# smoked salmon and kingfish Q-view



## fisherman93 (Dec 12, 2014)

today, i have successfully smoked some salmon and kingfish fillets that were out of this world!!! i did so well, that i had a hard time thinking it was me who smoked it. 

the brine was a complete improv, but the ingredients i used are 

10 cups water

1/2 cup kosher salt

1 cup brown sugar

2 garlic cloves (minced)

some fresh rosemary

some fresh dill

thyme

paprika

after soaking them for about 12 hours, i had them set to form the pellicle 













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__ fisherman93
__ Dec 12, 2014






this is them right before they hit the smoker. (im using a Weber one-touch gold for this smoke)

once the pellicle is formed, prep the smoker for smoking by placing your wood chips on the fire, and wait for it to churn out a nice blue smoke before putting them in.













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__ fisherman93
__ Dec 12, 2014






this is the smoker with the fish already starting the smoking process. the smoke may not be thick, but it was windy for the first half of the day (when this was taken)

after that, just let them smoke at around 190*F for a few hours. and if you go lower than that, its not much of a problem, just extend your smoking time

once they are done, you take them out and enjoy!! 













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__ fisherman93
__ Dec 12, 2014






and here is the final product, 2 beautifully smoked kingfish fillets and 3 mediocre salmon fillet pieces. i think that the reason the salmon turned out the way it did was because the pellicle never fully formed.


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## noboundaries (Dec 12, 2014)

Looks delicious!  And man oh man, that's one clean Weber Kettle!


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## cmayna (Dec 12, 2014)

Do you have any close up pics of the salmon?  How long did you smoke the fish?


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## daveomak (Dec 12, 2014)

Looks like the salmon was overcooked and the fat leaked out...   That will happen easier without the proper pellicle....   next batch, place the salmon in front of a fan for a few hours until is has skinned over with the "protein" skin...  that should help...  final internal temp of 135 ish is about all the higher temp you want on salmon...


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## atomicsmoke (Dec 12, 2014)

135? I don't disagree with the number but that's not what USDA says (145).


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## daveomak (Dec 12, 2014)

atomicsmoke said:


> 135? I don't disagree with the number but that's not what USDA says (145).




145 and all the fat will ooze out...  making for a lousy, dry, sawdust type product....    fisherman93 was looking for a tasty product.... 

Sorry about the columns not lining up....   Count over to get the correct time/temps.....

Sometimes one has to tweak the rules....   also, below is a pasteurization table for fish that should be used when NOT following the USDA guidelines...   Although, the table is approved by the USDA / FDA.....

Example... the *BOLD LARGE *print below....   holding the* internal temp *of salmon (oily fish), 25 mm thick (1 inch) at 131 deg. F for 5 hours, it is pasteurized and safe to eat...
1".... 134.5 Deg F.....  2 3/4 hours .... safe to eat....   Longer holding times are recommended for safety reasons and the food will not dry out...

There is more than one way to skin a cat...  and make food moist and delicious.....

+++++++++++++++

Most fin and shellfish are best cooked medium (140°F/60°C) to medium-rare (120°F/49°C). The exceptions being arctic char and salmon which are best cooked medium-rare (120°F/49°C) to rare (110°F/43°C) and tuna which is best cooked rare (110°F/43.5°C) to very rare (100°F/38°C).

Fish intended for immune compromised individuals or for cold holding (i.e., cook-chill) should be pasteurized for at least the times in Table 3.1 (to achieve 6D reduction of Listeria monocytogenes). While such a pasteurization will reduce all non-spore forming pathogens and parasites to a safe level, it will not reduce the risk of HAV or norovirus infection from shellfish. Since a 4D reduction of HAV in molluscan shellfish requires holding at an internal temperature of 194°F (90°C) for 1.5 minutes, the risk of viral contamination is best controlled through proper sanitation and hygiene (National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Food, 2008). Since the spores of non-proteolytic C. botulinum are not inactivated by pasteurization, the fish should be stored at below 38°F (3.3°C) for no more than three to four weeks.

 Pasteurization Time for Lean Fish
 (starting at 41°F / 5°C and put in a 131–140°F / 55–60°C water bath)

 55°C 56°C 57°C 58°C 59°C 60°C 
Thickness 131°F 133°F 134.5°F 136.5°F 138°F 140°F 

5 mm       2½ hr  1¾ hr  1¼ hr    50 min   35 min   30 min 
10 mm 2¾ hr 2 hr 1½ hr 60 min 45 min 35 min 
15 mm 2¾ hr 2 hr 1½ hr 1¼ hr 55 min 50 min 
20 mm 3 hr 2¼ hr 1¾ hr 1½ hr 1¼ hr 60 min 
25 mm  3¼ hr 2½ hr 2 hr 1¾ hr 1½ hr 1¼ hr 
30 mm 3¾ hr 3 hr 2½ hr 2 hr 1¾ hr 1¾ hr 
35 mm 4 hr 3¼ hr 2¾ hr 2½ hr 2¼ hr 2 hr 
40 mm 4½ hr 3¾ hr 3 hr 2¾ hr 2½ hr 2¼ hr 
45 mm 4¾ hr 4 hr 3½ hr 3¼ hr 2¾ hr 2½ hr 
50 mm 5¼ hr 4½ hr 4 hr 3½ hr 3¼ hr 3 hr 
55 mm 5¾ hr 5 hr 4½ hr 4 hr 3¾ hr 3½ hr 
60 mm 6¼ hr 5½ hr 5 hr 4½ hr 4 hr 3¾ hr 
65 mm 7 hr 6 hr 5½ hr 5 hr 4½ hr 4¼ hr 
70 mm 7½ hr 6¾ hr 6 hr 5½ hr 5 hr 4¾ hr 

 Pasteurization Time for Fatty Fish
 (starting at 41°F / 5°C and put in a 131–140°F / 55–60°C water bath)

 55°C 56°C 57°C 58°C 59°C 60°C 
Thickness *131°F* 133°F *134.5°F* 136.5°F 138°F 140°F 

5 mm 4¼ hr 3 hr 2 hr 1½ hr 60 min 40 min 
10 mm 4¼ hr 3 hr 2 hr 1½ hr 1¼ hr 50 min 
15 mm 4½ hr 3¼ hr 2¼ hr 1¾ hr 1¼ hr 60 min 
20 mm 4¾ hr 3½ hr 2½ hr 2 hr 1½ hr 1¼ hr 
25 mm *5 hr *3¾ hr* 2¾ hr *2¼ hr 1¾ hr 1½ hr 
30 mm 5¼ hr 4 hr 3¼ hr 2½ hr 2¼ hr 2 hr 
35 mm 5½ hr 4¼ hr 3½ hr 3 hr 2½ hr 2¼ hr 
40 mm 6 hr 4¾ hr 4 hr 3¼ hr 3 hr 2½ hr 
45 mm 6½ hr 5¼ hr 4¼ hr 3¾ hr 3¼ hr 3 hr 
50 mm 7 hr 5¾ hr 4¾ hr 4¼ hr 3¾ hr 3¼ hr 
55 mm 7½ hr 6¼ hr 5¼ hr 4¾ hr 4¼ hr 3¾ hr 
60 mm 8 hr 6¾ hr 5¾ hr 5¼ hr 4¾ hr 4¼ hr 
65 mm 8½ hr 7¼ hr 6¼ hr 5¾ hr 5¼ hr 4¾ hr 
70 mm 9¼ hr 8 hr 7 hr 6¼ hr 5¾ hr 5¼ hr 

Table 3.1: Pasteurization times for a one million to one reduction of Listeria in fin-fish. I used D605.59 = 2.88 minutes for lean fish (such as cod) and D605.68 = 5.13 minutes for fatty fish (such as salmon) from Embarek and Huss (1993). For my calculations I used a thermal diffusivity of 0.995×10-7 m2/s, a surface heat transfer coefficient of 95 W/m2-K, and took β = 0.28 (to simulate the heating speed of a 2:3:5 box).


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## fisherman93 (Dec 12, 2014)

Noboundaries, the main reason its clean is that its fresh out of the box almost :P (i put a bed of charcoal in it before starting the smoke to try to get a feel for it)

and Dave, that is precisely what i was thinking, but i think that next time ill use a fresh filet instead of freezing/defrosting salmon before smoking as all the fish above were previously frozen for about 2 months (saving them for this project) in fact i could tell that the kingfish formed a beautiful pellicle and the salmon hardly formed any, so i was concerned about the salmon.

i put them on the smoker at and 2PM or 2:30 PM and didnt take them off until 5PM so i guess thats around 2-1/2 - 3 hours, which was a bit longer than i wanted (i was expecting 2 hours), but then again, as i keep using the weber, not only will it get dirtier on the outside, but i will get a better feel for it since this is the first charcoal grill i have ever owned.


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## cmayna (Dec 12, 2014)

atomicsmoke said:


> 135? I don't disagree with the number but that's not what USDA says (145).


Remember, fish will continue to cook a little after you pull it.   I always pull mine at 140 max.  Low and slow will also help the fat from oozing out.  Too high and "here comes the fat",  but as Dave suggested, forming a good pellicle will help keep the fat in.


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## fisherman93 (Dec 12, 2014)

and in terms of closer pics of the salmon, the ones i posted are all of it, sorry


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