Heat control for salmon cook


 
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Rita Y

TVWBB Emerald Member
Hi Folks!

I smoked some really succulent and delicious salmon a few days ago, a first time using skinless pieces! I do, however, have a few questions (please see below).

Six 2-inch wide cuts of skinless salmon fillet, 1 1/4" to 1 1/2" thick, about 10.5 oz each (Costco, $ 4.99/lb)
Minion Method, with 15 lit coals.
One layer of Kingsford in the charcoal ring.
Brinkman water pan (dry)
Weather: 70?F, wind SE 6 mph, my usual BBQ rain

Target rack temp.....190?F
Target salmon temp...150?F

..........................................................(% open)
...........Lid.....Rack.....Fish...Lid Vent...Vent 1...Vent 2...Vent 3
6:30....170....174.......----......Assembled cooker, no water, added fish and wood (3 fist/ 8 oz alder chunks, cut in half)
6:45....240....----.................55%........Clsd......Clsd......Clsd
7:00....260....264.......147......Clsd.........Clsd......Clsd......Clsd
7:15....270................147......Clsd.........Clsd......Clsd......Clsd
7:20....270....279.......150......Clsd.........Clsd......Clsd......Clsd....Salmon off, covered, & rested 10 min.

Total cooking time = only 35 minutes.

Conclusions:

(1) I rubbed some pieces and brined the others. Both were juicy, but the brined ones were more so.
(2) As per Alan Dujenski's July post, we really liked the honey glaze. I coated only the tops just before putting them in the WSM, but next time I'll either coat each piece completely or try substituting honey for the sugar in the brine.
(3) I dipped the bottom of each piece in olive oil before smoking and had no sticking and no dryness in the finished product.
(4) Smoke flavor was good, but next time I'll cut back to 6 ounces, about 2 fist-sized chunks, which I'll again chop in half.

Questions:

(1) What's the recommended technique to keep the temperature down? Less coal, add water to pan, crack lid, or ?????

(2) Being somewhat sensitive to bitter flavors, I picked up a barely noticable bitter edge to the salmon (no one else did). Was this because of (a) too much wood, or (b) closing the lid vents?

(3) I'd expected a cooking time of about 1 hour at (hopefully) 190-200?F at the rack. I realize that pieces will cook faster, but good gracious!....all that prep and only 35 minutes to play! And that includes getting all the other parts of dinner put together, too!

(4) Any insights or pithy comments will be welcome!

Thanks, everyone!
Rita
 
Rita
You are not going for a dry product and long storage if your cooking to 150? internal,
use water in the waterpan.
I would expect to cook for 1 1/5 to 2 hours to get the filets to finish temp.
Alder is great for salmon but 1 chunk was enough or because you were closing bottom vents to control temp you may have been getting smoldering of the wood from lack of good air intake.
You will find that skin on is a better way to go, easier to work with and retains moisture better.
Jim
 
Thanks, Jim. The skin-on whole fillets were quite thin, so I opted for the thicker individual skinless pieces, since I hadn't done those before and I was quite pleased with the results. I usually take salmon off the regular grill at 140 degrees but I thought I'd try 150 since so many on the BB use that temp as well as the dry pan. Next time I'll be sure to go back to water in the pan and 140 degrees internal.

Also, the cook time might have been a little longer if I'd pushed the individual pieces together.

Many thanks,
Rita
 
Rita,

I would not use water in the pan as I do not want it to possibly steam. If I used water I would put the salmon on the top rack.

To bring the temperature down I would use only a half full ring of charcoal.

I would cook it to 140 internal to make sure it is not dry.

In my opinion any chunks less than 1/2 pound will have a tendency to dry out.
 
Jeff -- I did have all 6 pieces on the top rack. It seems that there wouldn't be much steaming if I were able to keep the temp down to 190 as I'd planned, no?

I used one layer of charcoal, that is, one briquette thick. Do you mean half of that? Or do you mean half the depth of the charcoal ring?

Yes, I'm glad mine were over 1/2 pound or they might have been dry.

Thanks for the input. I'm so glad there are so many helpful folks on this board!
Rita
 
I would use half the charcoal you used since it is only going to be a 1/2 - 1 hour cook.

Also I would still cook without water in the pan.
 
Rita,

I'm planning on doing some salmon this weekend -- can you post or direct me to the July post aout the honey glaze? That sounds delicious. Thanks!

Kelly
 
Thanks, Rita! Have read and bookmarked the thread. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm hoping to do it this weekend; it will depend on the weather and whether or not I can find alderwood here in Humboldt County. I may have to make a trip either south or north to find decent smoke supplies, or order them online.

Thanks again.

Kelly
 
Kelly --
One more thing to help you get acquainted to this great website: at the top of this page you'll see "search." Try that for salmon and you'll get even more good information. If you're like me, you'll be spending hours just reading and you'll only be scratching the surface!

All the best,
Rita
 
Jeff
you are cooking the salmon to 140? so long storage isn't your goal, so no water in the waterpan, reason?
Jim
 
Pat -- That was very helpful indeed! It's a good way to measure the amount of charcoal as well as keeping it contained. I was just going to make a small pile of coals, but this is much better.

Did you use water in the water pan?
Rita
 
Jim,

I tried making salmon ONCE with the water in the water pan in by mistake for me since I always just put it in without water. My results did not come out good as the salmon seemed to be steamed somewhat and the outside bark not as good. I used atlantic salmon from Costco that day which did not have the skin on. I usually use norwegian salmon with the skin on. It may have been the fish but I like the way it turns out for me without water in the pan.
 
I did slamon for the first time this weekend, used no water in the pan, and the temp through the lid ran between 250 and 300. The salmon was done in about 2 hours, and it tastes pretty good.

Ken
 
Jeff
I think your results had more to do with the salmon than the waterpan.
We cook a lot salmon up here in the Pacific NW and I'd rather keep my temps in the range.
If I were cold smokin' and was using a cure I would use a dry smoke and would brine rather than use the dry method that Chris posted.
But there is more than one way to skin a cat so I was just interested in your reason for no water.
Jim
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by pat barnes:
[qb]
Went to the Weber site and got the info on thr holders for you so you wouldn't be confused as they make 2 different racks.
The ones I am referring to are called
"Charcoal Briquet Fuel Holders" for 22.5 in. Kettles and they are item #9600.[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Those are the sheet metal charcoal holders. Weber makes another style that is a wire basket, made of the same material as a charcoal grate. These are quite heavy-duty, although they will eventually (five to ten years) rust and distort like a fire grate.

This type of charcoal basket is no longer available in the accessory line. But, you can order them for $8 a pair by asking for replacement charcoal baskets for a Performer Kettle grill.

These used to be the standard accessory item until they changed to sheet metal. They have to use them in the Performer because baskets need to have open bottoms for the gas ignition to work.
 
Pat -- Wow! Thanks for doing all that for me! Do the briquette holders allow the ash to drop out, or isn't it a problem with so little fuel? Can't tell from the picture.

I've printed out the picture and a list of local stores that carry Weber products, so I'll do some phoning around tomorrow before I call Weber.

Webb -- Thanks for the information. I'll ask about the baskets as well.

Anyone have a preference for the sheet metal holders or the baskets?
Rita
 
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