thanks salmon smoker!

[Erik]

Leaving the the skin on is definatly the way to go when smoking a salmonid. Just got done smoking one, (and eating some) of one that my son caught this last sun. Cleaned it same as ussaul but left the skin on. I was in a hurry when I made up the brine, kinda threw it together if you know what I mean. I'll probably never get it to taste that good again. Hah! It was alot more moist with the skin left on but I wonder about the fat content. I guess I'll just have to keep doing it this way and see if I get fatter, eh!
Any ways, thanks for helping me out. I've got a feeling my culinary skills are going to improve if I keep listening to you!
C-yah

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Phish

[Salmonsmoker]

Eric,

Just trim away the lateral line (dark strip of meat just under the skin) while eating. That area contains most of the fat.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I guess there are some good things that come from being around for as long as I have. Practice, Practice, Practice. I've been cooking fish and game for a lot of years.

Glad it was helpful.

ss

[Salmonsmoker]

Eric,

Your preceedure is what I call "intuitive cooking" and if you practice using that intuition, your record of good results will increase dramatically.

Some of my best cooking comes from "just kinda throwing things together". Usually, I could remember most of the stuff and come close a second time, then get it right again,by the third.

One time however, when making a dish of smoked baked beans, I just happened to hit it right. WOW!! What a fantastic flavor. That was several years ago and many batches of smoked baked beans ago, and to this date, I have not been able to duplicate that flavor because subtle changes in the recipe result in very different flavors when finished (lately, they have been turning out very close and result in many requests.)

After that, I keep a log of my experiments so that when one results in a WOW flavor, it is dupliatable. This log usually amounts to having a tablet of paper and a ballpoint in the cooking area so that the amount of each ingredient and the proceedure are jotted down for later entry into a note book that is my permanent record of experiments. It is good to record what did not work also - no need to duplicate that stuff.

ss

[This message has been edited by Salmonsmoker (edited 08-04-2000).]

[Erik]

I thought it turned out real good, but the clencher was when my 11 year old daughter told me it was the best I have made. She's not very easy to please when it comes to fish! I left some here for the kids to snack on during the day, and its gone. Took the other filet to work and barely got to have any for myself! I think the big differance with leaving the skin on is that I was able to smoke it longer. It stayed nice and moist and didn't have a fishy taste at all. My son said it tasted like bacon.
Have a good one SS.


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Phish

[Banditto]

The next batch I do will be from the recipe posted under recipes. Anybody have a better brine recipe? I have 25lbs to do before too long also.

[Salmonsmoker]

Banditto,

The beauty of making smoked foods is that you get to experiment and come up with your own unique process and flavors.

Brining is one of these situations: The brine is basically a seasoning mix of 2/3's salt, 1/3 sugar, and some combination of spices that probably includes pepper and garlic powder.

This is added to water. Other ingredients can also be added or used to repalce the water. They include:

Honey, Molasses, brown sugar, apple juice, pineapple juice, orange juice, wine, rum worchestershire sauce, tobasco sauce, soy sauce - to name a few.

Each of the above, and each spice, will give a unique flavor to your brine. The idea is to find a brine-flavor that enhances the flavor of the meat that you are using.

Some of this is very subjective. Experiment. Find what you like. Then have your frineds try it. If they like it too, then it is probably a good recipe.

Much of my experimenting (and I have done a lot over the years)is with other-than-game meats until I get the recipe down to something that resembles good food. When experimenting with fish, I cought a bunch of suckers one spring. When expreimenting with red meats, I got some beef. When expreimenting with fowl, I got chicken or domestic turkey. When the recipe is consistantly good, then I perfect it on hard-to-get game meat.

When people (specially people who do not normally eat game meat) enjoy seeing, smelling, and tasting and eating my cooking, I know that all of my experimenting is worth it.

ss