Smoked Salmon on 14.5--First Attempt


 
D

David W

TVWBB Member
I just did a smoked salmon filet in my 14.4 last night with alder. I dry brined it for 4.5 hours and then let it rest at room temp after rinsing for 2 hours. I used 12 lit coals and water pan full. Added 12 more lit coals after an hour. I smoked between 150 and 180 for 2.5 hours and removed it at an internal 145 degrees. I closed 2 bottom vents most of the time with one at 50 percent. This was a successful test run. Next time I'l make several.

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Tasted some on thin rye toast with a little cream cheese and capers. Yumm!

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Nice !
"Dry" brining is the way to go, IMO.
Good choice on the Alder smokewood, too....that is our predominant hardwood in the PNW and the natives have been smoking salmon with it for eons.

Dry is in quotes because as you know, it doesn't remain dry.
I smoke a fair amount of salmon....I'll PM you some links that you may find useful.

The fresh crop of wild Alaskan Sockeye salmon should be showing up but generally the #1 preferred by folks is wild caught Spring Chinook.
Those are the top two.
 
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It looks great, but my concern is not getting to 154 degrees, the temperature at which most "harmful" bacteria dies. My son (now 18) got E. coli O157:H7 when he was a year and a old. It developed into hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and my wife gave him one of her kidneys two years ago

In my home, everything gets cooked to 160 minimum and perferably 165. It was heartbreaking to see him in the hospital for the 3 months when he got sick, it was tough dealing with kidney disease as he grew up. He's healthy now, but it set him back. You would never want to see a loved one go through it.

Sadly, raw vegetables are the breeding grounds for E. coli 0157:H7, which is probably how my son got it
 
I think the FDA recommends 145 for salmon. That's what I cook it to whether grilling or smoking. Maybe 150 tops. I thought that was a safe temp. However, your concerns are exactly why I decided to not attempt cold smoking of salmon. Too risky for me, and I don't have access to sushi grade fresh salmon to start with.
 
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Another good wood is Vine Maple for salmon. We have it here in Oregon, not sure about Florida. Thanks for the post. I've been using my 22 for fish and my 14 for non fish items.

jz
 
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