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Author Topic: Smoked Sockeye  (Read 4951 times)

Wiseguy

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Smoked Sockeye
« on: November 29, 2022, 06:56:39 PM »

Hey folks. I’m going about smoking up my Fraser river caught sockeye this week. What kind of brines are you all using? Duration of brining? What type of wood chips/pucks are u all using for the smoking process and how long in the smoker are you leaving your catch? Thanks for reply’s.
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Wiseguy

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Re: Smoked Sockeye
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2022, 08:12:07 AM »

Nobody smoking fish these days?!?!?
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Darko

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Re: Smoked Sockeye
« Reply #2 on: November 30, 2022, 09:49:49 AM »

Nobody smoking fish these days?!?!?
I often see many people share smoking recipes on Facebook fishing groups. Maybe try there. If I knew anything about smoking fish I would respond   :P
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RalphH

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Re: Smoked Sockeye
« Reply #3 on: November 30, 2022, 10:06:47 AM »

I don't smoke salmon anymore but when I did this was the recipe I used. I shared it widely and most who tried it liked it.

Indian Candy Smoked Salmon

1/2 cup coarse salt
2 cups demerrera sugar
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tbl spoon fresh cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne
1 cup teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 cup apple juice
1 cup water

- combine the dry ingredients, add the liquid. Stir till salt is dissolved (using a  hand mixer speeds this up).
Fillet fish then cut into 1 inch strips. Marinate fish for 6 to 7 hours or overnight. Hot smoke for 4 then heat till desired dryness is achieved (usually a total of 8 to 11 hours smoke plus drying seems to be right). Move drying racks in the smoker helps get an even dry product. How long you dry it is up to you.

The salt often won't dissolve but gets absorbed while marinating.

You can do a google search as well. The simplest brine recipe is just some combination of salt and sugar. Dry brines have become popular tough I never tried that.
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bigblockfox

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Re: Smoked Sockeye
« Reply #4 on: November 30, 2022, 10:16:47 AM »

in my opinion dry brine is the best. brown sugar and kosher salt. you can add what ever other spices you like but i usually leave it simple. leave in brine for 12 hours and rinse under cold water and pat dry. i then crack fresh pepper then wait 2 hours for the pellicle to form which locks the pepper in place. i then set my bradly to the lowest temperature it will go for the first two hours which is 150 Fahrenheit then up 10 degrees an hour in till i get the desired moistness in the salmon. personally i cant stand dry smoked salmon. for salmon i strictly use alder. bradleys smokers use to have a pacific blend flavour which i enjoyed for salmon which has now been discontinued.
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RalphH

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Re: Smoked Sockeye
« Reply #5 on: November 30, 2022, 11:37:37 AM »

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"The hate of men will pass and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people!" ...Charlie Chaplin, from his film The Great Dictator.

Tylsie

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Re: Smoked Sockeye
« Reply #6 on: November 30, 2022, 01:39:24 PM »

How much time do you have? I have tried a few recipes But Ironnoggins "candied salmon" is pretty much the best I have seen; but it takes a while! I know he has posted it but I can't find it in the search for this site; but he's active on most hunting or fishing forums or message him.
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clarki

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Re: Smoked Sockeye
« Reply #7 on: November 30, 2022, 03:58:45 PM »

I don't smoke salmon anymore but when I did this was the recipe I used. I shared it widely and most who tried it liked it.

Indian Candy Smoked Salmon

1/2 cup coarse salt
2 cups demerrera sugar
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tbl spoon fresh cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne
1 cup teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 cup apple juice
1 cup water

- combine the dry ingredients, add the liquid. Stir till salt is dissolved (using a  hand mixer speeds this up).
Fillet fish then cut into 1 inch strips. Marinate fish for 6 to 7 hours or overnight. Hot smoke for 4 then heat till desired dryness is achieved (usually a total of 8 to 11 hours smoke plus drying seems to be right). Move drying racks in the smoker helps get an even dry product. How long you dry it is up to you.

The salt often won't dissolve but gets absorbed while marinating.

You can do a google search as well. The simplest brine recipe is just some combination of salt and sugar. Dry brines have become popular tough I never tried that.

I printed this same recipe off a Sportfishing BC forum back in 1999 and it’s been my go to brine recipe for coho ever since. It’s excellent.
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Wiseguy

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Re: Smoked Sockeye
« Reply #8 on: November 30, 2022, 05:03:30 PM »

Thanks for the reply’s! I went with a dry brine after searching on YouTube. It’s what has already been mentioned on this thread. 1 cup of brown sugar to a 1/2 cup kosher salt and 1 tablespoon of cracked black pepper. I used apple wood for the smoking. The finished product came out nice as I too like a moist product. I like to put the smoked salmon on fresh bread or bun with some cream cheese and finally diced red onion. So delicious. We are blessed to be able to go out and catch salmon for our own consumption. Next batch I will give the candy salmon recipe a go.
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clarki

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Re: Smoked Sockeye
« Reply #9 on: November 30, 2022, 05:57:34 PM »

I make a smoked salmon pasta using coho with that brine recipe. It’s a family favourite.
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RalphH

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Re: Smoked Sockeye
« Reply #10 on: November 30, 2022, 09:08:22 PM »

My experience is the type of wood doesn't make much of a difference. I have used apple, maple, alder and mesquite and it all tasted very good.
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"The hate of men will pass and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people!" ...Charlie Chaplin, from his film The Great Dictator.

jimstone

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Re: Smoked Sockeye
« Reply #11 on: December 01, 2022, 07:40:11 AM »

probably tried 10 different recipes over the past 35 years and as always the simplest seems to be my favorite.  mix 5.5 cups of best brown or demerrera sugar with one cup kosher coarse salt and grind in some fresh pepper. place thin layer of sugar mixture in bottom of lasagne type pan and place fish skin side down. cover pieces completely with sugar mix and cover dish with tight fitting saran wrap and refrigerate over nite. keep fish in single layers in pan...by morning the sugar mix has mostly liquified and i take fish out and give pieces the quickest rinse possible with sink sprayer and place all the pieces on drying racks and place a fan to blow directly on the fish.
 after a good pellicle has formed (about an hour) its smoking time. i start with low temps and increase temp slowly...sockeye have a tendency to form the white scummy stuff on the fish which seems to be the higher fat content of the fish combined with increasing smoker temp to fast. we all like fish smoked to different dryness levels so i usually have one small piece in the smoker that i take tasting samples from . eaten enuf fresh salmon in my life i dont get too excited anymore but can still enjoy the smoked stuff....my doctor chimed in a few years ago about salt and blood pressure in us old guys..used to use way more salt in my brines but found the 5.5/1 ratio is the best for me
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stsfisher

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Re: Smoked Sockeye
« Reply #12 on: December 01, 2022, 08:04:35 AM »

My experience is the type of wood doesn't make much of a difference. I have used apple, maple, alder and mesquite and it all tasted very good.
100% agree
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stsfisher

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Re: Smoked Sockeye
« Reply #13 on: December 01, 2022, 08:08:59 AM »

http://www.fishingwithrod.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=43800.0

dug through the archives and my recipe on here still stands today, my glaze has changed to here and there but that's the joy of smoking.
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Dubs604

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Re: Smoked Sockeye
« Reply #14 on: December 01, 2022, 10:23:50 AM »

2 parts brown sugar and 1 part kosher salt.  Dry brine for 3 hours only.  Rinse fully with water, then dry in the fridge for around 24 hours (though less will probably be OK too).  Smoke at around 150-175 degrees for around 2-3 hours depending on thickness.  You want to get the internal temp of the fish at around 135-140 max.  Any longer and you're going to get a much drier and much tougher product.
« Last Edit: December 01, 2022, 10:34:57 AM by Dubs604 »
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