# First shot at Salmon



## wes w (Jan 19, 2013)

I bought what some call "cat food" the other day.

I live in the middle of now where in the NC mountains.  Its the best I could get.

I cured with salt and dark brown sugar hour and a half.

Dried for 2 hours under a fan.

To me it had a little salty taste but was very moist and had outstanding smoke  flavor













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__ wes w
__ Jan 19, 2013






Best "Cat Food"  I could buy













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__ Jan 19, 2013
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Finished product.


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## handymanstan (Jan 19, 2013)

So does the cat like it???    Looks good I want to do salmon so bad.

Stan


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## smokeusum (Jan 19, 2013)

Hey Wes! I'm in Charlotte, I feel ya on the salmon available to us! Living in a more urban area with tons of northern transplants, I am able to get pacific salmon at local grocers... Also lucky that I can get my "pie" from up in the Valley on a regular basis (helps to be a very serious trail rider with awesome contacts!)

Here's my very first attempt at something anything three weeks ago! It was awesome! 













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__ smokeusum
__ Jan 19, 2013


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## wes w (Jan 19, 2013)

I don't know one salmon from another.   This was the best I could get up here.  

Stan, the cat loved it!  I have family in Michigan over near lake Michigan   They say there are salmon about 4 miles out.   Are they worth the trip up to catch a cooler full?   I could pay for my trip up for what it cost to buy them.  Any thoughts?

Smoke, your salmon looks awesome!   We won't talk about transplants up here.  We get them from all over.   There running the wildlife out of the mountains and they won't let you hunt then bitch about them eating all there flowers.  :-)    Bears are starting to move down into the valleys the past couple years.   I keep waiting on my rug to walk across my yard  :-)  If your ever up this way, let me know.  I've always got beer on ice. or snow or whatever gets it cold.  :-)


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## linguica (Jan 19, 2013)

East coast farm raised salmon is a fully acceptable alternative to wild salmon. It may not have the red color or stronger flavor of King salmon but is far from being "cat food". If you want cat food try eating wild Chum salmon, grayish and mushy. Also wild fresh salmon in the markets are having a large problem with worms in the fish. The worms can only be killed by freezing to -20 deg F which is not possible at home or cooking to 160 deg F, which rules out making gravlox or cold smoked gravlox. I realize that feeding farm raised fish pellets made with shrimp shells is a questionable practice, but farm raised salmon is a good quality product, especially for those of us that want to make cured and cold smoked preparations.  IMHO.......


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## wes w (Jan 19, 2013)

I took that quote form another topic.

Never heard of worms in fish.  That doesn't sound good at all.


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## smokeusum (Jan 19, 2013)

Ewwwww


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## linguica (Jan 19, 2013)

Wes W said:


> I took that quote form another topic.  It kinda pissed me off that someone would put down another mans only source of salmon.
> 
> Never heard of worms in fish.  That doesn't sound good at all.


Twice last year we came home from Costco with salmon as pictured below. I also like to grill salmon over high heat to still rare in side. Got an unpleasant surprise.


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## smokeusum (Jan 19, 2013)

Do I really wanna watch that? Wes, your smoker is BEAUTIFUL!!!


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## smokeusum (Jan 19, 2013)

Nope, the still photo on YouTube was enough!!!


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## smokeusum (Jan 19, 2013)

Um, yea, especially since salmon in the photo I posted was from Costco! Lol, so glad that i did bring the temp up to 225 for a bit!


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## wes w (Jan 19, 2013)

Thanks you for the kind words Smoke

Well, I did watch it.....    My question is, is it in the fish or does it get in  during harvest?

For some reason, my salmon doesn't taste as good ... :-)

I'm surprised our so called government hasn't stepped in on it.

I have grilled  flounder on a cedar plank. Its totally awesome.  It picks up the flavor of the cedar.   Outstanding!


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## smokeusum (Jan 20, 2013)

Wes, I thought the worm looked very similar to a type of worm that horses get...


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## linguica (Jan 20, 2013)

smokeusum said:


> Wes, I thought the worm looked very similar to a type of worm that horses get...


Here is an excellent article on the subject.......

http://seafood.ucdavis.edu/pubs/parasite.htm


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## wes w (Jan 20, 2013)

Interesting read.  So maybe farm raised isn't so bad.   If I knew they were in there even preparing it right, still not sure I could eat it.    

Thanks for sharing the link.  I learned something today.  :-)


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## smokeusum (Jan 20, 2013)

Linguica, thank you! I knew I recognized it, the evil little tapeworm!! Very informative! I did find it comical that they suggested just removing the offending wiggler, checking for others and then just going ahead & cooking it! I'm not overly squimish, but I don't think I could eat it after just tossing a tapeworm or two down the garbage disposal!!


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## pellet (Jan 23, 2013)

I had planned my first smoked salmon this week end. Ive had grilled salmon but dont know if I could eat it again after seeing that. In all fairness though, I believe we might find that in more meats if we looked hard enough!


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