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[silver ghost]

Hey all, I was just wondering - I made the beginner's mistake of freezing pinks and have read from here and other sources that they turn to mush after you freeze them...when they were caught they were bled, cleaned, and put on ice right away - but then frozen once I found out that I didn't like them that much. Will they still be alright if I hot-smoke them?

[NiceFish]

Hey Man

I froze all the pinks ive kept this year which is about 12. I thawed them out, pulled the pin bones, cut them up into roughly 3" by 3" pieces. Brined for 12-16 hours in demerrea brown sugar (one bag) to 2 cups of salt. rinsed and patted dry, air dried for 4-6 hours

Smoked for 4 hours at 120 degrees Fahrenheit with alder, then the last 30-40 mins at 220 degrees to suck more moisture out...turned out simply fantastic 

[silver ghost]

oh awesome, thanks buddy. I was worried b/c everyone says they turn to mush after they thaw...but the ones I have are from the ocean and nice and chrome so hopefully they will hold together better

[gofishon]

As NiceFish has done, use a dry cure method ( no liquids) and just smoke them up soon. Don't wait until Christmas to process them. They should be fine. Most experts recommend freezing fish for a few days before smoking to kill any parasites that wouldn't be killed by a short brine time or a cold smoke. Just keep a close eye on them. Good luck and enjoy.

[DanJohn]

I think the freezing thing is generally true when speaking of BBQ or cooking them for table eating! For smoking though, Ive heard that frozen is fine.

[hamster]

Hey Man

I froze all the pinks ive kept this year which is about 12. I thawed them out, pulled the pin bones, cut them up into roughly 3" by 3" pieces. Brined for 12-16 hours in demerrea brown sugar (one bag) to 2 cups of salt. rinsed and patted dry, air dried for 4-6 hours

Smoked for 4 hours at 120 degrees Fahrenheit with alder, then the last 30-40 mins at 220 degrees to suck more moisture out...turned out simply fantastic 

Just to be clear, the brine solution consists of 1 bag brown sugar, 2 cups of salt  (Did you use sea salt?).  Also, Do you recommend adding water to this mixture or not. Or should this be a dry brine?   I have a Little Cheif, and 6 pinks in the freezer.  plan to smoke next weekend. Any other helpful hints?

[gofishon]

That was a NiceFish recipe, so I would wait for him to respond to be sure, but I could put my 2 cents worth here in case he doesn't. I assume that is a 1kg bag of brown sugar and 2 cups coarse salt. No need to be sea salt, just non-iodized salt like in for pickling, usually coarse. And if you pull the pin bones out of the fillets before brining (yes I prefer a dry brine with no liquid) you will have a 100% boneless product. I think NiceFish has a very good recipe close to what I use. You can add spices to the dry brine depending on your taste ( Cajun, garlic, cayenne, chilli, or?). Make sure you coat both side of the fillets in the brine mix and sprinkle some extra on each layer. Use a glass or food grade plastic container not aluminum and keep cool. I stir or move/shake the fillets around after a few hours and the liquid is drawn out of the flesh, just to make sure everything is coated. After brining you should rinse the fillets quickly under water to remove any excess salt and pat dry with paper towel or a clean dish cloth. I air dry on paper and often use a fan to hasten the pellicle (clear protein film) formation. As far as smoking time, it is to taste. I use 2 pans of an alder cherry chip/chunk mix that lasts about 3 hours and leave in the smoker to dry for many more depending on heat, outside humidity, thickness of fillets etc. I have 3 smokers and they all are different. You will learn the tricks as you go. Maybe try 3 fish for the first batch, refine your recipe and then do your last 3. Good luck and enjoy the rewards of catching and preparing your fish.

[TrophyHunter]

I got a bradley smoker last year, before I had the Bradley I would always air dry my salmon before going in the smoker until the meat was tacky feeling.... now I have the Bradley I just put in in the smoker straight from the brine without "smoke" for an hour, after one hour at 120 degrees I add pucks and smoke it for a few hours more at 180  degrees and it turns out perfect every time

TH

[NiceFish]

That was a NiceFish recipe, so I would wait for him to respond to be sure, but I could put my 2 cents worth here in case he doesn't. I assume that is a 1kg bag of brown sugar and 2 cups coarse salt. No need to be sea salt, just non-iodized salt like in for pickling, usually coarse. And if you pull the pin bones out of the fillets before brining (yes I prefer a dry brine with no liquid) you will have a 100% boneless product. I think NiceFish has a very good recipe close to what I use. You can add spices to the dry brine depending on your taste ( Cajun, garlic, cayenne, chilli, or?). Make sure you coat both side of the fillets in the brine mix and sprinkle some extra on each layer. Use a glass or food grade plastic container not aluminum and keep cool. I stir or move/shake the fillets around after a few hours and the liquid is drawn out of the flesh, just to make sure everything is coated. After brining you should rinse the fillets quickly under water to remove any excess salt and pat dry with paper towel or a clean dish cloth. I air dry on paper and often use a fan to hasten the pellicle (clear protein film) formation. As far as smoking time, it is to taste. I use 2 pans of an alder cherry chip/chunk mix that lasts about 3 hours and leave in the smoker to dry for many more depending on heat, outside humidity, thickness of fillets etc. I have 3 smokers and they all are different. You will learn the tricks as you go. Maybe try 3 fish for the first batch, refine your recipe and then do your last 3. Good luck and enjoy the rewards of catching and preparing your fish.

Yeah this is correct, 1 1kg bag to 2 cups of Kosher salt (is what I use, but i dont think it makes a big difference)

I layer my pieces in a plastic tub, cover the bottom with the dry brine, then the fillets, cover them, then place the other ones face down on top, cover them, then place the next ones skin side down (so its always meat to meat and skin to skin). Sometimes I add bbq sauce to my brine for a different flavor but you can experiment, the base should always stay the same though

i dont believe in adding water, you'd be surprised about how quickly it becomes a wet brine

i have a bradley so i just load it up with alder pucks

[Damien]

I like to use a bit of soy sauce with the salt.  It makes it less 'dry', but given how much salt is in the soy, it still dries it out.

I did a batch with miso soup powder that turned out great as well.

[Slamdunk]

I've switched from Soya Sauce to Teriaki sauce, not as much salt and I like the flavour better.

[jacked55]

do you guys leave the skin on to smoke? and if so i presume you place it skin down on the racks?

[canso]

I skin everything and fill large ziplock freezer bags, when I have 3 or 4 bags I smoke, then can.

[gofishon]

do you guys leave the skin on to smoke? and if so i presume you place it skin down on the racks?

I leave skin on and place skin side down on racks. If I am smoking very thick fillets ( chinook, chum, northern coho ), I score the meat with the knife every inch or so down to the skin, but not through.That way the smoke can get into the flesh more and also the pieces will be larger and easier to handle without breaking into chunks when finished.

[DanJohn]

do you guys leave the skin on to smoke? and if so i presume you place it skin down on the racks?

I personally wouldnt leave the skin on. Less surface area for smoke to permeate the meat. But, I also dont do filets, and generally do 1X3 inch strips. But I also do less of a smoke, and more of an "Indian Candy" type product. Dry Brine 12-24 hours depending on how translucent I want the meat, and also if I add garlic or pepper or other spices to get in there, to a dry of 12-24 hours, again, depending on how I want the resulting texture, to the smoker for 3-6 hours, depending on how dry/moist and smokey I want the finished product. So its less of a smoked salmon and more of a cured moist jerky salmon.

I wouldnt smoke an entire filet of pink the traditional way, just becuase I dont think they have enough salmony flavour. Thats where the sockeyes come in!