# Salmon dinner a' la WSM



## jirodriguez (Apr 13, 2011)

Kids wanted some Salmon for dinner, and since we live in the Pacific NW I did what any mans-man would do........ and scooted down to my local Costco and picked up a nice big fillet of salmon. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






  I cut it into 4 big chunks and gave it a bath of sesame oil, soy sauce, Yoshida's, and sweet chili sauce.







Loaded up the WSM with 1 chimney of lit Lazzari lump and 3 small pieces of cherry wood, no water in the pan, and all vents 100% open. Put the salmon on when it hit 250°. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	











Half hour later it was done.... had that perfect doneness of flaking, but not dried out. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	











Piled onto a plate of pure goodness! There were no left overs! 
	

		
			
		

		
	







Thanks for looking!


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## irie (Apr 13, 2011)

I am not a big fan of salmon but that looks amazing!


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## Bearcarver (Apr 13, 2011)

That Salmon looks mighty tasty, Johnny!

Kids must have been real happy!

One question---When you hook into one at Costco, do you loosen up the drag & play them awhile, or do you tighten it up & horse them in quick to keep them fresh?

Bear


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## jirodriguez (Apr 13, 2011)

Bearcarver said:


> That Salmon looks mighty tasty, Johnny!
> 
> Kids must have been real happy!
> 
> ...


I just grab them with my bare  hands and wrestle them into the cart! LOL


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## porked (Apr 13, 2011)

Looks positively astounding! Great post. Now I gotta go plan a fishing trip to my Costco thanks to you.


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## chef willie (Apr 13, 2011)

Nice catch Johnny....looks good. I'm down here in Albany and love fishing at the Costco, you never get skunked. They also have the Yoshida in huge jugs...lol


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## irie (Apr 13, 2011)

Bearcarver said:


> That Salmon looks mighty tasty, Johnny!
> 
> Kids must have been real happy!
> 
> ...


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## SmokinAl (Apr 13, 2011)

Your salmon looks great, Johnny! We love salmon here too, only we catch ours at Sam's.


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## tyotrain (Apr 13, 2011)

Man o Man that looks great bet it was tasty.. Nice job


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## rbranstner (Apr 13, 2011)

The salmon looks awesome. I can't go fishing at Costco I usually have to spend my time trolling around Sam's.


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## jirodriguez (Apr 13, 2011)

Thanks all! It really was a great way to do salmon, and it's nice to actually smoke something for less than an hour.... lol. I have yet to get a bad piece of salmon at our local Costco, they do a real good job on a lot of their meats.


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## les3176 (Apr 13, 2011)

Mighty fine looking salmon!!!! I one of my favorites.


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## mballi3011 (Apr 13, 2011)

I'm not a bog fan of Salmon either but my wife could eat her weight in it. You sure have made it look good enough that I might just go get some and smoke it for her for tomorrows dinner special sinces our daughter is coming into town.


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## jirodriguez (Apr 13, 2011)

mballi3011 said:


> I'm not a bog fan of Salmon either but my wife could eat her weight in it. You sure have made it look good enough that I might just go get some and smoke it for her for tomorrows dinner special sinces our daughter is coming into town.


You might even like it this way mballi.... it really mellows out the fish flavor, for folks that aren't a huge fan. I think a good addition would be to hit it with a small amount of fresh lime juice right before serving it.


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## irie (Apr 13, 2011)

JIRodriguez said:


> You might even like it this way mballi.... it really mellows out the fish flavor, for folks that aren't a huge fan. I think a good addition would be to hit it with a small amount of fresh lime juice right before serving it.


now that sounds good! I have had store bought smoked salmon and didn't hate it, but didn't love it either... I have a feeling the fresh stuff is a going to be a completely different story.


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## roller (Apr 13, 2011)

Very nice !!!!!!  You have to reel them in quick or the Sea Lions will get them....Hate them Sea Lions !!!!!!!!!!!!!!1


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## jirodriguez (Apr 13, 2011)

Roller said:


> Very nice !!!!!!  You have to reel them in quick or the Sea Lions will get them....Hate them Sea Lions !!!!!!!!!!!!!!1


Well last time I went out on a salmon fishing charter off the Oregon coast, I ended up catching a 79 lb. 6 ft. blue shark..... sealions didn't seem to bother him at all..... lol.


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## nwdave (Apr 13, 2011)

JIRodriguez said:


> Well last time I went out on a salmon fishing charter off the Oregon coast, I ended up catching a 79 lb. 6 ft. blue shark..... sealions didn't seem to bother him at all..... lol.


Speaking of which, have you check around the commercial docks in the Portland area to see if you have anyone selling fish off the boat, legally.  We have a couple up here in Bellingham and I can usually get some great looking salmon, which were caught up in Alaska and flash frozen  in St Petersburg.  The only way to get fresher is to catch your own.  And with all the fees and fuel and weather, well, sometimes you can snag one at Costco or Haggens (aka Top Foods) easier.  Have you done any tuna fishing yet?  Now that's a blast.  When I was stationed at Mt Hebo AFS, near Tillamook, my neighbor had a dory and he'd invite us to go out near Haystack Rock- Pacific City.  Ah the memories. 

Oh, by the way, that's some nice looking salmon you got there.


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## meateater (Apr 14, 2011)

I got all the ingredients to make some. All I need is wild caught. I ain't buying that pool raised China or Chile salmonstein  garbage at my local ...............!


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## nwdave (Apr 14, 2011)

meateater said:


> I got all the ingredients to make some. All I need is wild caught. I ain't buying that pool raised China or Chile salmonstein  garbage at my local ...............!


Thank You.


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## smokey mo (Apr 14, 2011)

Salmon looks good Johnny!  I usually have to catch mine at Costco too.  Last fall a coworker took me out and ended my lifetime dry spell on the water, and we caught 2 kings on the boat.  They were about 30#each.  He gave me his and I took them home and cleaned em up packed them and put them in the freezer for later, then found out last week that they unsealed or got holes but they were ALL frost bit through and through.  Complete loss.  
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






So I have to go back and get the store bought. (pout)

Yours makes me want to spend the money.  Good job!

Good to see you back in the saddle again my friend.


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## jirodriguez (Apr 14, 2011)

Smokey Mo said:


> Salmon looks good Johnny!  I usually have to catch mine at Costco too.  Last fall a coworker took me out and ended my lifetime dry spell on the water, and we caught 2 kings on the boat.  They were about 30#each.  He gave me his and I took them home and cleaned em up packed them and put them in the freezer for later, then found out last week that they unsealed or got holes but they were ALL frost bit through and through.  Complete loss.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks Mo. Yeah... I don't trust any of the fish we pull out of the Columbia and the Willamete around here. With the port of Portland being a super fund clean up site, and all the raw sewage that overflows into the Willamet the water here has all kind of nasty stuff in it. I remember a few years back they were finding two headed frogs, and fish with twisted deformed bodies. Does not make me want to eat anything swimming in those waters.

.... but when I make it over to Lincoln City on occasion, I will sometimes grab a fresh ocean caught fish and put it on ice till I get home.


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## Bearcarver (Apr 14, 2011)

JIRodriguez said:


> Thanks Mo. Yeah... I don't trust any of the fish we pull out of the Columbia and the Willamete around here. With the port of Portland being a super fund clean up site, and all the raw sewage that overflows into the Willamet the water here has all kind of nasty stuff in it. I remember a few years back they were finding two headed frogs, and fish with twisted deformed bodies. Does not make me want to eat anything swimming in those waters.
> 
> .... but when I make it over to Lincoln City on occasion, I will sometimes grab a fresh ocean caught fish and put it on ice till I get home.


Two headed frogs!!!!  
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Now if you can find the frogs with 6 legs, you'll be in business!

Bear


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## smokey mo (Apr 14, 2011)

JIRodriguez said:


> Thanks Mo. Yeah... I don't trust any of the fish we pull out of the Columbia and the Willamete around here. With the port of Portland being a super fund clean up site, and all the raw sewage that overflows into the Willamet the water here has all kind of nasty stuff in it. I remember a few years back they were finding two headed frogs, and fish with twisted deformed bodies. Does not make me want to eat anything swimming in those waters.
> 
> .... but when I make it over to Lincoln City on occasion, I will sometimes grab a fresh ocean caught fish and put it on ice till I get home.




it is funny that EPA fines companies for small 50 gallon accidental discharges of pollution but Portland City dumps raw sewage by the ton and its ok and no fines for them.  I like the tidal cleansing we get here twice a day.


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## jirodriguez (Apr 16, 2011)

Smokey Mo said:


> it is funny that EPA fines companies for small 50 gallon accidental discharges of pollution but Portland City dumps raw sewage by the ton and its ok and no fines for them.  I like the tidal cleansing we get here twice a day.


Yup... and now Portland has some of the highest water and sewage rates in the entire country because of the "Big Pipe" project to re-rout all the sewage and run off to a new plant! Grrrrr!


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## beer-b-q (Apr 16, 2011)

That looks delicious Johnny...


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## walterwhite (Apr 21, 2011)

I'm doing some smoking wood taste tests. I smoke a little salmon, tilapia, pork, chicken and beef in my mini-WSM with a single wood to see how it tastes. All meats are unseasoned except for a little oil to promote moistness. I just did cherry wood a couple days ago and the salmon and tilapia were both OMG good! I'm sure with the seasoning you used it was really great!


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## fife (Apr 21, 2011)

And just think no boat clean up.


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## jirodriguez (Apr 21, 2011)

Beer-B-Q said:


> That looks delicious Johnny...


Thanks Paul...... the kids didn't leave me any for my lunch the next day.... little ingrates!




WalterWhite said:


> I'm doing some smoking wood taste tests. I smoke a little salmon, tilapia, pork, chicken and beef in my mini-WSM with a single wood to see how it tastes. All meats are unseasoned except for a little oil to promote moistness. I just did cherry wood a couple days ago and the salmon and tilapia were both OMG good! I'm sure with the seasoning you used it was really great!


Yeah... I really liked the cherry on the salmon. I don't care for cherry on much else, but for fish it does really well.




Fife said:


> And just think no boat clean up.


Thank you sir 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





.... no to boat, but somehow I still got stuck with the dishes that night.... lol.


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