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Q-talk *ON TOPIC ONLY* QUALITY ON TOPIC discussion of Backyard BBQ, grilling, equipment and outdoor cookin' . ** Other cooking techniques are welcomed for when your cookin' in the kitchen. Post your hints, tips, tricks & techniques, success, failures, but stay on topic and watch for that hijacking. |
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12-29-2011, 11:16 AM | #1 |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 07-02-10
Location: Sellersville, PA
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How long do need to cure salmon for cold smoking?
Since I made my easy soldering iron cold smoker, I really would love some cold smoked salmon. Im not familiar with "curing" food but research shows I basically can just wrap up some salmon in a salt and sugar mixture and compress in the fridge. But how long is really needed for this? Some sources say overnight, others say DAYS. I mean I love sushi, and raw salmon is at the top of my list, so if curing is only to add salt flavor and texture, does it really need to be that long? Otherwise if its for health reasons, whats the minimum I should cure it for?
Than, for clarification, Im gonna rinse it, test it for saltyness (too much and more rinsing), than back in the fridge on a tray for a good couple hours to form the pedicle (sp?). This stage I can also "flavor" the salmon with some pepper and maybe a little Jack Daniels? Than into some cold smoke for a few hours, and mellow in the fridge. Sound Good? Great! O yeah, how long do I have to cure?
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Lang 84 Deluxe / 18.5 wsm / 22.5 WSM / 22.5 Gold Kettle / UDS / |
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12-29-2011, 12:05 PM | #2 |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 07-02-10
Location: Sellersville, PA
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alright well I bought a 3+ pound salmon, cut it in half and coated with kosher salt and brown sugar (about 2:1 sugar to salt) and into the fridge under a gallon of milk and a few beers. Its 1:00 on Thursday ( to keep track myself ) and I guess Ill go till tomorrow morning sometime? I would like to be able to smoke it tomorrow evening so it can rest and I can bring some to a New Years party.
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Lang 84 Deluxe / 18.5 wsm / 22.5 WSM / 22.5 Gold Kettle / UDS / |
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12-29-2011, 12:27 PM | #3 |
is One Chatty Farker
Join Date: 05-26-08
Location: Omaha, NE
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Check out this thread by Don Marco on cold smoking salmon. I think Don brines for 2-3 days. I've been meaning to give this a try.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=75692
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Don Pork Patrol BBQ Jambo Backyard Gateway Drum Fast Eddy FEC100 X2 BGE- Large x2 Certified MOINK Ball Maker, 2008 KCBS Member and CBJ 8.5 X 28' ATC Trailer |
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12-29-2011, 04:38 PM | #4 | |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 07-02-10
Location: Sellersville, PA
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Quote:
Than Ive found this which says 13 hours: http://www.newenglandprovisions.com/...kedsalmon.html As much as I dont want to admit it, many do say 36+ hours, so we wont be ready for new years
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Lang 84 Deluxe / 18.5 wsm / 22.5 WSM / 22.5 Gold Kettle / UDS / |
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12-29-2011, 04:59 PM | #5 |
Phizzy
Join Date: 10-05-08
Location: Hiding out from blood suck ghost snake gods, Nazis and scrap iron chefs trying to harvest body parts
Name/Nickname : Gore (surprise!)
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It really is up to you. I cold/warm smoke salmon about every other week. How you cure (recipe and time) depends a lot on personal taste. This is about as simple as it gets (and believe me, it is simple):
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=119830 Here are some others (they're slightly more labor intensive than my latter, lazier efforts): http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=119317 http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=97010 You have to realize I am lazy and have tried to make this about as easy as possible for myself. I usually start my cure in the evening, rinse the next morning, rest a few hours, then smoke. Warm smoking usually takes 2-4 hours depending on temp and cold 2-4 hours depending on how ambitious I feel and how much smoke the wood is putting out. It always tastes good.
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Assistant to a Mad BBQ Scientist (and a squirrel): Primo Oval XL, Small Offset, Gasser, Optigrill, UBS "I love everything about the pig, even the way she walks." -- Spanish proverb (\__/) (='.'=) This is the rabbit baby. Invests him in yours signature, (")_(") and the help rabbit baby takes over control of the world! Hmmmm, I wonder, WWGALD? Avatar courtesy of Grillman and NorthwestBBQ Promoted by Bigabyte to "Idiot #1" , and dubbed "Phizzy" by Sir Ron. |
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12-29-2011, 05:51 PM | #6 |
is one Smokin' Farker
Join Date: 03-31-11
Location: Oregon
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I usually do mine with a 4:1 mix of brown sugar and pickling salt. Since you're using kosher with bigger grains you're probably pretty good on concentration. I just let mine go overnight, then rinse and smoke.
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Mike Char-Broil Bandera | Weber 22" Premium Kettle (Red) | Weber 18" Kettle | GMG Davy Crockett | A-Maze-n smoker (original dust style) |
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12-29-2011, 07:23 PM | #7 |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 07-02-10
Location: Sellersville, PA
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Cool, this is what I wanted to hear! Figure I can get about 20 hours cured, than hopefully 4-5 more hours in the fridge and I can get some smoke on them in the evening. Thanks guys!
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Lang 84 Deluxe / 18.5 wsm / 22.5 WSM / 22.5 Gold Kettle / UDS / |
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12-29-2011, 07:56 PM | #8 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 01-14-06
Location: At home on the range in Wyoming
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Once again tons of information on cold smoking.
I'm sort of cracking the nut on this myself, so I'm taking all kinds of notes. Here is a link to one more thread here. It has some recipes and some information I've put together during the search I've been doing. http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...ht=nova&page=2
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~thirdeye~ Barbecuist ~ Charcuterist ~ KCBS Master Judge & CTC Big Green Eggs, Big Drum Smokers, Big Chiefs, Weber Smokey Joe "Custom Tall Boy" Oil Patch Horizontal, SnS Deluxe Kettle Visit my Cookin' Site by clicking HERE Barbecue is not rocket surgery “The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it's hard to verify their authenticity” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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12-30-2011, 08:23 AM | #9 | |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 07-02-10
Location: Sellersville, PA
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Quote:
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Lang 84 Deluxe / 18.5 wsm / 22.5 WSM / 22.5 Gold Kettle / UDS / |
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12-30-2011, 08:40 AM | #10 |
is one Smokin' Farker
Join Date: 08-26-11
Location: okeechobee, fl.
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i think i will try this. sounds really good, and love smoked salmon
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12-30-2011, 09:12 AM | #11 | |
Phizzy
Join Date: 10-05-08
Location: Hiding out from blood suck ghost snake gods, Nazis and scrap iron chefs trying to harvest body parts
Name/Nickname : Gore (surprise!)
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Quote:
Incidentally, smoking (without salt) is another means of preserving meat -- yes, that smoke we all know and love is also a preservative . It is not done much in this country, but it was common, especially in regions where salt was not available. I've seen it done with reindeer meat in the arctic.
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Assistant to a Mad BBQ Scientist (and a squirrel): Primo Oval XL, Small Offset, Gasser, Optigrill, UBS "I love everything about the pig, even the way she walks." -- Spanish proverb (\__/) (='.'=) This is the rabbit baby. Invests him in yours signature, (")_(") and the help rabbit baby takes over control of the world! Hmmmm, I wonder, WWGALD? Avatar courtesy of Grillman and NorthwestBBQ Promoted by Bigabyte to "Idiot #1" , and dubbed "Phizzy" by Sir Ron. |
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12-30-2011, 10:10 AM | #12 |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 01-14-06
Location: At home on the range in Wyoming
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Good explanation Gore.
One other thing that folks don't realize is hundreds of years ago salt was cheap, and food was very regional. So if you lived near the coast you had a lot of fish, if you lived inland you might have access to wild game or if you were lucky you might raise a pig or a goat for food. Plus the seasons were a huge factor in certain parts of the country. Just imaging how boring it was for the Plains Indians to eat bison and pronghorns almost all the time. Plus they had to pack up and follow the herds all year long or they would not eat. Or how about having to force yourself to eat shrimp, lobster and fish everyday if you lived on the coast. The transportation industry (aka sailing ships) gave people some options to import and export food, but there were two choices..... preserve it in salt, or ship it live to keep it fresh. Shipping live animals was super expensive and there is a lot of maintenance involved. Shipping barrels of salted or salted and smoked foods was much less expensive. At one time if you wanted a ham sandwich in California, the ham might have been on a ship for 6 months and was smoked in Virginia. Smoking without salting, and dehydrating used to be for survival, making food lighter and easier to transport (no need for the weight of the salt or the barrel)........ now we just take jerky for granted, and it's still popular because it gives us a taste of the old days.
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~thirdeye~ Barbecuist ~ Charcuterist ~ KCBS Master Judge & CTC Big Green Eggs, Big Drum Smokers, Big Chiefs, Weber Smokey Joe "Custom Tall Boy" Oil Patch Horizontal, SnS Deluxe Kettle Visit my Cookin' Site by clicking HERE Barbecue is not rocket surgery “The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it's hard to verify their authenticity” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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12-30-2011, 10:36 AM | #13 |
Full Fledged Farker
Join Date: 07-02-10
Location: Sellersville, PA
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Ok, so I understand the preserving ideals, but for all those who think its unsafe to eat raw salmon from the store, is salting it really gonna make it safer when eating the product right away (not storing it before hand)? Or am I running the same risks eating raw salmon cured or uncured?
Edit: Snapped some pics after the cure, started an actual thread for this first attempt http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=123156
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Lang 84 Deluxe / 18.5 wsm / 22.5 WSM / 22.5 Gold Kettle / UDS / |
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12-30-2011, 11:07 AM | #14 | |
somebody shut me the fark up.
Join Date: 01-14-06
Location: At home on the range in Wyoming
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Quote:
Salting in my family was always known as "koshering", my mother and grandmother always used that term and did it on chicken, rabbit, squirrel, and the like. The salt was either sprinkled on, or mixed into water for a brine (although as recent as last weekend my 81 year old mother still calls brining "koshering"). My family has no Jewish roots, but a Jewish friend of mine raised a discussion point one day that keeping kosher, with respects to food preparation, does help with food safety. He shared some examples of the particular order of handling foods and utensils, and mentioned that in the olden days, blood was a carrier of disease (this was back when most folks didn't even realize that washing your hands was important). Anyway, during this discussion he suggested that using salt did in fact draw blood from certain meats, and possibly reduced chances of spreading disease. Of course, we now know that other advantages to using salt include moisture retention, aids in curing, can improve flavor and texture, etc. So maybe salt's roots are deeper than we think.
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~thirdeye~ Barbecuist ~ Charcuterist ~ KCBS Master Judge & CTC Big Green Eggs, Big Drum Smokers, Big Chiefs, Weber Smokey Joe "Custom Tall Boy" Oil Patch Horizontal, SnS Deluxe Kettle Visit my Cookin' Site by clicking HERE Barbecue is not rocket surgery “The problem with quotes on the Internet is that it's hard to verify their authenticity” ~ Abraham Lincoln
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12-30-2011, 11:08 AM | #15 |
Take a breath!
Join Date: 08-21-10
Location: Lake Worth, Florida
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If you don't trust the fish from the store, do not buy it. If it smells fishy, looks grey, feels slimy or just does not seem right, just leave it. Ask what day the fresh salmon arrives and go to get it on that day. If you are just wondering if grocery store salmon can actually be an accaptable product, the answer is yes (depending on your grocery store) Look for a grocer who moves a lot of fish. Around here I have gotten nice fresh salmon (or steelhead when it looks better or is less expensive) at Sam's club or Costco. The cure will kill many of the possible bacteria etc. on the fish. If you feel safe eating fish as sushi it is safe to cold smoke. Because of my equipment and the usual ambient temperature in south Florida I always hot smoke my fish to an internal temp of 140-145. Part of the cure is for long term preservation... at my house we rarely have any leftovers with smoked fish so that does not matter. Enjoy.
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