# First Smoked Salmon



## lunchboxfl (Mar 14, 2017)

I am new to smoking and have been reading a lot. I have been brining my fish for about 9 hours in a salt, onion, and garlic powder brine. I do not want to use sugar for my brine for the whole 30 diet I am on. Question is do I still leave the fish out for a few hours to form the pellicle even though I did not use sugar or just straight to the smoker? Also any suggestions on how long and what temps. I plan to use alder. Thanks.


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## cmayna (Mar 14, 2017)

I would think room drying it for a couple hours would help the cause.  Don't see it hurting anything.  What size are the pieces?  If whole filet, I typically start at 125* for an hour, bump to 135* for another hour, bump to 145* for another hour and run it until you reach an internal temp of 140*.  Then pull it.

Where did you get your brine recipe from?  Alder is a perfect choice in wood.


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## Bearcarver (Mar 14, 2017)

Lunchboxfl said:


> I am new to smoking and have been reading a lot. I have been brining my fish for about 9 hours in a salt, onion, and garlic powder brine. I do not want to use sugar for my brine for the whole 30 diet I am on. Question is do I still leave the fish out for a few hours to form the pellicle even though I did not use sugar or just straight to the smoker? Also any suggestions on how long and what temps. I plan to use alder. Thanks.


Yes, even without Sugar, you still need Pellicle, or Dry & Tacky Surface.

Without it your smoke can possibly mix with the wet surface & create a mess.

You can put it in front of a fan, or when you put it in the Smoker, just don't add smoke until it's no longer Wet on the surface.

Here's my Step by Step---Might be some Tips there.

BTW: Just eliminate the Sugar in my ingredients:

Link:

*Smoked Salmon*      

Bear


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## lunchboxfl (Mar 14, 2017)

Thanks for all the input. Here is what I did to the fish.

This recipe is based on 5 pounds of Salmon or Steelhead.  Start with an appropriate sized dish and add 2 quarts of cold filtered water (no I don’t like chlorine with my fish ;-).  Add 1/2 tablespoon of onion powder and a half tablespoon of garlic powder.  Finally, add 1/3 cup of sea salt or earth salt and agitate well.  Add the fish, agitate some more and place in the fridge.  If space is a problem, I’ve often just cleared out a produce drawer and brined the fish in it.  It’s a great way to save space!  Brine the fish between 8-12 hours.  Remove and rinse the portions well.


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## Bearcarver (Mar 14, 2017)

Lunchboxfl said:


> Thanks for all the input. Here is what I did to the fish.
> 
> This recipe is based on 5 pounds of Salmon or Steelhead.  Start with an appropriate sized dish and add 2 quarts of cold filtered water (no I don’t like chlorine with my fish ;-).  Add 1/2 tablespoon of onion powder and a half tablespoon of garlic powder.  Finally, add 1/3 cup of sea salt or earth salt and agitate well.  Add the fish, agitate some more and place in the fridge.  If space is a problem, I’ve often just cleared out a produce drawer and brined the fish in it.  It’s a great way to save space!  Brine the fish between 8-12 hours.  Remove and rinse the portions well.


Sounds Good!!  

Note:   I have found the amount of time needed to Brine depends on the strength of the Brine & the thickness of the pieces being brined.

Bear


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## wade (Mar 14, 2017)

I smoke a lot of salmon and to be honest I have not found that leaving the fish to air dry for several hours before smoking makes any noticeable difference to the end flavour. It has also never caused a mess when mixing with the smoke either. I do dry cure my salmon though (rather than immersion brine) and I pad them dry with paper towel once they have come out of the cure and have been rinsed berfore they go into the smoker - so the surface is fairly dry anyway.


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## lunchboxfl (Mar 14, 2017)

Wade said:


> I smoke a lot of salmon and to be honest I have not found that leaving the fish to air dry for several hours before smoking makes any noticeable difference to the end flavour. It has also never caused a mess when mixing with the smoke either. I do dry cure my salmon though (rather than immersion brine) and I pad them dry with paper towel once they have come out of the cure and have been rinsed berfore they go into the smoker - so the surface is fairly dry anyway.


What do you do for dry curing? Sorry completely new to this, but do know that I am really trying to smoke the fish and other meats with little to no sugar. Thanks for all the help from everyone so far. What a warm welcome for sure.


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## wade (Mar 14, 2017)

Dry cure is the way traditional smoked salmon is produced - though some mass producers do immersion brine it these days. Here are a couple of links to show you the idea.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/237224/smoking-fish-an-old-dog-can-still-learn-new-tricks

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/140785/smoked-fish-fillets-salmon-cod-and-haddock-q-view


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## tallbm (Mar 15, 2017)

Hi there and welcome!

I don't see where you mention whether you are going for cooked smoked salmon or cold smoked (no heat) salmon like lox.

If you are going for something like no heat cold smoked salmon lox, wouldn't you need to have some instacure #1 curing salt???

I'm no fish curing/smoking authority but my understanding for curing and general safety is that you would want some form of *official cure* for cold smoking your fish.

I'll let the more knowledgeable speak up in this area, I just wanted to make sure it was clarified for safety sake :)


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## wade (Mar 15, 2017)

TallBM said:


> Hi there and welcome!
> 
> I don't see where you mention whether you are going for cooked smoked salmon or cold smoked (no heat) salmon like lox.
> 
> ...


Nitrite cure is not required for producing traditional cold smoked salmon or hot smoked salmon - unless you intend to store it room temperature for extended periods. Commercially most traditional (cold) smoked salmon is cured using only salt (and sometimes sugar). Initially it is kept cool during the initial salt cure phase however the curing process then continues with it being smoked at temperature often around 20 C (68 F) for up to 24 hours - as this accelerates the removal of water from the fish.

The salt/sugar and water loss during the initial cure phase kills off the surface bacteria and the ongoing removal of water during the smoke inhibits further growth. Nitrite is primarily required in curing to prevent anaerobic spores (primarily Botulinum) from growing and producing toxin. As the CB toxin production is very slow and the cured salmon is kept chilled and is usually eaten within 10 days, CB toxin is not a problem.

Some on here like to use Nitrite in everything - and that is fine it will not do you any harm in the correct amounts - but it isn't necessary for short shelf life chilled products. Why add it though when it isn't required?


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## tallbm (Mar 15, 2017)

Wade said:


> Nitrite cure is not required for producing traditional cold smoked salmon or hot smoked salmon - unless you intend to store it room temperature for extended periods. Commercially most traditional (cold) smoked salmon is cured using only salt (and sometimes sugar). Initially it is kept cool during the initial salt cure phase however the curing process then continues with it being smoked at temperature often around 20 C (68 F) for up to 24 hours - as this accelerates the removal of water from the fish.
> 
> The salt/sugar and water loss during the initial cure phase kills off the surface bacteria and the ongoing removal of water during the smoke inhibits further growth. Nitrite is primarily required in curing to prevent anaerobic spores (primarily Botulinum) from growing and producing toxin. As the CB toxin production is very slow and the cured salmon is kept chilled and is usually eaten within 10 days, CB toxin is not a problem.
> 
> Some on here like to use Nitrite in everything - and that is fine it will not do you any harm in the correct amounts - but it isn't necessary for short shelf life chilled products. Why add it though when it isn't required?


Thanks for the input!

I did salmon lox a few weeks ago and the recipe called for instacure. 

I would likely keep going with it just to be safe on my end with the way I go about eating it from the fridge.

I now have it separated and frozen in vac sealed bags. 

I take a pack and set it in the fridge to defrost and then eat when I'm ready.  It may be a weeks time in the fridge to defrost and sit before I get to eating it. 

If I know it is all going to be devoured after smoking I may skip the instacure but then again I never do anything in small batches so 6-10 pounds may last a while lol.

Again thanks for the education :)


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## wade (Mar 15, 2017)

If you are vac packing and freezing it then eating it within a week of thawing there is even less of a need to use Nitrite. It is not only about something being safe to eat but it is also important to "feel" comfortable when eating it too - so that may be a good enough reason to use Nitrite for some


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## myownidaho (Mar 15, 2017)

The only question I have would be the length of time you brine. I use the same brine solution and usually go 24 hours for sockeye. I'm assuming you like a less salty product.


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## newberrykc (Mar 23, 2017)

sounds like a good brine, think I may try it this weekend.


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