Salmon issues--Thoughts?


 
G

G John B

New member
First time smoking salmon. Boneless skinless salmon from Sam's Club. 1:4 kosher salt to brown sugar sprinkled on both sides and into the fridge for 2 hours. Then rinsed with cold water and set out for 2 hours. Two hours in smoker with 3/4 apple to 1/4 hickory.

It was good, but...

It was too salty and not smokey enough. My thoughts are reduce the salt sugar time to one hour, increase the hickory and extend the time to three hours.

Also, what about using a maple syrup for the last hour?

Ideas? Advice?
 
I use a brine. Much easier to control the salt level that way. I very briefly rinse, pat dry, then allow to dry on a rack over a pan for a bit. I lightly rub then smoke.

If the smoke flavor was insufficent either up the wood, lower the cooktemp, or both.

I use the process described here. (The salt ratio is 3.75 Tbls Morton kosher to 1 qt water - plus whatever flavorings. I use just 1 Tbls sugar in the brine, none in rubs for salmon.)
 
I've cooked and smoked many lbs of salmon. Had a Boston Whaler back in the early to mid 1990s and salmon fishing off the west coast was very easy. Now it's against the law as the salmon numbers have significantly dwindled down.

Cooking fresh was and is still preferred, but when we had too much we used to smoke the excess.

I used a Little Chief smoker. The recipes are pretty simple and can be found at the link below. The temp of the cooker needs to be very low around 170 degrees (if I remember right) and the fish is brought to about 165 degrees. Time will vary by the thickness of the fish.

As described we used an overnight brine. To prepare, once de-scaled and fileted I always left skin in place on one side and bones in.

http://www.smokehouseproducts.com/LCRB.pdf

John
 
I just this morning vacuum packed about 30lbs of King Salmon filet with skin on that I smoked yesterday. Our process is to brine overnight, rinse well, and maranade for about 4 hours in a maranade of real maple syrup, teriaki sause and water.
Pat the skin side dry, spray the skin with pam, coat the flesh with a light coating of brown sugar and place on smoker grill. I smoke for about 2 1/2 hrs at 225 degrees. It turns out moist, flaverfull and freezes in a vacuum pack very well.
Lou
 
I have used maple planks for the salmon. I marinade with 1 part soy sauce 1 part honey and 1/2 part dry wasabi. the dry is most important.

I cook this on my 22.5 kettle even though I cooked at a higher heat the smoke flavor came through, {the fire may have been a wee bit hot as the boards would flame up when the lid was off
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but when I asked the family how it was, all I got was EATING NOISES
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If you use maple and cook slower than I did but have a good amount of wood on the coals you will get a nice smokey flavor
 
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