Smoked Salmon

[Split Decision]

anyone have a good recipe for smoked salmon. My grill has a smoker in it and want to give it a try.

[katman]

what kind of grill do you have? Reason I ask is it will make a difference in how you smoke fish. Is it gas with a smoke box?

[Split Decision]

It is a weber gas grill with a small smoke box on the right side with a burner under it. Never did this before and want to at least try to get it right.

[katman]

Tom,

make a brine solution. High Mountain Jerkey sells a greart kit for salmon that works with about any fish. If you want to make your own use kosher salt or ann non-iodized salt. I used about a cup of salt to maybe four cups of water. Usually put in a handful of raisins, juice from a lemon, a few teaspoons of coarse black pepper or some peppercorns. I also like to add about a quarter cup of dark brown sugar or real maple syrup. Let is soak in the brine for4 hours to overnight. After soaking take the fish out and give it a quick rinse. It is important to pat it dry, and if you have the time let it air dry till it forms a light glaze. It is important that the surface of the fish be dry before going on the smoker because smoke won't go through a layer of moisture.

You want your grill to be at a fairly low temp. That's difficult with a gas grill but doable. Hot smoking is done at about 190-225. Nova and cold smoked salmon is done at about 90. You will be hot smoking. Don't put the fish directly over the fire. I use a a small pizza stone and a rack so I can get smoke circulating all around the fish. I also use apple, peach or alder wood when I can get it. Hickory works fine. I think mesquite, oak and cherry are a bit strong for fish.

Use chunks of wood in your firebox if you can get them instead of chips. I have several big green eggs that I use for smoking, but I recently got a big webber for the place at the ocean that has a firebox. The trick with the gas cookers is figuring out a way to slow down the burn of the wood. If you get chips you might want to make a AL foil pouch to hold the chips, poke a few small holes in it, and put that in your smoker box.

I like to smoke my fish till it firms, but it will also taste great if you let it cook till it flakes. Also, if you like a little kick you can glaze it towards the end of the cook with a mixture of maple syrup and your favorite hot sauce.

Good luck. One other point: you don't have to get expensive "wild" salmon for smoking. The farm raised has a lot of fat, which is good for smoking. I was just down to Whole Foods and they have some coho on sale. Looked like they would be great.

[Split Decision]

That sounds good. I work with wood so I can get chunks of hickory and alder. Maybe I will try it next week. I have some great lakes salmon that a friend caught recently. Don't remember what kind it was though.

About how long should it take to smoke so I have some idea of timing. I have a pizza stone also so I will try that. Do you soak the wood in water to slow the burn down or just add more if needed?

[katman]

Hard to say how long--depends on the size of the fish (are you doing whole or fillets?) and how low you can get the cooker. I'd probably do a nice, thick store-bought fillet for at least a couple of hours at 200-225. I usually try to take it past the normal "done stage where the meat flakes. I like getting a good bit of the moisture out. Propane gas is a real moist heat so your cook time might be extended.

I don't soak my wood chunks. I think when you soak them the smoke is more bitter. You can always add more wood if it is burning up too fast, but a nice sized chunk or two (golf ball or bigger if your smoke box will fit it) will burn for a while and give you a lot of flavor. It doesn't really take too much wood to smoke food. Clean, white smoke is the best--or almost no visible smoke in a hardwood smoker. Many believe food doesn't take on much additional smoke flavor after the meat reaches a temp of 140-150, so the early stage is the most important.

steve