Smoked Salmon Cures

[fish_on]

I have some salmon to smoke up, what is the best cure recipie? Commercial or from scratch

[happybrew]

Working in the restaurant industry, I can tell you that most commercial food products have a huge markup for convenience, or because someone doesn't know how to prepare something. Therefore, I personally prefer to make things from scratch. If you prefer convenience, buy a commercial cure. What I use is a saturated salt solution, just water and salt until no more salt dissolves and you have a layer of salt at the bottom. Then put in brown sugar until no more dissolves. This is the bulk of the flavor for a cure. You can then season it to taste. I haven't done a lot of smoked salmon, but I've had good results with garlic and basil. An hour or so will do it for a lightly cured flavor, longer for a stronger cured flavor. It's that simple. But of course, if you find a commercial cure you really like, it could take a lot of expensive trial and error to duplicate the results, in which case you'd be better off buying the commercial cure. And many times, the flavor cannot be duplicated without the use of chemicals that are not available to the consumer. It's all up to what you like, and what you're willing to pay.

happybrew

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Carpe Cerevisae!

[Trout,myster]

Hey Fish_on; there's a book you need to get. Called "Smoking Salmon & Trout" by Jack Whelan. I tried all the usual methods, but this guy describes a Scotch smoking method that's pretty easy and the result is excellent. Not too salty or dry. Here's my version of it:
1) Filet the fish and cover with non-iodized salt rubbing it in. Let sit for 12 hours in cool location.
2) Rinse off the salt, let drain and set for 6 hours.
3) Rub with vegetable oil and let sit for 6 hours.
4) Wipe off vegetable oil with rum.
5) Cover with brown sugar and let sit for 6 hours (rub this in like the salt in step 1).
6) Wipe off the sugar.
7) Rub again with vegetable oil and let stand for 6 hours.
8) Wipe off the oil with rum.
9) Smoke until done.
I use an "economy" Little Chief with alder chips, smoke it with chips for about 8 hours and dry without chips for about 8 hours. Keep checking it for texture you want. The fish will turn deep red and be moist inside. Fire up the vacuum packer and seal what you don't plan to eat. By the way, if you sample the rum as you go, keep the directions close by or you'll forget what you're doing! The book is a worthwhile purchase and I think I got it from Frank Amato publications. Good luck!

[Jeffhead]

After trying many different cures from fairly simple to exotic and then trying Pilar's salt only and smoked tuna at the ifish bash I decided to do that with some salmon. What a great taste, I packed the fish in rock salt for 4 hours and then smoked it for 6 hours. The only thing I may do different this time is leave it the salt for a shorter period of time. The brine that my wife likes is:
1 1/2 cups of Yoshidas Gourmet sauce (got it at Costco)
1/2 to 1 cup of brown sugar
Oregano, basil, rosemary and thyme (you make the call on how much)
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves of fresh crushed garlic
You can either cut your salmon into 4 to 6 inch pieces or 1 inch strips and place in the brine, I leave it in this brine for at least 24 hours, then smoke for 4 to 6 hours. This gives the fish a fairly sweet smoke taste. In both of the above I use a Big Chief smoker and vary the mix of chips each time. Hope this helps ya out.
Good luck and tight lines, Jeff http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[This message has been edited by Jeffhead (edited 11-26-2000).]

[Timber Man]

OREGANO???????????????????funny how you oregonians get your ideas!!!!!!!!!!!

[Wog]

fish_on,
I prefer to use my own brine when smoking salmon. I follow this simple recipe:

2 cups Brown sugar
1 cup Uniodized salt
1 cup Teriyaki sauce
1 cup White wine
1/2 cup Water
1/2 cup Honey
1/4 cup Garlic powder
3 tbs Crushed black pepper
2 tbs Johnny's seasoning salt

Mix and Marinate fish in brine overnight- Rinse well in cold water. Let stand for a couple of hours, then smoke.

This has worked well for me over the years. Works great for steelhead too! http://www.ifish.net/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif Good luck.

[fishbait]

I have been using a recipe simular to the one posted by Wog for the last 12+ years, EXCEPT I no longer use any wine. I found it much better to drink the wine. The fish just looks and tasts much better without the wine, I think the alchoal dissolves some of the fat/oil in the fish. As for chips, the best I have found is 70% vine maple and 30% cherry. Problem is you must make your own vine maple chips and it's a hassle. But worth it. My second chouce is 50/50 alder and cherry.

I use little chief's, have three and they work well. Spray paint the bottom and lower sides of the box to help preserve the cardboard.

Also, if you want your fish to be real pretty (and a little sweet) after removing from the brine, rub with a little brown sugar before you let it dry and form the pelicle. Really makes it look good if you are using it for gifts.

Last tip, I use 1 gal ziplock freezer bags to brine my fish in. A gal bag holds the same as one little chief, and three bags fit nicely in a dish pan in my fridge. Use only freezer bags, the others are not strong enough, and do put them in a pan of some type. At some point you will have a leaker.

I may not be able to spell, but I do catch. I feel sorry for anyone who can only think of one way to spell a word.

[Ramstrong]

A simple method that I've used with good results is a mixture of 2 parts brown sugar to 1 part non iodized salt. dredge your fish pieces in the mixture and place on a cooling rack over a sink. After an hour you should have quite a bit of moisture drawn from the fish, rinse and then pat dry, place on a plate and sprinkle with lemon pepper. Let sit until skin forms on the fish. Smoke the fish, 2 hours before the fish is fished brush some heated honey on the fish. this makes great fish and takes little time.

[This message has been edited by Ramstrong (edited 11-28-2000).]