Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Youtube | Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.
Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch
Lessons Learned - Salmon Smoking
Teefus
Posts: 1,204
I smoke a big salmon filet every few weeks, as it's one of my favorite snack foods. Low temp smokes can be tough and it's taken me a few attempts to get things dialed in. I thought I'd share a couple things learned along the way.
1) Eliminate "off flavors" from White Smoke"
One of the problems I'd have with a low temp (sub 200*) smoke is that the lump never got hot enough to burn off the volatiles and prevent off flavors. If it did, throttling the fire back to the desired low temp was all but impossible. It just took forever. This last time I loaded the firebox with fresh lump and got a blazing fire going....the night before. I did a quick cook of some flatirons and shut the egg down. The next day I still had a big load of lump in the firebox that was already cleansed of any volatiles. I just stirred it up, lit a small section with my propane torch, dropped in a couple fist size chunks of apple wood, and installed the plate setter and grate. It burned like a candle. With the vents throttled back I had sweet apple smoke for two hours before it even approached 200* at the dome, and it never exceeded 210*. It took 4 hours to get the fish to 160*. Perfect.
2) Eliminate dripping condensate from the daisy wheel.
One of the problems I've had with low temp smokes (especially in cool or cold weather) is that moisture condenses on the daisy wheel and drips creosote flavored droplets on my food. It looks unsightly on Salmon and tastes like crap on anything. It stops after the daisy wheel gets heated up well. This time I pre-heated the daisy wheel with my propane torch just prior to adding the Salmon. I hit it from both the inside and outside and got it smoking hot. No condensate at all this time.
Maybe I'm behind the curve on this stuff but if not I wanted to share. It made for a better cook. It's hard not to like a better cook.
1) Eliminate "off flavors" from White Smoke"
One of the problems I'd have with a low temp (sub 200*) smoke is that the lump never got hot enough to burn off the volatiles and prevent off flavors. If it did, throttling the fire back to the desired low temp was all but impossible. It just took forever. This last time I loaded the firebox with fresh lump and got a blazing fire going....the night before. I did a quick cook of some flatirons and shut the egg down. The next day I still had a big load of lump in the firebox that was already cleansed of any volatiles. I just stirred it up, lit a small section with my propane torch, dropped in a couple fist size chunks of apple wood, and installed the plate setter and grate. It burned like a candle. With the vents throttled back I had sweet apple smoke for two hours before it even approached 200* at the dome, and it never exceeded 210*. It took 4 hours to get the fish to 160*. Perfect.
2) Eliminate dripping condensate from the daisy wheel.
One of the problems I've had with low temp smokes (especially in cool or cold weather) is that moisture condenses on the daisy wheel and drips creosote flavored droplets on my food. It looks unsightly on Salmon and tastes like crap on anything. It stops after the daisy wheel gets heated up well. This time I pre-heated the daisy wheel with my propane torch just prior to adding the Salmon. I hit it from both the inside and outside and got it smoking hot. No condensate at all this time.
Maybe I'm behind the curve on this stuff but if not I wanted to share. It made for a better cook. It's hard not to like a better cook.
Michiana, South of the border.
Comments
-
Thanks for sharing your findings. Salmon is delicious. Do you purchase at your local supermarket or do you have a source?Large, Medium, MiniMax, & 22, and 36" Blackstone
Grand Rapids MI -
Those tips are worth money! Love this forum... Thanks!Lovin' my Large Egg since May 2012 (Richmond, VA) ... and makin' cookbooks at https://FamilyCookbookProject.com
Stoker II wifi, Thermapen, and a Fork for plating photo purposes -
Thanks for the pointers! Good looking out
South of Columbus, Ohio. -
Do you use a wood plank for the salmon or something else?
Live in Austin/From Arkansas
XL BGE
-
kl8ton said:Thanks for sharing your findings. Salmon is delicious. Do you purchase at your local supermarket or do you have a source?Michiana, South of the border.
-
Arkysmokin said:Do you use a wood plank for the salmon or something else?
Nope. I just set it on the grille.
Michiana, South of the border. -
Great insights above. The only downside (at least for me) with the Costco fillets is that the skin has been removed from the fillet. I like to run skin side down. Regardless a great outcome every time.Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win. Life is too short for light/lite beer! Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
Categories
- All Categories
- 182.7K EggHead Forum
- 15.7K Forum List
- 459 EGGtoberfest
- 1.9K Forum Feedback
- 10.3K Off Topic
- 2.2K EGG Table Forum
- 1 Rules & Disclaimer
- 9K Cookbook
- 12 Valentines Day
- 91 Holiday Recipes
- 223 Appetizers
- 516 Baking
- 2.4K Beef
- 88 Desserts
- 163 Lamb
- 2.4K Pork
- 1.5K Poultry
- 30 Salads and Dressings
- 320 Sauces, Rubs, Marinades
- 543 Seafood
- 175 Sides
- 121 Soups, Stews, Chilis
- 35 Vegetarian
- 100 Vegetables
- 312 Health
- 292 Weight Loss Forum