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[kosanin kosher salt]

I got 12 fillets of sockeye currently in the smoker , I checked up on it after an hour and I noticed maybe a dozen white worms squiggling around on the fish . Obviously I want to kill these parasites without discarding the fish , what temperature is adequate you think to kill these ?

I was trying to go low and slow but I guess that ain't happening now , here's a video I found relating to thee exact same worm 
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GkeLTIl3oLo

I didn't freeze these fish , but they were brining for a full day

[Rodney]

-35C for a day or -20C for a week.

[clarki]

Parasites are only a problem with flossed sockeyes, or ones purchased off the back of a pickup truck, or from Craigslist.

You won't find them in commercially caught fish or ones caught by sport fishermen trolling off the mouth of the river.

 

[Ambassador]

Parasites are only a problem with flossed sockeyes, or ones purchased off the back of a pickup truck, or from Craigslist.

You won't find them in commercially caught fish or ones caught by sport fishermen trolling off the mouth of the river.

 

Haha! I like your scare tactics, but his linked video contradicts your statement as the fillet is from Costco (Commercially caught). These look pretty gross and I would not be too stoked in finding them crawling around on my fish. Go for a good freeze next time as Rod has suggested. This is the exact reason that sushi is always frozen before being thawed and served. Death to parasites and worms is always a good thing before ingestion.

That being said, Kosanin, I believe the process of smoking them as you are doing would draw them out as it seems to be doing so far. Go back with some tweezers ever couple of hours and skim off any fresh ones that pop out. Hopefully that will do it.

We picked a bunch of blackberries a couple years back and put the ones we didn't gorge on in a container with some water in the fridge. Came back a couple hours later to find dozens of tiny white worms floating. As a gentleman of the outdoors, I shudder to think how many worms I have ingested accidentally in my time.

[Rodney]

Don't take any chances with Anisakis spp..... I'd freeze it after the fish are smoked.

[DragonSpeed]

Don't take any chances with Anisakis spp..... I'd freeze it after the fish are smoked.

Yup!  and it'll still taste great after thawing out.

[SkagitDreamer]

I concur with Rodney and DragonSpeed - just be certain the freezer used is cold enough because if not, they will survive.

[Rantalot]

Before you eat it you have to watch discoveries Monsters inside me

[VAGAbond]

Most home freezers are barely cold enough.  Cook your fresh water fish, including salmon, until they are completely dead.

[RalphH]

Most home freezers are barely cold enough.  Cook your fresh water fish, including salmon, until they are completely dead.

I usually make sure my fish are completely dead before I cook them. Keeping live ones in the fry pan was just too damn difficult!

[robj]

I had that happen as well.  Cold smoking lox and tiny white worms were on the surface on my filets. Another thing I heard is when the fish is alive, the worms live in the stomach. When they die the worms migrate to the flesh. So gut your fish after you have bled it. I also freeze it for a couple of weeks before I cold smoke it. Hot smoking should be Ok since you are cooking the fish in the smoker.

[TimL]

I'll second cooking freshly caught fish as well unless you have a commercial grade freezer! Haven't encountered Anisakis in salmon but I've seen them in some of the bottom fish I catch, particularly greenlings.

[Rodney]

Anisakis spp are not the same as the larger nematodes found in the stomach of the fish when you gut it. Gutting it and removing those bigger ones does not guarantee the flesh of your fish is free of Anisakis spp… There's also no difference between the abundance of parasitic nematodes in freshwater and saltwater fish. If you're going to eat your fish smoked, raw, or cured, again, freeze it at -20C for a week or -35C overnight… Or don't, if you enjoy the possibility of having nematodes burrowing through your stomach wall and migrating into your flesh eventually.

[vandenhooff]

I got 12 fillets of sockeye currently in the smoker , I checked up on it after an hour and I noticed maybe a dozen white worms squiggling around on the fish . Obviously I want to kill these parasites without discarding the fish , what temperature is adequate you think to kill these ?

I was trying to go low and slow but I guess that ain't happening now , here's a video I found relating to thee exact same worm 
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GkeLTIl3oLo

I didn't freeze these fish , but they were brining for a full day

Think I'm gonna puke!

[kosanin kosher salt]

Thanks for the replies , once it's done I'll vaccum pack and freeze for a couple weeks