Now that I think of it, I must smoke salmon 15 times a year, and never put it in brine. I always thought it was salty enough. I do sprinkle a little bit of salt and pepper on it and that's it. It always goes on after I cook whatever I have that day, to take advantage of the remaining heat, and add a few pieces of hickory. I refrigerate and have it the next day.
Smoker
- Thread starter dreadnut
- Start date
There's not a song there.Coolbut every time I see pellets I keep thinking of Guinea pigs I don’t know why . Lol
Rayk
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Chorus; I’m not cooking my food with that ! LamoThere's not a song there.
Hickory pellets. Better flavor than Guinea Pig pellets.
jp
Senior Member
We have one of these little guys by Abu Garcia. It perfectly smokes three small trout or a good size steelhead. Delish!
I wish we had a bigger one so I can make big batches of sausage and smoke them. I could also just make one out of an old water heater or steel office cabinet too, I guess.
Have fun with it dread. You can make some amazing things with a good smoker, although most of it isn't . . . ahem. . . heart healthy.
I wish we had a bigger one so I can make big batches of sausage and smoke them. I could also just make one out of an old water heater or steel office cabinet too, I guess.
Have fun with it dread. You can make some amazing things with a good smoker, although most of it isn't . . . ahem. . . heart healthy.
Guildedagain
Enlightened Member
Smoking fish is good but it's hard to get it lit.
The Lake Trout turned out excellent!
beecee
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Do an A/B.....
Next up, a whole young chicken! About 6-7 lb.
Get to Know Your Chickens
- Broilers: Chickens 6 to 8 weeks old and weighing about 2 1/2 pounds
- Fryers: Chickens 6 to 8 weeks old and weighing 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 pounds
- Roasters: Chickens less than 8 months old and weighing 3 1/2 to 5 pounds
- Stewing Chickens: Chickens (usually hens) over 10 months old and weighing 5 to 7 pounds
- Capons: Castrated males that weigh 6 to 8 pounds
- Cock/Rooster: Male chickens over 10 months old weighing 6 to 8 pounds
adorshki
Reverential Member
They place massive standing production orders for 'em, they're grown and processed to "spec". So most of the production goes there.
Think abut the "notorious" Costco chickens, a loss leader, but they're the single biggest consumer, I think. Although I do suspect there's left-over and small production too. The (cooked) rotisserie chickens from anywhere are basically guaranteed to be injected full of sodium and flavor enhancers though.
Also, let's not forget about Tyson's recent rooster fiasco:
Chickens are in short supply. Blame Tyson's roosters | CNN Business
Chickens are in short supply. Part of the blame goes to Tyson's roosters.
www.cnn.com
OK the whole brining thing piqued my curiosity and I discovered it's not as "bad" as I thought.
The actual principal is that the salt, whether dry or through brining, "untwists" protein strands and allows 'em to absorb more water, although for sure there is some effect of sodium being absorbed also being responsible for some water retention. But properly brined cuts actually weigh more after brining, demonstrating that the cut has gained water.
Still, don't know how much sodium is also retained.
I suspect there is some sort of formula out there that allows one to closely estimate how much sodium is in the finished cut, before smoking/cooking.
I'd be curious what the final sodium contents could be. And hell while we're at it might as well check the CBD's too.
Anyway, end result is the "untwisted" proteins don't "lock" and dry out out and get tough during the heat of cooking, why those rotisserie chickens are always so nice and juicy.
Then I wondered if perhaps the smoking process itself might also do the same thing, through slow evaporation. Don't know, but I do recall some pretty dry tough jerky in my time.
And when I think of some of the smoked salmon I've seen (like the "candy"), it's always insane sodium content, like 900mg/2oz IIRC, but who knows, maybe they do it that way on purpose and it could be way lower? (Like you said, the salmon seems salty enough and its natural content is about 18mg/oz except sockeye which is kinda high at about 24. Lake trout's a salmonidae so doubt it'd be any higher than that.)
Also didn't realize just how big lake trout were 'til I looked 'em up. Now I get why overnight brining wasn't overkill.
Anyway, just "food for thought".
@dreadnut : Congrats on the successful shakedown cruise of the new smoker.
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LeFinPepere
Member
"You men eat your dinner, eat your pork and beans
I eat more chicken any man ever seen, yeah, yeah!"
6.5 lb young chicken, brined, rinsed, dried, rubbed with spices. 4 hours at 270 F smoker setting.
It was all crispy on the outside, and inside it was really juicy and tender. Nice and white or dark, nothing pink inside.
Tomorrow I shall be making a nice chicken salad with the leftovers!
I think I'm gonna be using this smoker a lot...
It was all crispy on the outside, and inside it was really juicy and tender. Nice and white or dark, nothing pink inside.
Tomorrow I shall be making a nice chicken salad with the leftovers!
I think I'm gonna be using this smoker a lot...
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I do the same thing with my apple-wood-smoked-on-my-Weber-kettle chickens - makes the best chicken salad.
Try making stock with the smoked chicken carcasses - makes for some wonderful soups.
Today I smoked 2 whole 2 lb. Rainbow Trout from my local fishmonger (wish I could say I caught these beauties) Brined for 4 hours, rinsed well, put on the smoker at 225F for 3 hours. Oh baby!