How to smoke
salmon - recipe #1
| Step 1 - Preparing
the fish |
It's important to
start with a good product. Too many times I've seen someone on the river catch
a dark fish and say "there's one for the smoker"... don't be that person...
don't waste your time and money... start with good fresh fish, or fresh frozen
fish... all the brine and sugar in the world won't help a dark fish that has a
soft, mushy flesh.
For this recipe, I start by filleting the fish and
removing the pinbones. (to find out how, see our "How to fillet salmon" section
here.) Once I've got nice clean fillets, I
take each fillet and cut the flesh vertically, down to the skin, but not
through the skin. What you want to create are what I call "candy bar" strips...
strips of flesh about 3/4" to 1" square, but still attached to the skin... see
below.
I then take each
fillet and decide how big I want the final product to be...sometimes I like to
leave the fillets whole for a "presentation fillet" for a special occassion...
Thanksgiving, someone's wedding, etc... but most times I cut the fillets into a
couple of smaller, more managable pieces.
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