Text 16072, 67 rader
Skriven 2008-11-04 00:20:00 av Dale Shipp (1:261/1466.0)
     Kommentar till en text av Dave Sacerdote
Ärende: Re: Smoke chips
=======================
 -=> On 11-03-08  06:54,  Dave Sacerdote <=-
 -=> spoke to Dale Shipp about Re: Smoke chips <=-

 DSh> How long to season?  My guess would be about a year, or at least 
 DSh> six months.

 DSac> About a year or so.  I'll probably chip it off in June or early July
 DSac> and test it soon after that with a few BS chicken breasts.

Until now, I have leaned towards filling up the smoker each time I fired
it up.  That has made me reluctant to experiment.  I'm going to change
that.

 DSac> Good luck with the salmon - be sure to let us know how it came out!

It turned out well, but I think it could have been better.  I think I
said that I brined two pieces in two separate brines.  I put them into
the brine last night and took them out mid morning today.  Rinsed them
off, blotted them with paper towels and then let them air dry for about
3 1/2 hours until the surface was dry and slightly tacky.

Then based on a combination of things read, I put the fish, skin side
down, into the smoker about 2 pm, setting the smoker temperature control
to 175 degrees.  Wood was apple chips, also soaked overnight.  I also
put a piece of aluminum foil under each piece, trimmed to just barely
fit.  Inserted my remote temperature probe and let the smoker do its
thing.

I had expected the fish to be done in a couple of hours.  We looked at
it at about 4pm, and the fish had no color to speak of and also had
little globules of white stuff.  Internal temperature was close to 140
degrees.  Research had stated a range of 140 up to 165 was the done
point.

A quick search said that the little white globules was the result of too
much moisture and suggested that I should open the vent a little bit --
did that and waited a bit longer.

By 6pm, we decided to take off enough for dinner -- ready or not.  The
white globules had diminished, but internal temperature was only 150.
The fish was pretty good, but the initial reaction was salty flavor, not
smoke flavor.  We ate our fill and I let the rest of the fish continue
smoking until 9 pm -- total of 7 hours.  It was still at 150 internal
temperature, but the surface now had a bronze tinge and a nibble tasted
more like smoke flavor.

Things I think I learned:

1. Don't brine for so long.  Next time, I'll either not brine or do so
only for about 1 hour.
2. Open up the vent partially so that the air moves through and keeps
the fish dry.  (this was never a problem with the pork that we have
done).
3. Try higher temperature.
4. Use a smaller piece, i.e. one meals worth instead of the three meal's
worth that we did.
5. Experiment with other woods, e.g. mesquite and/or pecan.

                               Dale Shipp
                  fido_261_1466 (at) comcast (dot) net
                              (1:261/1466)

... Shipwrecked on Hesperus in Columbia, Maryland. 23:56:15, 03 Nov 2007
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