[CH] Smoking trout and salmon (long) [1/7]

Jim Weller (Jim.Weller@salata.com)
23 Jul 00 09:11:07 -0800

 >>> Part 1 of 7...


 -=> Quoting Jim Weller to All <=-

 > I have the method written up if any fish smokers out there are
 > interested.
 
 CB> Oh yeah.. write away~!

 JW> It's too long and kinda off topic for the list. I sent out eight
 JW> copies earlier this evening. Did I miss anyone?

I've had 12 requests for the file so far. It seems to be a popular
topic. So perhaps I can send it to the list even though it isn't chile
related.....

 Smoking Salmon & Trout by Jack Whelan and published by Airie Publishing
 in  Deep Bay, B.C. was the first good book on smoking I ever came
 across. It's out of print now.  Here are some extracts, not just on
 canning but on the whole smoking process.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
 
      Title: Smoking Salmon and Trout Part I - Caring for the Catch
 Categories: Fish, Smoked, Info, Salmon, Trout
      Yield: 1 text file
 
 
  Fish begins to spoil the minute you land it. Enzymes and bacteria go
  to work immediately especially in the slime, gills and intestines. To
  reduce spoilage and maintain flavor you must bleed, clean and cool
  fish quickly.
  
  ~1- Remove the slime and scale [if applicable] as soon as possible.
  ~2- Cut the throat and remove the gills. The intestines can wait a
    few hours. -3- Remove the intestines. Save the liver, roe and milt.
  Remove the
    kidney, that dark streak along the backbone by cutting away the
    covering membrane on either side of the kidney,  where it is
    attached to the flesh. Then scrape out the kidney. -4- The head may
  stay on but remove the head now if you have to save
    cooler space. Leave the lug bone, that bony plate behind the
    head if you are going to smoke the fish as the lug will support
    the handling cord. -5- Cool the fish to close to freezing with
  chipped ice. Make sure
    that there is a layer of ice between every layer of fish in the
    cooler.
  
  Careless handling can bruise fish. Use a net if possible; if gaffing,
  gaff the least valuable part- the stomach if possible. If using a
  fish club to kill quickly and prevent threshing, one sharp blow to
  the head is enough.
  
  Rigor Mortis: a dead fish will stiffen but in time will relax again
  unless it goes into accelerated rigor form being too warm. If you try
  to straighten out a fish in Rigor or the fish goes into heat induced
  Rigor, you will tear the flesh disturbing the appearance and allowing
  succulent juices to escape. Prevent Rigor damage with prompt cooling
  and filleting before or after the fish has passed through rigor but
  not during it.
  
  Cooling: Ice has a terrific ability to absorb heat when it melts as
  it took a tremendous amount of heat removal to freeze the water in
  the first place. 2 lb of ice melting will do the same job of cooling
  as 37 lb of block ice or extremely cold water. Chipped ice will melt
  faster and therefore chill fish quicker than block ice. Pack the
  belly cavity of cleaned fish and make sure there is a layer of ice
  between every layer of fish.
  
  To transport frozen fish you need dry ice or Eutectic ice, as melting
  ice would thaw frozen fish. Eutectic ice is a solution of 23 salt by
  weight and 77 water by weight, which freezes at 0 deg F. [-18 deg
  C.], in a breakproof plastic container. You can buy these or make
  your own.
  
  Extracted from: Smoking Salmon & Trout by Jack Whelan. Published by:
  Airie Publishing, Deep Bay, B.C. ISBN: 0-919807-00-3 Posted by: Jim
  Weller
 
MMMMM
 
MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
 
      Title: Smoking Salmon and Trout Part Ii - Filleting And Boning
 Categories: Smoked, Info, Bbq, Salmon, Trout
      Yield: 1 text file
 
 
  A very sharp knife [and a whet stone and a sharpening steel nearby] is
  essential.
  
  ~1- Skin on Fillets: Begin at the vent [anus] making a cut on either
  side of the anal fin just deep enough to reach the backbone. make
  these cuts all the way back to the tail.
  
  Start the next cut where the head has been removed on top of the
  backbone. Cut through the fish, from back to belly, lengthways right
  down to the tail. You will run into the belly bones which get tougher
  as the fish gets bigger. Here is where the *sharp* knife comes in; it
  must be able to cut through the belly bones easily. As you continue
  the cut from head to tail work the knife along the backbone with the
  cutting edge slightly slanted towards the bone.
  
  Remove the first fillet, turn the fish over and cut the second fillet.
  There should be very little meat left on the backbone.
  
  Now the belly bones can be removed without loosing any meat. this
  leaves you a boneless fillet except for the line of long, thin bones
  just above where the backbone used to be. You can feel their sharp
  ends with your fingertip.
  
  These last bones can be lifted out in a strip by making a cut on
  either side of the row _just_ to the skin. This final deboning will
  somewhat spoil the fillet in appearance and utility when making
  smoked products that are thinly sliced. A more finicky method is to
  remove these bones one at a time with small needle nose pliers. If
  the bones don't pull out of the flesh readily, you can do it after
  smoking.
  
  ~2- Easy Skinless Fillets: [This section by JW not the author.] Most
  smoke recipes call for skin on fillets but for sauteeing, frying,
  poaching and grilling fresh fish the easiest way to get a skinless
  fillet with just a little waste is as follows:
  
  Start with whole fish, uncleaned and head on. Make the first cut just
  below the gills done to the backbone at a slight angle. Turn the
  knife and cut along the backbone to the tail at a slight angle so as
  to "float" over the belly bones. Stop just short of the tail and peel
  back the skin-on fillet without tearing it away from where it is
  attached to the fish at the tail. Lay the fillet on the table skin
  side down and start a cut at the tail. Cut down to but not through
  the skin and turn the blade sideways. Cut the fillet away from the
  skin and continue back up the fillet to the other end.
  
  Turn over the fish and repeat. Be careful throughout not to puncture
  the intestines, bladder or stomach. You should now have two skinless
  fillets with the guts still attached to the carcass. This way you do
  not have to scale or clean and you loose only a small amount of meat
  and belly skin. This works best on larger fish say 4 lb and up. -JW
  
  ~3- Defatting Fat Fish: Salmon and trout are fat fish and you *may*
  want to defat them for various reasons- to adhere to a low fat diet
  or remove contaminants that may be concentrated in the fat tissues of
  fish from certain waters. To do this, when you fillet, leave plenty
  of meat on the backbone where the meat is especially fat. Cut off the
  belly portion. Skin the fillet leaving about 1/8" meat on the skin.
  Make cuts on either side of the lateral line, lift it out and discard

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