# Smoked wild sockeye



## idahopz (Sep 11, 2018)

Costco recently had wild sockeye available for $8.99, which is a sale in my area so I purchased about 10 filets. I like using Costco sockeye (and Copper River when available) because the filets are skin on which holds the fish together during the smoke. Plan is to use alder pucks in the Bradley, and graduated temperature during smoking to lock in the yummy fat. Gradually increasing the temperature prevents the fat from bubbling to the surface, which keeps the fish moist, plump, and flavorful. Marinade is simple: 1/2 Yoshidas, 1/2 soy, and red pepper flakes with the fish strips into storage bags in the fridge, this time for a day and a half.

Using a 4-rack Bradley with an extra set of 4 racks turned upside down to double the capacity. A dual probe Auber PID controls the smoke generator as well as the cooker temperature, and is programmed to automate the entire process (so I don't need to baby-sit). I like using the Bradley even though the pucks are wasteful because their programmed puck advance produces the sweetest smoke before being extinguished in the water pan. That way the more acrid smoke at the end of the wood burn does not envelop the food - this is especially useful when smoking cheese.











Smoker is loaded up and ready to go - fish already has been osmotically dehydrated a bit due to the marinade, and has also taken on the color of the Yoshidas/soy mixture.










A couple of hours into the smoke and the fish is becoming darker as it takes on smoke and the flavors concentrate.










I forgot to take final pics before I threw the fish into the freezer, so there is a bit of frost on the bags to take this image. The fish will last me well into the next year. It is sweet, savory, and spicy with a bit of red pepper flake heat.


----------



## idahopz (Sep 11, 2018)

Thanks!  Just coincidentally I made a smoked dinner salmon on the same day and used the left-overs for salmon dip the next day - absolutely delicious.


----------



## gmc2003 (Sep 12, 2018)

Sounds great, but I can't see any of the pic's. 

Chris


----------



## tropics (Sep 12, 2018)

Pete no pics showing 
Richie


----------



## SmokinAl (Sep 12, 2018)

No pics here either Pete!
Al


----------



## idahopz (Sep 12, 2018)

Sorry guys, I don't know what happened - the pics were showing yesterday, so I re-did the links and are showing now. Hopefully the links will not go bad again.


----------



## gmc2003 (Sep 12, 2018)

I see four pics now, not sure if there are supposed to be more. That salmon does look good. 

Point for sure.

Chris


----------



## SecondHandSmoker (Sep 12, 2018)

Wholly makerel! That's a lot of salmon.  In my neck of the woods salmon is pricey too.


----------



## idahopz (Sep 12, 2018)

gmc2003 said:


> I see four pics now, not sure if there are supposed to be more. That salmon does look good.
> 
> Point for sure.
> 
> Chris


Thanks Chris, and thanks for the point!



SecondHandSmoker said:


> Wholly makerel! That's a lot of salmon.  In my neck of the woods salmon is pricey too.



Yeah, it is usually too expensive for me but my son and his boys love it, and they are deploying (again) to the middle east soon so they needed salmon treats to ease their travels.


----------



## Braz (Sep 13, 2018)

That looks very yummy. Wife says we need to be on the lookout for a salmon sale as our smoked salmon supply is running low.
I like your idea of gradually stepping up the heat. What temp/time increments are you using? At what IT do you usually pull it?
TIA


----------



## idahopz (Sep 13, 2018)

I think it was on the Bradley site where a guy Kummok posted the method, which is basically 1-2 hours at 100F, then 2-4 hours at 140F, and finally at 175 for 1-2 hours. I did 1 hour, then 2 hours, then 1 hour at the temperatures mentioned and it turned out perfectly. I did not measure the I.T., but poked at the salmon with a finger to test the "feel".


----------



## SecondHandSmoker (Sep 13, 2018)

idahopz said:


> Thanks Chris, and thanks for the point!
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah, it is usually too expensive for me but my son and his boys love it, and they are deploying (again) to the middle east soon so they needed salmon treats to ease their travels.




Godspeed to the boys.  I am postive the smoked salmon will ease their journey.

Several years ago, my wife and I had a very bad experience with salmon.  Needless to say, we had not eaten salmon for quite a few years.  Anyway, after purchasing my smoker a few months back, I have been wanting to try smoked salmon.  Last week, we picked up a fillet of farm raised Coho to smoke.  It turned out delicous.  So when I came across your post, I was intrigued.

As luck would have it, the Sprouts Market in my area has wild caught Atlantic Sockeye on sale for $8.99 lb.  Yep, we are headed there later this afternoon.  I will do the smoke tomorrow using your marinade recipe and method.
Thank you for posting the info since IMHO it is definitely carousel worthy.


----------



## crazymoon (Sep 13, 2018)

IP, Great looking salmon sir ! like


----------



## idahopz (Sep 13, 2018)

Thanks gents, and thanks for the like!

Sorry to hear of your bad experience, SHS - can I ask what happened?


----------



## SecondHandSmoker (Sep 13, 2018)

idahopz said:


> Thanks gents, and thanks for the like!
> 
> Sorry to hear of your bad experience, SHS - can I ask what happened?



We both think the salmon was bad.  As I recall, it did not have a funky odor before grilling. But it sure did taste funky afterward. I'll spare you the details and leave it at neither one of us ventured too far from the bathroom.     

Now my wife tells me we are not going to the store today.  I'll have to wait until tomorrow which puts the planned smoke off for a day.  No problem.


----------



## idahopz (Sep 14, 2018)

Dang, that's a shame - we've been lucky in that Costco goes through so much fish that it has not been bad to date (now that I said that I'll get a bad batch)

Keep us posted on your smoke


----------



## Bearcarver (Sep 14, 2018)

What I see looks Awesome, PZ !!
I see 4 pics, but I see 4 "circles with a minus sign in the middle too". Don't know if those are supposed to be 4 more Pics??
Looks like a Great Set-up too.
Like.

Bear


----------



## SecondHandSmoker (Oct 8, 2018)

idahopz said:


> Dang, that's a shame - we've been lucky in that Costco goes through so much fish that it has not been bad to date (now that I said that I'll get a bad batch)
> 
> Keep us posted on your smoke



Hello Pete,  
I do apologize for the late reply.  
We did get our salmon fillets.  We were in such hurry for smoked salmon that I did not exactly follow your step by step method.The fillet spent only 2 hours in the marinade,  Then about 2 1/2 hours in the smoker at a constant 210 degrees.   The end result was still delicious though.  
We froze the other fillet.  So when it is time to smoke that one, I will be certain to give it time to marinade and do the heat ramp as you have detailed for us.

We also picked up two swordfish steaks.  I am leaning toward a wine and herb marinade followed with a smoke over peach wood.  

Thank you again for the advice.


----------



## disco (Oct 8, 2018)

Super salmon, Sir! Truly a smoker full of tasty!

Disco


----------



## idahopz (Oct 9, 2018)

Bearcarver said:


> What I see looks Awesome, PZ !!
> I see 4 pics, but I see 4 "circles with a minus sign in the middle too". Don't know if those are supposed to be 4 more Pics??
> Looks like a Great Set-up too.
> Like.
> ...



Thanks Bear! The minus signs were from the original post that did not appear for whatever reason, so there are no more others. Thanks for the like!



SecondHandSmoker said:


> Hello Pete,
> I do apologize for the late reply.
> We did get our salmon fillets.  We were in such hurry for smoked salmon that I did not exactly follow your step by step method.The fillet spent only 2 hours in the marinade,  Then about 2 1/2 hours in the smoker at a constant 210 degrees.   The end result was still delicious though.
> We froze the other fillet.  So when it is time to smoke that one, I will be certain to give it time to marinade and do the heat ramp as you have detailed for us.
> ...



The good thing about instructions to do these kind of cooks is that there is no perfect method, so that your smoke turned out good is no surprise. Your wine and herb marinade sounds delicious!



disco said:


> Super salmon, Sir! Truly a smoker full of tasty!
> 
> Disco



Thanks Disco! Sent most of it with my boy who is now enjoying it in Iraq, but managed to save a couple of bags for myself and the missus.


----------

