Midlandsman wrote:I do virtually the same as you do Wade, but I dry salt/sugar for 9-10 hours for fillets around the 1300gm mark - the sort of size that supermarkets often have on offer. I remove a couple of coin sized pieces of skin from the fillets - for no other reason that H Forman and Co, producers of superb smoked salmon, do so!
Midlandsman wrote:I follow this with an overnight hanging in the fridge to dry it/develop a pellicle, and then smoke it for around 30 hours using a ProQ Cold Smoke Generator. I know others who smoke for a shorter length of time and would stress that I just have a trickle of smoke around the fish - the smoke leaves the chamber as quickly as it's produced. I find that little smoke for a longer time makes a better product when you're aiming for a product to be eaten 'raw'.
I'll then hang the fillets for a day or two in my fridge until the total weight loss is around 16 - 18%. I have a humidity controlled fridge, but if I was using a normal fridge, I'd wrap them loosely in parchment/greaseproof to stop them drying too quickly.
Midlandsman wrote:I'll then wrap them and keep them at least a week before use as this produces a better product.
wade wrote:The length of time you cure will depend on the thickness, but within limits (+- 15 minutes) this is not absolutely critical - thinner fillets (like Trout) do need less time though. The longer you cure the more water you will pull out. Once the fillet is out of the cure the thinner edges will initially have had proportionally more water removed than the thicker centre however once resting the internal water will begin to equilibrate again. By the time you have rinsed, dried, smoked and rested it will have been equilibrating for up to 36 hours and you will find that there is no Edge effect".
Where you may get an effect at the edges is if you were to cure and then immediately hot smoke. This would leave you with a dry, salty edge region and a potentially pappy under-cured centre.
The easiest way is to check this is to buy 3 or 4 of the skinless boneless Salmon fillets from Tesco (currently £1.75 each) and give it a go, You will not be disappointed. Alternatively I will be visiting my sister in Essex in a few weeks and I could drop you a few in to try.
Cheers
Wade
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