Smoked NY Salmon (lots of Qview)

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Bearcarver

Gone but not forgotten RIP
Original poster
OTBS Member
Group Lead
Sep 12, 2009
45,279
18,182
Macungie, PA
This is the first 4 (smallest 4) of the 19 Salmon fillets my son brought me from his weekend fishing trip in NY. I did a couple experiments while preparing & smoking these guys.

#1 Since I had a problem with the glazed ceramic floor tile I tried last time, I put a heavy piece of aluminum sheeting above the heating element in my MES, on the right side (8" X 11"). Seemed to work great. I hung my probes on each side, and they were always close & sometimes exactly the same!

#2 I filleted the skin off & removed the fat, while trimming the pieces. I wanted to get them smokier than usual, as I love them very smoky. This worked good, but I kept it in too long at lower temps, causing the pieces to be a bit leathery, especially on the edges. I trimmed the hard edges off for an old hunting buddy of mine. He'll love it! I used to go archery hunting with him, and I always had to stay way ahead of him when we were walking through the woods, to keep him from chewing on the soles of my boots!

Next time, I think I'll still trim the pieces like I did, but bring the heat up faster, so they don't dry up to much.

Fresh NY Salmon:
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Tailgate full & then some of Salmon fillets:
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Skinsides of Salmon fillets:
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After Trimming & Brining:
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Patting Dry:
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In the MES:
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Completed Smoked Salmon:
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Oh man Bearcarver, that looks awesome. I really like the pic of all the fish in the water, very jealous here
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. Great job on processing them, smoking and wrapping them, looks fantastic. Did you use any kind of rub or anything on them? Or just smoke them plain. I too love a heavy smoke on my fish.
 
Meat Hunter,
I didn't rub anything on them. I just used water, Salt, Soy sauce, Brown sugar, Garlic powder, Cayenne pepper, & dried Basil in the brine. I was going to add some black pepper before I put them in the fridge overnight to form the pellicle, but I forgot.
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Big Train,
I didn't go up with the kids. Every year my son goes up to NY with a couple of buddies. The one guy's Dad has a mobile home right near Pulaski.
Then my son returns the favor by taking them out in the summer on his "Trophy Pro" for flounder, tuna, stripers, sharks, or whatever happens to be hungry (below NYC). He furnishes the equipment too.
He's coming home tomorrow from 5 days in The Keys. He emailed some pics of what they caught down there----44" Amber Jack, 120 pound Goliath Grouper (had to throw back), a nice Black grouper, and a bunch of yellowtails. That kid's really got a rough life!


Thanks for asking,
Bear
 
Man thats a load of salmon there Bear. I like the pic of the salmon in the smoker. I don't eat it but the wife could almost live on it too. But I cann't wait to see the final product cause I do have to smoke it from time to time.
 
Bear, that was some of the finest smoked salmon I have ever seen! Beautiful pics all around, too. Thanks for sharing such a bounty
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Very cool!!! The only reason I said something about Brown's campground is because they have a trail right down to the river. It is so easy to do.

I took out a bunch myself this year too... It was a blast! Stayed right in Pulaski.

Yea fishing down in the keys must be horrible... All the fishing, and beer drinking... I don't know if I could handle it... I never been yellow fin fishing before but Ihear its a blast!
 
Downstate,

Time ?----Too long !

2 qts water
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
10 oz bottle of soy sauce
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tsp of dried basil

Soaked for 4 hours.
Then put on the racks, into the fridge overnight to form pellicle.

I smoked it low temp for too long:
Started MES until it was smoking good---about 86*
shut off for awhile, until smoke stopped.
Restart set at 100*.
Every time it stopped smoking, I bumped it up 5* or 10*, and threw in some dust.
I did this for 6 hours, until it was up to 175* smoker temp.
Then I bumped it up to 190* until it was 145* internal.

It was all a little too leathery, so next time I'm going to try going to 190* to finish at about 4 hours, instead of 6 hours.

I used Hickory chips, but threw some Apple sawdust in to get the smoke going a bunch of times. I have never eaten anything that was too smokey for me.

I also had Apple juice in the water pan.

That's about it,
BC
 
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