Nice video. A few suggestions: get the vacuum sealer, all the liquid is contained. When the fish tapers off getting thinner, it doesn't require the same amount of brine that the thicker portion does, gets too salty if you do. After smoking, let the fish sit for another 12-24 hours, lets the smoke flavor even out. Doesn't necessarily require a 24 hour smoke. I've gotten really good flavor with 12-16, but I didn't have the huge piece that was shown here. You can cut that line out in the middle once your done smoking to avoid having to make a bunch of cuts when slicing. Sometimes the sawdust can still contain moisture, so you can bake a nice amount in the oven at 200 for an hour. If you can't find sawdust and have pellets available, just grind them up in a spice grinder. I've never brined the skin side, but i'll try it now, thanks.
I live in Alaska and smoke salmon every year , l would never use regular sawdust! Species such as pine or spruce will impart a most unpleasant taste. Use applewood, pecan or alder, hickory is too strong of flavor for most fish . All of these are available in store's locally or can be ordered.
Thanks. Common sawdust would be bad-bad, a no-no. BBQ and Bottles makes it sound like he got ordinary sawdust from the lumberyard. Latter he refers to the smoke as "hickory." On the Puget Sound, we use cedar!
I like the 1 hour resting tip! However I agree with previous comment, any conifer/needle tree (Pine, Douglas Fir, Larch, spruce etc... used for lumber especially in Canada does have toxins and not really the best flavor for smoking. I am sure it tastes fine but you won't find mass lumber mill type species available for smoking commercially because of those problems. Not trying to stir the pot but as an Alaskan born dude, make sure your local sawdust is an acceptable hardwood not a softwood. Canada does have Maple though and that would be perfect.
I have tried this smoke generator. It works hit and miss. Often the "fire" jumps across the mesh divider and the sawdust starts burning towards the center rather than around the circles.I see you initiated the smoking with the smoke generator directly under the fish fillet. If you have sufficient room it is much better to have the smoke generator not be directly under the fillet. It can cause too much heat to reach the fillet and cook it.
yeah, the smoke generators take a while to get use to and they're not perfect. It's a good point that it's worthwhile testing out the smoke generator before you put it to work so you can get the process down pat.
looks delicious! But gravlax is not cold smoked samon, gravlax is swedish for burried salmon and is just conserved with salt sugar and herbs, typically dill.
You have to put some heavy weights (cans, bags of water, etc) on top of the wrapped salmon in the fridge to get the maximum amount of oil out of the fillet.
@joe Recto yeah if you try non farmed salmon caught by hook you can taste the difference. My father goes fishing a lot and it is a skill worth learning just for the amazing fish you can get. And also fun. But yeah gravlax = curated salmon which means just storing it cold with salt and sugar mixture against the meat for some days, flipping it 2 times a day. Let me now if you want a good recipe.
@@burneggroll Yes that is what a curator does. However curating as a food term is something different; the method of which you use to make gravlax as we do here in Sweden. All good man!
That right there was beautiful! I've never had that before but want to try. I've cured bacon and smoked it but it wasn't a super low temp like you did with this. At any point did you ever cook the salmon at a warmer temp? Did you ever have to worry about getting the temp of the salmon up to a specific internal temp and if so what was it? What was the average temp in your cooker, or I guess an easier way of wording that is what temp should I shoot for maintaining in my pit? Thanks and sorry for the remedial questions.... I just dont want to mess up an expensive piece of meat or get anyone sick.
The cold smoke doesn’t raise the internal temp of the pit at all. Our pit was just the ambient temperature outside during the entire cook. You don’t have to worry about cooking the fish because of the salt and sugar cure at the start that preserves it and kills any harmful bacteria. We never cooked the fish at any point through this process. Thanks for all of the great questions!!
A lot of people let the salmon rest in the fridge for a few days after cold smoking it. They say it “mellows out” the smoke flavor and makes it taste better. Anyone try it this way?
Miguel Harari you can use a tray under your pan that the salmon is in. Fill that tray with ice cubes and replace the ice as it melts. It helps keep the salmon cold. But definitely only do this on the winter months, or use an indoor smoker.
Nice job, but sawdust from the lumberyard can contain anything from glue and chemicals from plywoods to rodent droppings. I'd be more selective where I sourced my wood products from.
Please add recipe below. You just flashed it on the bottom of the video for no more then 2 or 3 seconds. I had to rewind a few times to see it not fun.
Hey Scott. Thanks for the feedback and I'll keep the instructions up longer on future videos. Here's the recipe: - Mix a cup of brown sugar and a cup of kosher salt - Cover all sides of the salmon with the salt and sugar mix - Wrap tightly in saran wrap and leave it in your fridge for 24 hours - Remove the salmon from the fridge and rinse it off. Pat dry with paper towel. - Place back in the fridge for another hour - Cold smoke for 24 hours - Carve off thin slices and enjoy
The "danger zone" (common food safety term) where bacteria on food can thrive is 40-100 degrees after 2 hrs or so. How do you mitigate bacteria while leaving the salmon on the grill for 24 hours at temps in the "danger zone"?
The Salt/Sugar and the Smoke all are curing and preserving the fish, they mitigate bacteria during the process. Then you refrigerate or freeze the final product.
The purpose of curing is to create a police which is the tacky sticky coating on top of the fleshy salmon after curing, that is how you can eat the fish raw, the police also enables the smoke flavour to adhere to the salmon better. I also cold smoke butter, cheeses, whole garlic, sausage, home made beef burgers etc👌
I'm curious. Have you ever tried to smoke another more common type of fish like cod fish or talapia or something other than salmon. We don't expect it to top smoke salmon. I'm curious to see if it give an acceptable product.
@@BBQandBottles Dethaw is uncommon, but the more proper usage. Dethaw means "unfreeze." Thaw is to melt, dissolve, liquefy, or soften. wikidiff.com/dethaw/thaw
Gravlax is Nordic for Grav = Grave, and Lax (or Lox depending the region) = Salmon. Before refrigeration they used to coat the salmon with salt and whatever else was to their taste, wrap it up good and bury it for a length of time ( ie : Grave). Gravlax is never smoked
Gravad=Grave. In a nutshell: Smoked salmon is cured or brined, then smoked. Lox is cured, but not smoked. www.epicurious.com/ingredients/difference-between-lox-and-smoked-salmon-gravlax-kippered-salmon-recipes-article
I wish you would remove the aka Gravlax from the title as well as the #gravlax as its just not true as some viewers have already commented. Gravlax has nothing to do with smoking the salmon. The title just makes this video wrong and unprofessional.
Sawdust, bad idea. You don’t know what work is used. Could be harmful to you. Some sap wood is bad news. Need to talk about killing parasites before smoking. Smoker beware. Where do u get this smoke ring?
