Salmon and Tuna smoke


 
R

Robert Shackelford

TVWBB Member
My father-in-law is an avid fisherman and always seems to have a lot of fresh Albacore in the freezer. I took a slab from him and decided to try smoking it along with some Salmon filets I had sitting around.

I cut the side of albacore into 4 fist-sized chunks and left the salmon alone (it is a side of salmon cut into 2 pieces). Just enough fish to fully fill the top grate of the WSM.

I brined them seperately in a typical brine then rinsed and air-dried. I then found some rub I had left over from a brisket (Modified Louis Henley All-Purpose rub) and lightly sprinkled all pieces.

WSM was heating up with one chimney of coals and another chimney of unlit charcoal. I added the water pan and let the temp stabalize to 300 degrees. I then added 1 piece of hickery and 2 pieces of apple and gave them 10 minutes to get smoking. When smoke started billowing, I added the fish, placing the salmon in the middle and the tuna around the edges. Brought temp down to 250 degrees and left it there.

1.5 hours later, I flipped all pieces over.

1 hour later I deemed the fish to be done and pulled them off.

Conclusion: Success. The tuna turned out a little dry but very flavorful. Maybe a tad salty but better then any smoked fish I have ever bought from a store.
The salmon is to die for. Lots of flavor, melts in the mouth...just awesome. Very moist since it was a fatty piece of fish to begin with.
Only thing I'd change is less brine time for the tuna and take them off the smoker about 1/2 hour sooner.

The best news is that my father-in-law is down in Mexico right now trying to hook some blues and yellows. More BBQ fish coming up soon.
 
Smoking salmon is the only way I cook it anymore. No one wants it any other way--fine with me. I haven't found tuna of decent quality in a while (but I'll be in San Diego on Saturday...
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); true, though, even if a little dry it's better than anything you can buy at a store. I've never flipped the fish. Do you find an advantage to flipping or is it a just for the helluvit kind of thing?
 
For Hawaii standards that is waaay tooo long to cook tuna. Tops of seven minutes each side. If it's fresh, which it usually is, I prefer to have it seared on the outside and pink on the inside.

Otherwise for us...tuna can be chewy and dried out if it's cooked too long.

If it's really fresh, it tastes better raw than fully cooked. JMHO

Salmon on the other hand can take a low and slow cooking and come out great!

Aloha!

Greg Kemp
 
I brine my salmon and tuna for about 45min-1hr. and then smoke them at 190 degree for about an hour. Albacore actually is best grilled and very quickly. Yellowtail and yellowfin and bluefin are very good smoked. Try smoking them at this low temp for the tuna, it wont come out as dry.

Flipping does nothing when it comes to smoking fish.
 
We were hosting a dinner with 20 guests and I smoked 6 lbs. of salmon as one of the entrees. It went in a hurry. My family loves salmon on the WSM.
 
The only reason I flipped the fish is that I wanted the fish to get the grill indentations on both sides. Kinda petty but I like how it looks.
I actually do like seared tuna but I have it so often that I wanted to do something a little different. If I had sashimi grade tuna, like in Hawaii, I'd be eating Poke every day.
Next time I'll definitely try smoking with a shorter time along with the lower temps.
And now for the bad news. My father-in-law (as well as half the boat)got sea sick due to the rough seas down in Mexico (Dennis effects?). He ended up not even going up on deck choosing to hang out in the galley instead. Better luck next time.

Edit-Guess it is Emily that we are feeling effects of around here.
 
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