king salmon

[redruff]

I caught a 19lb king on Michigan last Friday.

Smoking some of it.
I used a very simple dry brine of 4cups brown sugar, 1cup of canning salt and 12 cloves of fresh pressed garlic.

I spread the dry mix over the fish and set it in the fridge for 6hours. I rinsed it off and air dried for about 5hours at room temp.

I'm smoking it with apple at 160 for 4hours for sure, then eyeballing it until/done from there!

Its my first run at smoked salmon so we will see how it turns out!

[dsgarner06]

Yeah buddy that looks great!!

[HawgHeaven]

Nice fish!!!

[redruff]

We ended up with 3 steelhead, 3 Lakers and 1 king.

Lost about 5! We had one down rigger just get slammed, and broke everything off! We were in 120ft of water with bait at 70 so don't think it was a rock! Would have liked to have hooked that one up!

[PitRow]

I caught a 19lb king on Michigan last Friday.

Smoking some of it.
I used a very simple dry brine of 4cups brown sugar, 1cup of canning salt and 12 cloves of fresh pressed garlic.

I spread the dry mix over the fish and set it in the fridge for 6hours. I rinsed it off and air dried for about 5hours at room temp.

I'm smoking it with apple at 160 for 4hours for sure, then eyeballing it until/done from there!

Its my first run at smoked salmon so we will see how it turns out!

That's how I do mine! Gonna be excellent!

[redruff]

That's how I do mine! Gonna be excellent!

How long and at what temp?

[erain]

We ended up with 3 steelhead, 3 Lakers and 1 king.

Lost about 5! We had one down rigger just get slammed, and broke everything off! We were in 120ft of water with bait at 70 so don't think it was a rock! Would have liked to have hooked that one up!

sounds like you had a great time. when you say broke everything off you mean cannon ball and the whole works or just the line and lure?

[redruff]

Lure and leader.

[PitRow]

How long and at what temp?

Around 140-ish until it's nice and firm. No real set time. 4 hours sounds about right though. Depends really on the thickness of the fish and the moisture content. Tail pieces will be done sooner than the thicker shoulder pieces, they come off first while shoulders finish.

you should be fine running 160 though.

[redruff]

Around 140-ish until it's nice and firm. No real set time. 4 hours sounds about right though. Depends really on the thickness of the fish and the moisture content. Tail pieces will be done sooner than the thicker shoulder pieces, they come off first while shoulders finish.

you should be fine running 160 though.

Sorry for so many questions!
The thick pieces are cracking and liquid is bubbling up! Wait until the liquid dries off?

[redruff]

4 hrs in sampled a little tail piece! Taste is outstanding! But a little too much moisture yet!

[PitRow]

Sorry for so many questions!
The thick pieces are cracking and liquid is bubbling up! Wait until the liquid dries off?

The liquid is probably the fish oil coming to the surface. You're getting close. You can usually tell by pressing on the thicker parts of a piece and if it feels solid instead of "squishy" then you're probably where you want to be. The best way though, until you're pretty comfortable with the process, is to sample it as you go, like you've done.

[redruff]

Its real close just a little more firmness.
Man I wish I had twenty more pounds of the stuff!

[Fishawn]

The liquid is probably the fish oil coming to the surface. You're getting close. You can usually tell by pressing on the thicker parts of a piece and if it feels solid instead of "squishy" then you're probably where you want to be. The best way though, until you're pretty comfortable with the process, is to sample it as you go, like you've done.

Try not to "overdry" it. You can get some additional moisture oot by placing in a ziplock bag with a couple paper towels overnight in the fridge. If you still want more moisture oot, repeat with fresh paper towels.

[redruff]

Try not to "overdry" it. You can get some additional moisture oot by placing in a ziplock bag with a couple paper towels overnight in the fridge. If you still want more moisture oot, repeat with fresh paper towels.

Good call! It is definetly cooked but has moisture! I think I'm going to pull it! And do as you suggest!

Right now it is by far the best shit to come out of my smoker to date!