Trosky's smoking cured fish

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Chuckwagon
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Trosky's smoking cured fish

Post by Chuckwagon » Sat Sep 11, 2010 01:49

Hi Smoky Fish Lovers!
Trosky is going fishing near Niagra Falls and I'm green with envy. :sad: He made the most beautiful smoker you've ever seen. (See euipment topic) I sure don`t pretend to be a smoking expert, but the following formulas have worked for me. The Green River provides huge trout just below the Flaming Gorge Dam, but nothing like the salmon in the Niagra River I'm sure. I hope this information helps. I don't know about the east, but my friends in the Pacific Northwest say salmon are usually smoked in alderwood exclusively. In the Rockies, we just scrape up any ol' firewood we can come across or stumble over. :wink:

To "Hot Smoke" Fish Using 80% Brine:
Soak fish (completely covered) an hour in the brine then drain them well and then open them slightly to facilitate further draining. Dry the fish five hours in a smoker at 80°F. (27°C.) without smoke. Increase the smokehouse temperature to 220°F. (104° C.) and cook the fish two hours in dense smoke. I like alder wood for fish - its not as heavy as others. Hot-smoked fish is perishable and must be refrigerated.

Any brining solution of about 70% is considered sufficiently strong for fish brining although many folks use a weaker 50 or 60% solution for a longer period of time. SausageMaker™ Rytek Kutas made his very strong fish brine at 90° salinity. I`ve lightened it slightly (to 80°) to avoid the traces of salt left behind on the surface of the fillets. An hour`s time is plenty for fillets an inch thick. Soak thicker fish two hours.

80% Brining Solution For Fish
1 gallon of water
1oz. (2 tblspns.) Prague Powder #1
8 oz. brown sugar
juice of three lemons
2-1/4 lbs. (4 cups) uniodized salt
1 tblspn. allspice
1 tblspn. crushed bay leaves
1 tblspn. garlic powder
1 tblspn. white pepper


To Cold Smoke (Hard Smoking Below 80°F. (27°C.) Using Kosher Salt Instead Of Brine:
Cleaned salmon fillets are placed in kosher salt four days, covered, and refrigerated. Remove them from the salt and soak the fillets four hours in fresh cold water. Changes the water then soak the fillets in fresh water two days while refrigerated. Drain the fish well and place them into your smokehouse with the damper completely open three or four days to help dry them. The temperature inside the smokehouse must not exceed 80°F. (27°C.). When the fillets have developed a pellicle and are dry, introduce a trickle of alder smoke, maintaining the temperature of 80°F. (27°C.) inside the smoker. Cold-smoke the salmon for a week.
Good luck with your catch,
Best Wishes, Chuckwagon
Last edited by Chuckwagon on Thu Jul 14, 2011 08:24, edited 1 time in total.
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill! :D
Trosky
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Post by Trosky » Sat Sep 11, 2010 14:00

Thanks Chuckwagon, Is there a way to determine the percentage of salt without a salometer?
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Post by Chuckwagon » Mon Sep 13, 2010 03:26

Hi Tros,

Figure this one out...
One gallon of water weighs 8.33 lbs.
Completely "saturated" brine (100%) has 26.4% salt in it.
One gallon of saturated brine contains 2.64 lbs. of salt.
Therefore, 8.33 lbs. + 2.64 lbs. = 10.97 lbs.
However, one gallon of saturated brine actually weighs only 10.03 lbs.
Where are the .94 lost lbs.?

With the above given information, there are endless mathematical formulas possible (and available). Math savvy sausagemakers often arrange their own precise recipes for brining each type of meat used. Commercial operations MUST use charts and formulas as the MID (FSIS) inspects them regularly. In the United States, it is illegal to include more than 200 ppm (parts per million) in any brine-cured product.

The answer to your question is yes. :smile: There are "brining tables" available with cross-references of (a.) salinometer degrees (b.) % of salt by weight, and (c.) lbs. of salt per gallon of water. You may find a "Sodium Chloride Brine Table" on the net or contained in a few books. I like the one in Stan Marianski`s new book, "Home Production Of Quality Meats And Sausages" on pages 615 thru 618.

Don`t confuse Salinometer (or Salometer) degrees in the "Sodium Chloride Brine Table" with the table for specific gravity - called the Baume` table. Baume` degrees are based on the reading of a hydrometer used for testing specific gravity of a solution (ranges from 1° to 24.3° Baume`) corresponding to "salt by weight from 1% to 26% salt. The Baume` scale is found mostly in countries using metric measurements and one degree relates to 10 grams of salt in 1 litre of water.

And now...
- When you've seen one shopping center, have you seen a mall?
- Is a will a dead giveaway?
- If you jump off a Paris bridge, are you in Seine?
- Is acupuncture a jab well done?

Best Wishes, Chuckwagon
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill! :D
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Post by Trosky » Fri Sep 17, 2010 18:03

:lol: Thanks Chuckwagon that is great information. I have a few hydrometers left over from my beer making days maybe I could put them to use. OK I give up where did the .94 lbs go?


Trosky
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Post by Chuckwagon » Fri Oct 01, 2010 02:07

Hey Tros,
I was hoping you could tell me. :roll:
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably needs more time on the grill! :D
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