# Smoking Salmon and Tuna advise?



## mosepijo (Oct 21, 2008)

We just got two big tuna and two big salmon. Plan on smoking them this weekend. Does anyone have any great smoking tips? We need to know what to use in the brine (like how much salt or whatever to use). How long to soak in the brine, etc. Any other advise?


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## Just Cliff (Nov 27, 2008)

Check the University of Alaska web sites. I remember something about it on there.


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## dogrunner (Mar 2, 2009)

I always keep it simple. Just cover the salmon fillet with salt, not a ton but fully covering the flesh and then a thin layer of brown sugar. Make sure each fillet gets this treatment, we did it in a cooler. The salt will leach out a lot of juices so do not add any water, we let this sit for about 24 hours or so. Many folks add soy, or teriyaki or any flavor you like, I never did. We also preferred a soft smoke, more kippered than dried so they usually got about 6-8 hours of smoking and then freezer or canned after that. Man I miss having an almost unlimited supply of salmon!!!


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

The toughest thing about smoking fish is trying to get them lit....you can go thru a ton of matches. I prefer lighting my fish with a torch.


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## beaglebiz (Aug 5, 2008)

dogrunner said:


> I always keep it simple. Just cover the salmon fillet with salt, not a ton but fully covering the flesh and then a thin layer of brown sugar. Make sure each fillet gets this treatment, we did it in a cooler. The salt will leach out a lot of juices so do not add any water, we let this sit for about 24 hours or so. Many folks add soy, or teriyaki or any flavor you like, I never did. We also preferred a soft smoke, more kippered than dried so they usually got about 6-8 hours of smoking and then freezer or canned after that. Man I miss having an almost unlimited supply of salmon!!!


a pinch of cayenne with the brown sugar is yummy


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

I skin it, bone it sprinkle a little sea salt and fresh ground pepper. A good apple, prune or hickory wood smoke for 4 hours, I also like 1/2 maple syrup and 1/2 brown sugar, let it set for 12 hours then smoke. Tuna just salt and pepper and smoke for 3 hours, alder is good. I don't like it salty. Another good way is to can it after smoking it. I cold smoke it 1 hour and presure can it for 11/2 hours at 10lbs. Best for salmon is Indian candied salmon. Cut in 1/2" strips, let set in a mixture of 1 pint water, 1 pound dark brown sugar and 1/2 cup maple syrup for 1-2 days, hot smoke with cherry, apple and alder for 8-12 hours, 1/2 way through brush on 1/4 cup honey mixed with 3 Tbls water. Best if left very moist, don't smoked to long....James


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## mosepijo (Oct 21, 2008)

Cabin Fever said:


> The toughest thing about smoking fish is trying to get them lit....you can go thru a ton of matches. I prefer lighting my fish with a torch.


I knew there would be one smartaleck here. :goodjob:
Funny picture.


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## mosepijo (Oct 21, 2008)

Thanks everyone for the info. I think we can probably handle it now. We have lots of apple wood. I don't think we have hickory or alder in this area.


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## Pouncer (Oct 28, 2006)

Wow, you are going to wait that long to smoke them? Well okay then......

Here is what we do-and we do many pounds every year.

First, you need a brine. You can buy "sugar cure" (A Morton product) or make your own with a half sugar, half salt mixture. For only a small amount of fish, you probably don't need a huge brine-so maybe one to one and a half cups, plus a couple gallons of water. You will need enough brine to cover the fish. I recommend cleaning and cutting to size before it's brined if possible. We add lots of extra brown sugar, garlic, ginger, with a couple crushed bay leaves to the brine. Yep, it tastes just horrible, lol

Brine-6 to 10 hours, depending on whether or not the salmon was frozen going in. 

Remove salmon, and rinse very well under running water. Pat dry with paper toweling (or not, as you prefer) Arrange salmon on racks, and set a fan up so that you can dry them. What you are looking for is a change in color (it will darken/deepen to a robust reddish color, instead of orange-y)) and a slightly tacky feel. Pressing gently, you will feel a "skin" on the flesh. This can take as few as two hours, or as long as 6 or 8, depending on temperature and humidity. 

From there, you are ready to smoke!

Smoking methods and times will vary from batch to batch-there are so many variables I wouldn't know where to start, lol If cold smoking, figure three to four hours at under 80 degrees smoke temp. Hot smoking-a couple hours or until sample is just the way you like it. Or, you can hot or cold smoke until nearly done, then finish in a regular dehydrator.

You need to reach a specific length of time of heat exposure to minimize bacteria, etc. There are a million websites with information about salmon smoking, trust me. 

If you want to process it after smoking, it is 105 minutes @11 pounds in a pressure canner for pints. 

Just offered up because we typically do nearly 100 pounds of salmon every year


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## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

Cabin Fever said:


> The toughest thing about smoking fish is trying to get them lit....you can go thru a ton of matches. I prefer lighting my fish with a torch.


This joke never gets old. Good timing CF.

These two fish are a little oily so that is one ingrediant you won't need to add. Sounds good. Have fun.


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## mosepijo (Oct 21, 2008)

Thanks Pouncer. The brine recipe is what I was looking for. The 2 tuna and 2 salmon were about 36" long. Had to chop off head and tails to get into cooler for 400 mile trip. They are all frozen right now but I need to get them out of the freezer.


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## Riverdale (Jan 20, 2008)

Brine overnite with enough old sea salt added to float an egg about an inch from the bottom of the container. Then add 1 cup of honey.

Then smoke over maple or apple.


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## judylou (Jun 19, 2009)

I'm not sure if this would be of any assistance but there was a very good segment on "How It's Made" TV today on smoking salmon. They salt brine for only 1-2 hours, then rinse well and brush with maple syrup, then cold smoke the fillets at lower temps than usual for 24 hours using sawdust. 

The first 8 hours is maple dust, the 2nd 8 hours is cherry dust, and the last 8 hours is apple wood dust. After smoking they debone and skin the fillets and slice them into 6-8" slabs, vacuum seal them and freeze for up 2 year storage.


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## Riverdale (Jan 20, 2008)

judylou said:


> freeze for up 2 year storage.


Around here, smoked salmon's availability is measured in hours....

The last year I fished heavy it rarely made it past 6 hours past smoking.

Except what we canned (in Â½ pints).


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