Cured and Cold Smoked Salmon

[Beermachine]

This week’s project was a first. Did not think this was going to turn out too good half way through the cure. Cold smoked it with Alder wood pellets today and it is a huge success! Better than the bought stuff for sure! This will be a regular menu item from now on.

[vtima]

I cure salmon regularly, I always have it on hand. Never tried cold smoking it, although I considered to try it one day. What steps did you take and equipment used?

[Beermachine]

42 minutes ago, vtima said:

I cure salmon regularly, I always have it on hand. Never tried cold smoking it, although I considered to try it one day. What steps did you take and equipment used?

I used this 12 inch smoking tube from Amazon:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Pellet-Stainless-Hexagon-Smoking-Billowing/dp/B08CZD9WNZ/ref=asc_df_B08CZD9WNZ/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=459722854789&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11472405240623310512&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003758&hvtargid=pla-944361641424&psc=1

 

Filled it with alder wood pellets and lit it with a torch. After a couple of minutes of burning blew the flames out and set it at the base of the KJ Classic II with the KAB removed. Opened the bottom and top vents up fully as well as removed the ash tray. Placed the heat deflectors in the lower position and then let it go. The tube lasted 5 hours and produced no heat at all with the deflectors in. Was a cool day at 40F, so this worked in my favor. No airflow issues at all. Smouldered slowly and evenly for the full time. The smoke smelled pretty harsh after it came out, but that dissipated quickly after a couple of hours in the fridge. Sliced it up and all was great. The smoke profile was much better today after resting.