# Smoked salmon nuggets



## 73saint (May 3, 2020)

I have been wanting to try these.  Glad I finally did.  I had about 2-3lbs of belly and tail trim from a recent batch of lox.  So I did a little research and came up with this brine:

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup kosher salt
1Tbs garlic powder
1Tbs onion powder 
1tsp cayenne pepper 







I cut my pieces in even 1-2” cubes and strips. Then I layered the brine and the fish in a Pyrex dish.





over the next 12 hours, I would occasionally take the mixture out and move the pieces around, ensuring every piece had even coating of the mixture; which as you can see it quickly liquified.
After 12 hours, I moved the salmon to wire racks, and let it sit under a fan for several hours, to form a pellicle.  





I flipped them once, and could already see a good, tacky film forming.

Then it was time to fire up the smoker. I used the Lang fatboy, as it is easier for me to control lower temps. I only used about one chimney of lump, got my internal temps to about 130, and lit two amazen tubes with alder wood. One in the fire box and one in the cook chamber. This was an experiment for me, as I’ve only used my amazen smoker in the fire box. Well both tubes performed flawlessly, so now I know I can run my amazen smoke tube in more than one spot in my Lang.







Here is one rack, ready for the smoker. I thought the color was fantastic.







I cooked them for about 3.5 hours. Starting at 130 and gradually rising until it hit about 175. After 3 hours, I tasted one of the small ones. Delicious, but more salty than sweet. I decided to baste the tops, one time, with maple syrup. That really did it. They were soft, chewy, salty and sweet.






Best thing I could have done, right before I basted the nuggets, I lined my Lang with foil.  Just made for a much neater process.  One quick baste with syrup and back in the smoker for about 30 minutes longer.









These little nuggets are fantastic! I have a big ziplock of what we didn’t eat, resting in the fridge.  I hear they are even better after they have time for the flavors to meld. I know what I’ll be carrying with me in the fall deer woods this year!  Almost as good as jerky!


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## pc farmer (May 3, 2020)

Looks great


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## 73saint (May 3, 2020)

Thanks Adam.


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## xray (May 4, 2020)

They look good! Nice color too!

I’ve never been a fan of salmon but I think I could enjoy these.


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## 73saint (May 4, 2020)

QUOTE="xray, post: 2085179, member: 96058"]
They look good! Nice color too!

I’ve never been a fan of salmon but I think I could enjoy these.
[/QUOTE]
Thanks xray!  These sure were tasty but we love salmon anyway.


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## Bearcarver (May 4, 2020)

Looks Awesome, Saint !!
Looks a lot like the ones 

 cmayna
 makes !  His always look Great.
Nice Job!
Like.

Bear


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## 73saint (May 4, 2020)

Bearcarver said:


> Looks Awesome, Saint !!
> Looks a lot like the ones
> 
> cmayna
> ...


Thanks Bear!   Now I know what I will be doing with my salmon scraps from now on!


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## flatbroke (May 4, 2020)

holy moly, looks great, I will take a dozen,  you know, lang brother hood and all.


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## gmc2003 (May 4, 2020)

Looks real good saint, I'll have to give these a go.

Point for sure
Chris


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## 73saint (May 6, 2020)

flatbroke said:


> holy moly, looks great, I will take a dozen,  you know, lang brother hood and all.


Thanks flatbroke, I’m happy to share with a fellow langster!


gmc2003 said:


> Looks real good saint, I'll have to give these a go.
> 
> Point for sure
> Chris


Thanks Chris, next time I’m going to do a batch with the whole fish.


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## Omnivore (May 6, 2020)

I actually started salivating from reading this post lol
Maple on smoked salmon is a match made in heaven. Nice job!


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## 73saint (May 6, 2020)

Omnivore said:


> I actually started salivating from reading this post lol
> Maple on smoked salmon is a match made in heaven. Nice job!


Thanks omnivore.  I’m already dreaming about another batch!


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## dr rat (May 6, 2020)

Looking at those are making my stomach growl!
They look amazing


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## slater (May 7, 2020)

thats how I do my tuna, small bite size chunks always, never entire fillets like I always see others doing!


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## cmayna (May 7, 2020)

73saint,
Nice batch of Salmon indeed.   Good job!


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## Inkbirdbbq (May 7, 2020)

Great looking Salmon.


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## forktender (May 9, 2020)

Damn, those are some tasty looking Salmon chunks.
Did you rinse of the brine before you let the pellicle set?
The reason I ask is I've made many thousands of pounds  of smoked Salmon and I've never gone straight from the brine to the cooling racks.

 I love maple smoked Salmon I actually add 1/2 cup of maple syrup to the dry brined fish after the brine liquifies. For the maple mop I add just a pinch of Ancho chili powder to the warmed up cup of maple syrup. 
And I start basting the Salmon after it's been in the smoker for 2 hrs basting every 20 minutes until it's done, by basting at least 3 time with the maple Ancho mop it forms a slight skin over the fish that is to die for.

There is no wrong way to smoke Salmon or any other fish for that matter, but there is a right way of smoking fish and that is the way you like it.

Points for a great looking end product I bet it taste awesome.


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## BB-que (May 12, 2020)

Thanks for sharing the recipe, I have some left over belly from lox I’m gonna give it a try.  My smoker doesn’t get below 170, are you saying you smoked at 130 to begin and then upped it to get an internal temp in the salmon of 175?  Thanks


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## 73saint (May 12, 2020)

No the internal temp of salmon was more like 140. I just bumped the chamber temps to that.


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## 73saint (May 14, 2020)

forktender said:


> Damn, those are some tasty looking Salmon chunks.
> Did you rinse of the brine before you let the pellicle set?
> The reason I ask is I've made many thousands of pounds  of smoked Salmon and I've never gone straight from the brine to the cooling racks.
> 
> ...


Im doing them your way today!  Just got them out of then cure and i rinsed then this time.  Will add some ancho to the mop as well. Thanks for the tips!!


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## morg77 (Nov 17, 2020)

I've never smoked fish before and had a couple salmon filets in the freezer.  I tried your recipe and it turned out great.  A little bit to salty for my taste so next time I might cut back a bit but I will definitely try again!


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## tadams1967 (Dec 10, 2020)

forktender said:


> Damn, those are some tasty looking Salmon chunks.
> Did you rinse of the brine before you let the pellicle set?
> The reason I ask is I've made many thousands of pounds  of smoked Salmon and I've never gone straight from the brine to the cooling racks.
> 
> ...


I am going to give this a try


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