You got it EV. I like my salmon heavily smoked and along the lines of what they call "Indian Candy" around here.
It's really simple, LOL but you're getting it in detail as I just recently had to write it all out step by step for some friends in Edmonton that bought smokers after our last fly fishing trip when I took a few pounds with me....luckily I saved the file....LOL maybe I should say great detail, one o' them is a Newfie.
First I prefer big fatty salmon like springs preferably 15lbs or bigger, those would be Chinook Salmon, or King Salmon to many in the U.S.....but any salmon, trout, fish, or meat will do.
I cut it into decent sized chunks, skin off, generally about 1.5" or so square and maybe 4-6" long...tail sections of course will be different sizes. I don't know why, but I find when eating them the taste is for some reason better if you are biting off pieces in natural flakes...maybe it's just me...so cut them lengthwise.
I use a dry brine. 60% demerra sugar to 40% coarse salt, pure salt no added crapola. Add whatever spices you like, but they aren't necessary, the salmon is just fine without them, sometimes I'll add some real maple syrup to it.
Dredge each piece in the salt/sugar to coat, pack in a non reactive container, plastic, and let it sit and make it's own brine....1.5"-2" thick pieces will take 1.5 to 2 hours...thinner will take less....just check it now and then, what you want is the meat to be the consistency of back bacon (Canadian bacon, or pea meal meal bacon for the Americans or Eastern Canuckleheads)..ie, not mushy when you squeeze the meat, but kinda firm.
Rinse them off then dry each piece with paper towels or whatever. Sometimes I'll crack some peppercorns over them.
Now, most important is forming the pellicle. This is a slightly tacky skin that forms on the surface of the meat. It serves several functions, it provides an ideal surface for the smoke flavor to adhere to, it helps seal in the remaining moisture through the smoking process, and it prevents the fats in the fish from rising to the surface and spoiling while smoking for the numerous hours it takes.
All this step is really, is drying the meat. Put it on your smoker racks outside in the shade, preferably in a breeze, or inside with a fan on them, whatever....Let them dry for at least 2 hours.....you'll be both able to see and feel the pellicle....meat looks really shiny and is sticky to the touch.
Then smoke it....I heavily smoke it, 5-6 pans of chips, new pan every hour or so. Put the thicker pieces on the lower racks, thinner on upper.
I just use a Jensen Big Chief I've had for years. I use mainly alder chips, but sometimes mix them with cherry, apple, whatever...
Smoking time varies depending on the weather and the thickness of the fish. Hot summer day, smoker in the sun, might take only 6 hours, cold winter day here in the rain, might take 10-12 hours, Edmonton at 40 below, LOL who the heck knows?
Just taste a piece now and then and smoke until as dry as you want it, or as still moist as you like it.
Also, when I skin the fillets sometimes you leave a bit of meat up against the skin, or along the bones....I slice off those thin pieces, the bigger the better, and brine them on top of the thick pieces for maybe an hour tops...then dry them with the rest and put them on the top racks...the really thin ones will give you smoked salmon jerky in a few hours.
If the results aren't to your taste, change a few things next time. Add spices, smoke less, add more sugar, whatever.
It's good cold, hot, used in other recipes....it's candy man. |
