Smoking fish PNW style

[bondobill]

A buddy asked me if I couldn't smoke up some Steehead fillets for a high school graduation.
I figured I might as well clear out the freezer of Salmon from last year.
Weds night started the brine process. Simple dry brine of brown sugar and Kosher salt



Good rub of brine and stacked in plastic tub



Into the cooler for 48 hours



Tonight will Remove from brine and rinse then place the fillets on racks to let them air dry overnight before going in smoker tommorow morning.

Going be a long day tommorow tending to Big Bertha...aka smoke house

Bill

[OldUsedParts]

sounds good to me, Wild Bill, is the final flavor anything like Kippers

[bondobill]

sounds good to me, Wild Bill, is the final flavor anything like Kippers

Not really like kippered herring.
More a sweet taste then salty. Rub is 4 parts dark brown sugar to 1 part salt. I seem to have my best luck with kosher salt. Have used pickling salt before always seemed to come out too salty.
I've been smoking Salmon going on 40 years now and still learning. Problem is every batch comes out a little different then the batch before. Never really know for certain how well it's going to come out till it comes out of the smoke.

[bondobill]

Pulled fish out brine after 48 hours. Liquid was what was drawn out of fillets during the dry brine.

Fillets set on racks overnight to air dry

Packed the smoker fire box full of wood and fired her up night before placing the fish in the next morning. Got a good fire going then dampened it down and let it roll all night. 8 hours later at 4 am smoker temp was right where I was hoping. 127 degress. Nice bed of coals . Added another half round of cherry and placed fish in smoker at 5am.

Smoker ran all day at temps between 125-135. Needed to add a half round of cherrywood every 2 hours

[OldUsedParts]

Blue Smoke and Blue Skies - - - it's Rockin' in the PNW

That smoke box reminds me of better times long since gone when I had me a homemade smoke house on the Ranch before the "Big D" Venison Link Sausage to die for - - OH WELL

[CaptJack]

[Sailor Kenshin]

I am seriously impressed.

[bondobill]

Done before dark

[OldUsedParts]

absolutely Beautimous, Wild Bill - - - AJWD

[egghead]

Dang bondo - that's outstanding.

So you kept the temp in the 125 range with cherry for smoke and called it done after 10-12 hours?

When you dried on racks, was it at room temp or in a fridge?

[bondobill]

Dang bondo - that's outstanding.

So you kept the temp in the 125 range with cherry for smoke and called it done after 10-12 hours?

When you dried on racks, was it at room temp or in a fridge?

Hi EH
Fillets dryed at room temp. My shop is around 55 at night. Usually dries for about 8 hours
I try to keep the smoker running around the 135 mark. Over 140 the fish will start to cook and force out its natural oils so I like to keep it around the 130-135 mark.
I'm not trying to cook the fillets...thier pretty much cooked after setting in the slurry of sugar and salt for 48 hours.
This batch took 12 hours to finish. I've gone as much as 20 hours to finish a batch when it's colder outside.
My finger tells me when they are ready to come out of smoker.
They come out of smoker when I can press down on the fillets and they have a firm feel and no more water is squezzing out.
Once out I stack and layer them with paper towels in a plastic container until they cool down.
Once cooled they get vacuum packed.

Bill

[egghead]

Excellent