How long did you smoke it? I almost think you might have needed to crack the lid a bit.
Looks awesome!
Tim, great setup there! I may have to drop by Costco and pick up a cooler to dedicate to this specifically. The salmon looks absolutely killer. Would love to hear what you think of it after it has rested overnight.
Smoked for about 3.5 hours. I was watching some videos online of people who smoke for 12 hours! That seems crazy.
Medium temp smoked salmon portions. Rubbed with my pork/poultry/fish blend and then smoked with an apple chunk burning over some oak lump charcoal.
yum
I changed my cold smoke setup yesterday. I bought a metal tube that holds wood pellets. Filled it halfway with alder pellets and then put a parafin lighter under it in my side firebox. The salmon went on the smoker and I left it alone for a few hours. It was cold enough outside that it was well under 50F in the smoker. This tube doesn’t create much heat. I think I’ll be using this method for cold smoking from now on. So easy.
Anyone ever use copper river salmon for smoking?
I have done warm smoked portions the same as the Atlantic as I posted above. Never cold smoked, though.
I have oold-smoked both farmed and wild salmon (though don’t think Copper River was one of them) and did blind taste tests ten years ago or more. The farmed salmons were always favored. I assume that they have more fat in them, but I don’t really know the explanation. Since then, I’ve only cold-smoked Icelandic and Norwegian farmed salmon.
Warm/hot smoking is a wholly different thing, IMO. Tastes good, for sure…but not for slicing paper thin and putting on bread/bagels, etc.
I find this interesting. Favored in flavor? Texture? Both? Could be fat content, could also be softer (less muscled flesh) as a textural thing.
I just don’t remember, frankly.
I smoked 4 different salmon…2 wild; 2 farmed(one of which was “organic”)…and of the six people , all but one liked the wild ones least…
whatever farmed fish have that is different was more appealing…I had then recently started cold-smoking salmon…and was trying to figure out a template…again for the specific use i wanted…sliced paper thin and put on creamcheese/bread…or similar.
I didn’t try that again…and…the difference between fat and “softer” is not clear…i assume more fat=softer, etc.
It makes sense to me and that’s why I asked. I considered it since copper river is in season now but then thought about what qualities I want in a cold smoked salmon. I want something mild, creamy, not overly smoky. The organic farm raised salmon at Costco is really good – I’d say it rivals the salmon I get at good sushi places. Probably no point in trying to improve on what I’m already doing.
The flip side, I’ve always thought…is that it’s somewhat of a waste of expensive wild salmon to smoke it .as its features get a little lost.
I get that, but I have serious concerns about the environmental damage that can happen with farmed salmon, so try my hardest to not support the industry.
Most recent debacle- https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/farmed-salmon-heading-to-every-river-in-puget-sound/
My current thought is smoke some of the cheaper frozen wild sockeye and save the high quality fresh stuff for regular eating.
Scott I think your serious concerns are for the most part founded. If it’s possible to ethically and sustainably raise salmon in a way that doesn’t destroy the environment around it, and where there’s near-zero risk of the fish getting out and screwing up native structures then I’d support it. But it doesn’t seem like we are there.