Sometimes you just have to cut it in half to see what you're working with.Originally Posted by rob_s
If you enjoyed the chew on it, then, nothing wrong with the way you cut it.
I think if I saw that grain, my next slice would have been at 90 degrees, then cut a morsel size and give it a try.
Although, when I saw the perfect red color, I might have failed to pay attention past that.
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." - Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776
I've grilled a ton of meat and smoked at least 30 salmon. My wife doesn't eat red meat either so that leaves just me to eat anything I grill. She will eat fish but I eat about twice as much as she does. The price of fresh salmon has gone up to about $10/lb. for a whole fish. You lose about 50% of the fish when you butcher so that makes it $20/lb. Consequently I haven't smoked any in a few years. This is generally about the time of year I start looking for Alaska Coho to smoke but I haven't even looked yet this year. I use an old Brinkman made out of 18" well casing with a separate fire box for a smoker. I use red alder I cut on the property and let it dry for about two months. Lots of smoke if I put it over some charcoal.
In the P-F basket of deplorables.
I'm pretty sure that's what happened here.Although, when I saw the perfect red color, I might have failed to pay attention past that.
Wife LOVES hot smoked salmon. I wouldn't be able to get away with saying "no" due to pricing.
But I am looking for other fish to smoke. Smoked a kingfish a few years ago after it was the only thing we caught on a chartered sportfish trip. Used it for fish dip, but wasn't too happy with it. I think I could get a better result today after all of my salmon smoking.
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We get fresh salmon from AK starting about now. One store is running a special on Sockeye fillets this week for $10/LB. That's a good price but it's hard to find it sometimes because it comes and goes pretty fast. You have to check daily and put in an order. Last year was a bust because of covid. No fish.
I agree with your wife. Fresh smoked salmon is damn hard to beat. I've never smoked anything else but I've grilled fresh halibut. My wife likes that the best. That season only runs a few weeks.
In the P-F basket of deplorables.
I did some steelhead trout I got from Wild Fork. Indistinguishable from the salmon I do.
I'm curious to try some rainbow if I can get my hands on it in a way that doesn't involve me doing the fishing.
I grew up on smoked mullet. Still a delicacy in my own mind. It never occurred to me until right at this moment to try making it myself. Always got it from dingy bars where my dad would have to go in an pick it up and we'd wait in the car.
I am a sucker for a smoked fish dip. If we open a menu at a restaurant and they have "fish dip" on the menu, it's pretty much guaranteed I'm getting it. My favorite ever is still from 15th Street Fisheries in Ft. Lauderdale. A lot of places make it too runny/mushy.
Maybe I'll try a snapper...
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Here's a roast beef from last week, cooked in the Traeger.
"... And miles to go before I sleep".
Cod smokes well. Tilapia and catfish are also good, from the "Available Everywhere" list.
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." - Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776
Being a native Floridian, we don't "do" tilapia.
Cod would be an interesting experiment.
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FWIW.... I find the Cod at the local market fish counters to be fairly "wet". As in, full of water. Same for the frozen stuff. Costco and Sam's both sell a vac-sealed Cod fillet that is packaged with an absorbent pad that does a good job sucking the wet out of the fillets. Both are a much better starting point, IMO YMMV, for smoking Cod. Fresh, never frozen would be even better, I imagine.
ETA: Still-warm, smoked King Mackerel is excellent. Smoked King Mackerel is awful after it's cooled. It's bizarre the difference.
"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." - Thomas Jefferson, Virginia Constitution, Draft 1, 1776
Wife wanted pulled pork. I bought a 10 pound butt, because I like leftovers, and will freeze part of it. Alton Brown has not let me down in the past, so I went to his site for a recipe. Found it a little...odd. But my last pulled pork was dry, so I liked the brine idea. Scored all sides of the butt. Brined 12 hours in 8 oz salt, 10 oz molasses, and I had just bought a big knob of ginger, so I chopped up about 2 oz and added it all to 2 qts H2O, boiled, cooled, put in a 2 gallon zip top bag. Didn't have room in the fridge, so I added about a pound of ice and just let it sit in the sink, figuring the sugar, salt, lack of O2 would protect me. I would not do this for anything I planned to feed to anyone outside immediate family.
The rub, as prepared, was a little purfumed. Cardamom, coriander, and fennel seed, about 2t apiece, freshly ground. That is where I got a little wild. 2T paprika, 2T NM red chile powder, 1T costco garlic powder (best tasting one I have found), 1T cumin. It smelled and tasted like a middle eastern or Indian spice shop. My wife likes Alton's city ham recipe, which uses grainy mustard and bourboun to hold on a gingersnap crust. This has been a bourbon free house since BBI got promoted, so a T each of brown and yellow mustard seeds. Removed the butt from the brine and rinsed it off. Rubbed it, getting the rub into the grooves I scored, and let it sit on a cooling rack over a sheet pan for about 5 hours. Room temp, uncovered. Again, I figured the brine and all those antibiotic/antifungal spices would help, as the fridge was still too full, and I was only endangering me and mine.
Smoked over hickory. A bit of intermittent wind, so my propane smoker bounced around all day between 147-242. Gave up chasing it when it stabilized at 230. At 11 hours internal probe (check yours. My last one was off by 20 degrees...)was at 185, and a fork shoved into the bark came away with a small pile of shedded meat that fell further apart between the roast and my mouth. Moist, flavorful, not traditional, but damn good. Tented with aluminum foil with the ends open to vent moisture for an hour as it rested.
Hamburger buns, smeared with a bit of mayo and then lightly toasted on hot cast iron. Bread and butter pickles, sliced red onion, and coleslaw. Another tip of the hat to Alton. Instead of sauce, drizzled a bit of the sweet pickle juice. Served with potato salad. Not traditional, but some of the best I have had. I can't think of better.
Since I went all in on the ginger thing, I made a molasses and ginger bunt cake topped with cream cheese drizzle. Think a big, soft, moist, frosted gingersnap. I was going to cook it in the smoker, but thought that would be pushing it.
pat
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