# First time salmon jerky in progress w/Qview.



## freakynorm (Dec 20, 2014)

I am not a fan of salmon. I do not like it at all. I've tried it every which way possible too. I am more of a whitefish type of guy. Give me halibut, flounder, sole, etc any day. However the wife loves salmon and she's always looking for a quick snack before dinner when she works out. So I thought I would try to do some salmon jerky. I have to admit though, seeing all the pictures of Cmayna's jerky results make this stuff look so good, even I want to give it a try.

I read as much as I could on the forums and picked the brain of Cmayna who seems to smoke salmon in all its various forms on a daily basis. Unfortunately I don't have a salmon pipeline like he does so I bought 3lbs of salmon fillets from Costco for $8lb. I could have saved a few bucks and bought whole salmon but I didn't want the added stress of also learning how to prep fillets from a whole fish in addition to smoking my first batch. 

My knife skills leave a bit to be desired but I did my best. The wife was not pleased with the skin left on so one fillet was done skinless. 













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__ freakynorm
__ Dec 20, 2014






I borrowed Cmayna's dry brine recipe of a 4:1 ratio of brown sugar to non-iodized salt and added a bunch of crushed garlic into the mix as well.













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__ freakynorm
__ Dec 20, 2014






Now I will let it sit in the brine for 3-4 hours then pull it from the brine, rinse it and let it air dry overnight in the fridge. I will smoke it up tomorrow in my new MES30 using my AMNPS and some apple pellets. I got some Masterbuilt silicon jerky/veggie mats to use. That should keep everything in place and let the smoke hit it up good. Right before it goes in the smoker, I want to brush a little teriyaki sauce and some sesame seeds on a few pieces to see how that comes out.

I have to thank everyone on the forums for posting so much good stuff to learn from and thanks to Cmayna for answering all my questions so quickly and clearly!


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## freakynorm (Dec 20, 2014)

Ok so they are done brining and now I laid them out on racks to dry overnight in the fridge.

The two good looking racks.













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__ freakynorm
__ Dec 20, 2014






The runt of the litter pack.













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__ freakynorm
__ Dec 20, 2014






Close up.













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__ freakynorm
__ Dec 20, 2014


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## WaterinHoleBrew (Dec 20, 2014)

Lookin good man !

:beercheer:


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## cmayna (Dec 21, 2014)

freakynorm said:


> I am not a fan of salmon. I do not like it at all. I've tried it every which way possible too. I am more of a whitefish type of guy. Give me halibut, flounder, sole, etc any day.


Hey, when Salmon season begins in 4 months, go out to your local  WA coastal harbor and buy a few King Salmons off the boats and I'll be more than happy to trade you for a whole bunch of Alaskan Halibut I have in my freezer.

Nice Salmon dish you are doing there.  The rack of runts will probably be the wife's favorite pieces.


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## freakynorm (Dec 21, 2014)

Got them out of the fridge and put some teriyaki sauce and toasted sesame seeds on a few pieces.













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__ freakynorm
__ Dec 21, 2014






Left the rest of them plain.













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__ freakynorm
__ Dec 21, 2014






In the smoker after 2 hours of apple pellets. 4 or 5 hours left to go at 160°F.













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__ freakynorm
__ Dec 21, 2014


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## freakynorm (Dec 21, 2014)

Ok, it's finally done. It was a bit salty for me and the wife but definitely not inedible by any means. She really liked the teriyaki pieces a lot so next time I am going to make a honey teriyaki glaze and apply it right before smoking then again after the smoke is pulled. We both didn't care for the skin on pieces, but luckily the skin peels right off so it wasn't a big deal.

Letting them cool down a while before bagging them up.













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__ freakynorm
__ Dec 21, 2014






A bit closer.













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__ freakynorm
__ Dec 21, 2014






Gonna save some for when the in-laws come over tomorrow. Gotta keep in the will, ya know?













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__ freakynorm
__ Dec 21, 2014


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## one eyed jack (Dec 21, 2014)

Looks pretty dog gone edible to me.


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