

While Axel is correct about the "traditional" methods of smoking bacon and fish, very acceptable results can be obtained by low temp smoking in any of the Cookshacks. Ive cured and smoked hundreds of pounds of bacon (and canadian bacon) and way too many salmon fillets using my 008/050 with excellent results. Use the FIND above to search on bacon and my name and you will see pictures and my methods.

bob

exactly, Caddie.. I've smoked literally hundreds of pounds of salmon and most has been low temp. All turns out great.. and it's not just my opinion.

Just be sure do dry the surface and put on a cookie cooling grate and use a small fan to get a dry/sticky surface on the fish.. a pellicle.

I use Alder when I have it.. but use Oak for salmon and just about everything else. Apple is also good.

Course, these are all one man's opinion.

Some good thoughts there.

Salmon being a fish that can take to a real cold smoke,i.e. "squaw candy",a nice lower heat[with some smoke,around 180º] or grilling/pan frying at 250º-300º.

Not sure where Chooch is from,but Alder is sometimes tough to find outside the NW.

In the SE we see alot of nut,or fruit woods for mid heat smoking.

Alder is very common with the commercial salmon smokers out here. The wood is somewhat common in certain areas around here close to the coast.. But, I've also seen it at BBQ Galore as I remember.. and with the tiny amount of wood used in the CS's.. a bag'll last quite a number of smokes.

I my be wrong.. but, I tend to believe the "traditional" woods are the woods that are most common in certain areas. We don't have hickory out here but tons of good oak. BBQ joints use a lot of oak here. Mesquite in the southwest.. pecan in the south. For a while we had a coupe of folks from Oz.. and they used eucalyptus.. I tried it and it was fine.

As we all know, certain woods go with certain product better than others. I just like mild woods with fish and birds.. stronger woods with beef and some pork.. but in my book.. OAK rules.

Well,a different thread,but yes, availability often dictates what may be used.

Oak is often considered "queen" of woods and is often used as a 2/3 blend with whatever flavor woods folks prefer-or by itself,or with charcoal.

Many feel that it mellows/rounds out other woods.

Thus, Tragar may use alder as the base wood for their otherwise flavored pellets, produced in your area.

Those produced east of the "big muddy",they use oak as the base with their flavors.

Don't see much mesquite used as a smoke wood,but folks grill with it for the higher heat produced.

Those that flavor with it still seem to use charcoal,or oak for their heat.

Thanks for the kind offer.

We'll keep it in mind.