king salmon

[redruff]

OK last question....let it sit in fridge on paper towels before vac packing?

[Fishawn]

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!

Great to hear! They should firm up a little more also, as they cool down.

[TasunkaWitko]

Gotta give points to you, red - for trying something new and doing such a great job with it!

Mike, You deserve points too, for sticking with him through the process. I've still got your procedure for smoking salmon, and it's the best I've seen -

....and now that I think of it, I might be able to get my hands on some salmon, too...

Now the wheels are turning!

[redruff]

Ohhhhhhh my!

[Fishawn]

Nice Job!

[206]

All my smoked salmon sits in fridge the first night in large brown paper bag. Fish continues drying and improves greatly. I don't even eat it right out of the smoker anymore.

Foil bottom of bag - layer paper towels - layer of fish. Continue layers until done. Usually aboot 4 layers, then crumble top of bag to seal. Me catch oily feeesh and without foil protection, bag is an oily mess.

After 1 night, I vac pac what is to be frozen and the remaining gets transfered to Fishawns method and zip it up.

[redruff]

Its in paper towels in zip/lock bags in fridge.

Yep thanks to everyone for the spot on help! This site is outstanding!

[cowgirl]

Looks fantastic! Bet that was fun to bring in!

[PitRow]

Its in paper towels in zip/lock bags in fridge.

Yep thanks to everyone for the spot on help! This site is outstanding!

Now comes the hardest part of all... waiting!

[feeshrman]

The whole process, from catch to finished product, has me intrigued.

[HistoricFoodie]

That Great Lakes fishery is really sumpin else. I used to live in that part of the world, and we'd have salmonid's stacked in the freezer like cordwood.

It can spoil you, though. I was invited to give a presentation to the Chicago TU chapter. Afterwards several of us were sitting around, discussing trout on the table.

"For me," I said, "there's nothing like taking a small brown; say about four pounds, and....." There was a very pregnant pause.

Those boys were used to fishing little streams in Wisconsin and Michigan, where an eight inch trout was a monster. They couldn't accept, on a gut level, that eight pounds was on the mediocre side. So, when I used the words "small" and "four pounds" together, you can imagine their reaction.

[Bearcarver]

That Great Lakes fishery is really sumpin else. I used to live in that part of the world, and we'd have salmonid's stacked in the freezer like cordwood.

It can spoil you, though. I was invited to give a presentation to the Chicago TU chapter. Afterwards several of us were sitting around, discussing trout on the table.

"For me," I said, "there's nothing like taking a small brown; say about four pounds, and....." There was a very pregnant pause.

Those boys were used to fishing little streams in Wisconsin and Michigan, where an eight inch trout was a monster. They couldn't accept, on a gut level, that eight pounds was on the mediocre side. So, when I used the words "small" and "four pounds" together, you can imagine their reaction.

LOL----I don't think anyone thinks an 8" Trout is a monster, but Trout between 8" and 16" are much better eating than larger ones. IMHO
Also those of us who fish those little streams are having a blast, and from those little feeder streams, anything over 14" is certainly a prize.


Redruff----That was a Beautiful Salmon, before and after Smoking!!

Bear

[HistoricFoodie]

I wasn't knocking stream fishing, Bear. I do a lot of it myself. My point was simply that what you're used to can color how you view things.

I was used to catching trout that weighed in the teens, so a four-pounder was small to me. But if you're used to catching stream fish---particularly stockers---then a four pounder is humongeous.

but Trout between 8" and 16" are much better eating than larger ones. IMHO


Here I'll have to disagree with you. There are two many variables to generalize like that. Among them: Where the fish comes from (and what it's been feeding on), whether it was cared for properly between the water and the stove, how it's prepared, etc.

I know that conventional wisdom has it that small fish taste better. But if that were universally true, humpies (pink salmon) would be much more popular than they are. And we'd be sneering at Redruff's 19 pound king, rather than congratulating him on his good luck and good eats.

[Bearcarver]

I wasn't knocking stream fishing, Bear. I do a lot of it myself. My point was simply that what you're used to can color how you view things.

I was used to catching trout that weighed in the teens, so a four-pounder was small to me. But if you're used to catching stream fish---particularly stockers---then a four pounder is humongeous.

but Trout between 8" and 16" are much better eating than larger ones. IMHO


Here I'll have to disagree with you. There are two many variables to generalize like that. Among them: Where the fish comes from (and what it's been feeding on), whether it was cared for properly between the water and the stove, how it's prepared, etc.

I know that conventional wisdom has it that small fish taste better. But if that were universally true, humpies (pink salmon) would be much more popular than they are. And we'd be sneering at Redruff's 19 pound king, rather than congratulating him on his good luck and good eats.

Not to Hijack, but I've done a lot of both in my 65 years, and from 8" to 16" in small PA mountain streams to 12" to 27" in my Son's Pond, to 24" to 32" Browns caught feeding from a Lake Ontario feeder stream, and a few caught in Lake Ontario itself.
No matter where they were caught, the larger Trout are better Smoked because they are too oily, just like large Salmon. The smaller Trout are Much Better Fried, Broiled or Baked than the larger ones----Same thing with my favorite eating fish "Catfish".
However I would much rather Smoke the large Trout & Salmon than the small ones, because of that oiliness that the big ones have & the small ones lack.

Bear

[redruff]

Well, here is the bad news to the conversation, the captain talked a lot about the decline of the fisheries...he says it is NOTHING like it was 20 years ago! Not just Michigan but all the Great Lakes.