mon, 21-nov-2005, 18:04
The salmon I smoked yesterday turned out really good.  I vacuum packaged it righ
t after I got back from Chitina back in June, and the fillets were still bright 
red when I pulled them out of the freezer.  I marinated two fillets for half an 
hour in 1/2 cup of pickling salt (and enough water to fill up the ziplock), rins
ed them off, and then marinated them overnight in 1/2 cup pickling salt, 1/2 cup
 brown sugar and 1 tablespoon black pepper.  I smoked them for 3 hours on my cha
rcoal smoker using soaked mesquite chunks for the smoke.  I normally use alder I
 cut from the yard, but it was below zero yesterday and I got lazy and used the 
store-bought mesquite chunks.  I think mesquite gives a more bacony flavor, whil
e the alder has a more resinous, traditional flavor.

BTW, the FoodSaver I used to vacuum package the salmon has been a great purchase
.  The difference between the salmon I froze in ziplock bags the previous summer
 and the salmon that's been vacuum packaged is like, well, grey old salmon vs. b
right red fresh salmon.  I occasionally have a problem where the sealer doesn't 
quite seal the bag, but now I just double-seal each bag and I haven't had an iss
ue since.

tags: food 
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