# First Smoked salmon



## driedstick (Oct 12, 2015)

First of all I would like to thank Waterin hole brew, and Cmayna for their guidance to this project, just took me a while.

So when the guys at hunting camp want smoked salmon, for some god awefull reason they told me to make some,,, SO Ok,

I am not a big fish fan but what the heck, doing it for them, 

Here is the crowd I have to feed 













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My brother below 













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and the newest to camp - my boy 













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SO onto the smoked salmon,,,,, This being the first time I did not want to ruin a bunch so on Fri night on my way home from work I picked up a fillet that weighted about 2 1/2lbs ,,,, brown sugar, kosher salt. 

Did the dry brine of 4 cups dark brown sugar to 1 cup of kosher salt. 













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Waiting to be cut into chunks, 

put a good layer of brown sugar mixed with salt down. 













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layer fish, then mixture brown sugar, fish, brown sugar ect. 













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This sat overnight for a total of about 14hrs. 













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Then onto the counter for approx. two hrs with a fan blowing on it to form Pellicale 













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I started smoker at 130* for 1hr, then bumped to 145* for an hr then to 160* till the IT was 145*

Smoked with Trager cherry pellets in the MES with Mailbox mod. 













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NOTE the last 1/2hr or so I brushed some warm honey on each piece and sprinkled with Black Pepper













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My wife being from San Diego loves fish so she is the official fish tester,













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She said it was absolutey great!!!! (so did the boy) She said the honey made it!! she could not taste the black pepper thou,, and the honey was not overpowering the salmon,,, great mixture.  

SO that was it,,,,,,,,,,Went out Sat. night bought more to do on Sunday 













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I know it is not as good as fresh but you have to do what you have to do. 

Thanks again guys for the help!!! 

This should satisfy the Hunting group!!! 

Thanks, for looking. 

A full smoker is a happy smoker 

DS


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## daveomak (Oct 12, 2015)

Morning DS....  For a guy that don't know how to cook fish, you did MIGHTY-FINE !!!!!....Thumbs Up


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## pc farmer (Oct 12, 2015)

Man that looks sooooooooo gooooooooood.


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## cmayna (Oct 12, 2015)

So which one are you in the first pic?   Glad to see it turn out so good.  Congrats.  Oh and I normally brine my Salmon 6-7 hours not 14, but a good friend does it for 24+ hours and has been bugging me to try doing it longer.  Your 14 hour session might just be my next attempt.   That honey and pepper will do it each time.  Careful, pretty soon the wife will start asking why you're not as sweet as that Salmon........


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## driedstick (Oct 12, 2015)

DaveOmak said:


> Morning DS.... For a guy that don't know how to cook fish, you did MIGHTY-FINE !!!!!....


Thanks Dave,,,, I just gave some here to the guys at work and one said he was headed to costco this weekend to get some for me to smoke,,,, I said you better wait till I am done hunting LOL 

Thanks for compliment 

DS


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## driedstick (Oct 12, 2015)

c farmer said:


> Man that looks sooooooooo gooooooooood.


Thanks Farm!! They tell me it is good,,, I am not a fish fan and to be honest I have not even tried any yet,,, to early in the morning to be eating,,, I will try some after lunch,,,, BUT I do love to catch them. 

DS


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## driedstick (Oct 12, 2015)

cmayna said:


> So which one are you in the first pic?   Glad to see it turn out so good.  Congrats.  Oh and I normally brine my Salmon 6-7 hours not 14, but a good friend does it for 24+ hours and has been bugging me to try doing it longer.  Your 14 hour session might just be my next attempt.   That honey and pepper will do it each time.  Careful, pretty soon the wife will start asking why you're not as sweet as that Salmon........


Craig, Thanks again, Nope none of the pics show my ugly mug LOL, yep 14hrs works for the wife and guys here at work so I will stay with that for a while then try less and more,,,,I did not rinse these after brining, I just kinda squeegy them off between my index finger and thumb,,, And yes the Mrs already says that,,,, LOL 

I am not a fish fan but love to catch them here on the Columbia and Clearwater Rivers, I may have to try some of this after lunch. 

Thanks 

A full smoker is a happy smoker 

Steve


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## WaterinHoleBrew (Oct 12, 2015)

DS, that salmon looks awesome man....  Ya knocked that smoke outta the park !    Thumbs Up   Hunting camp looks like a great bunch & the new addition to the camp sure looks like a great young man !   Sounds like that salmon made some happy folks at camp & home !   Again, great job !    :beercheer:    

:points1:


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## driedstick (Oct 12, 2015)

WaterinHoleBrew said:


> DS, that salmon looks awesome man.... Ya knocked that smoke outta the park !
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks WHB,,,, Yep also the guys here at work are still craving about it also. 

DS


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## dirtyduc83 (Oct 20, 2015)

Nice job man! Looks nice and moist like it should.


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## tropics (Oct 21, 2015)

DS sorry for being late to the party.the fish looks good.Good luck at the camp.

Richie


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## driedstick (Oct 21, 2015)

DirtyDuc83 said:


> Nice job man! Looks nice and moist like it should.


Thanks, Dirty Yep this was very moist and a great hit with all that have tried it,,,, it's a keeper

DS


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## driedstick (Oct 25, 2015)

tropics said:


> DS sorry for being late to the party.the fish looks good.Good luck at the camp.
> 
> Richie


This party is always going, thanks for the kind words,,,camp was not so good thou,,,,oh well Muzzleloader season coming up next 

DS


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## disco (Oct 28, 2015)

That, DS, is a fine smoke!

Points.

Disco


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## dirtsailor2003 (Oct 28, 2015)

Wow somehow I missed this! Nice smoke DS! 

POINTS!


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## driedstick (Oct 28, 2015)

Disco said:


> That, DS, is a fine smoke!
> 
> Points.
> 
> Disco


Thanks Disco,, Yep is has turned out mighty fine,,, Impressed myself LOL 

DS


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## driedstick (Oct 28, 2015)

dirtsailor2003 said:


> Wow somehow I missed this! Nice smoke DS!
> 
> POINTS!


Thanks DS!!! heck, I have missed alot of your posts for sure,,, This turned out great 

DS


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## basschk (Oct 30, 2015)

Wow! That looks great. 

My local Whole Foods has salmon on sale this weekend so I was cruisin' through here for a recipe to use in my rookie run with salmon. 

Thanks for sharing!


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## driedstick (Oct 30, 2015)

basschk said:


> Wow! That looks great.
> 
> My local Whole Foods has salmon on sale this weekend so I was cruisin' through here for a recipe to use in my rookie run with salmon.
> 
> Thanks for sharing!


You will like this it was my first time doing it also,,, Good stuff

I just seen some on sale for 5.68lb been thinking about stocking up also.

Good luck 

DS


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## driedstick (Oct 31, 2015)

question on this,,,,,day after I smoked I vac pacd and threw in the fridge,how long will they stay good in fridge in vac pac or do I need to freeze 

DS


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## sdkid (Dec 13, 2015)

Hello guys. I'm getting ready to smoke my first fish. Will be using this recipe on store bought salmon, and fresh trout. Could someone please explain the "pellicle" to me?


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## WaterinHoleBrew (Dec 13, 2015)

sdkid said:


> Hello guys. I'm getting ready to smoke my first fish. Will be using this recipe on store bought salmon, and fresh trout. Could someone please explain the "pellicle" to me?



The pellicle on fish after the dry brine as DS used here, is a thin, tacky surface that forms when the fish pieces dry & forms a "seal" to help retain moisture in the fish pieces.  It is important to form a pellicle on fish to give the smoke something to stick to & to form the "seal" !   Without the pellicle, the smoke will not really have anything to stick to & would be dryer without the seal !   Hope I explained this ok !


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## daveomak (Dec 13, 2015)

rinse and dry the fish surface with paper towels...  place on a wire rack in front of a fan for an hour or so until the surface is very tacky..  The water soluble proteins form the pellicle... smoke without any water in the smoker.....


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