Candied Salmon

[Johnnybear]

Well I cut up the whole 19 lb spring salmon I caught on the weekend and made it into candied salmon. I basically used the Salmon Universities procedure.

Quantities of incredients varies with the amount of fish you have.
I used 5 cups of Best Brown sugar, 2 cups of Koscher salt, 2 teaspoons of Garlic powder and 1 table spoon of cracked black pepper. Mix it all in a bowl.



The cubing method I saw online works great with larger pieces and helps the brine cover for surface area. Leave the skin on and don't cut right through.





Start layering the fish and brine material until totally covered.





Alot of recipes I have read about candied salmon say to leave in the fridge for 6-8 hrs. This is the third batch I have made this way and I leave it for 24 hrs. I take it out every few hours and stir it up and flip the pieces etc. The brine starts melting within an hour and looks like thin molases in a few hours.



Rinsed lightly and put out to dry. I transfered them from the paper towel to the smoker racks and turned a fan on in the kitchen and let it sit for a couple of hours.



I upgraded from a Big Chief to the Bradley Digital last year and I absolutely love it. You can control the temperature, smoke time, and oven time and the insulated body and door works great if you have a breeze or what have you outside with out a lot of temerature fluctuation.

I put ice cubes in the bowl at the bottom to help keep the smoke time cooler. I smoked this fish with Alder for about 2 hours without the oven on just the smoker.



When the smoking is complete I baste the fish with maple syrup. I turn on the oven at 150 for 2.5 hrs then baste again. I then turn it up to 200 for another 2.5 hrs or until I get the firmness that I like. I feels moist when I take it out but it is just about right after being in the fridge overnight.

There are tons of good smoking recipes out there. I'm going to try some new ones this year. So far everyone that has tried this stuff says it's real good.

Here's some links to some good sites.
http://www.salmonuniversity.com/rs_htss01_index.html
http://www.justsmokedsalmon.com/alderrecipes.htm

[duckhunt]

my mouth is watering, it looks awesome.

[nomad]

Very nicely done! pics of your process are nice to see too! That will be some premium salmon for sure! instead of the maple syrup at the end I tried a few others like teriaki and tabasco. The tabasco turned out to be the majority favourite! Doesn't stay real hot just gives a nice zest to it!

[Johnnybear]

Very nicely done! pics of your process are nice to see too! That will be some premium salmon for sure! instead of the maple syrup at the end I tried a few others like teriaki and tabasco. The tabasco turned out to be the majority favourite! Doesn't stay real hot just gives a nice zest to it!

I was thinking of trying something a little on the spicy side. Thanks for Tabasco tip.

[ferndogger]

Looks amazing, everything except that O'douls. lol. just kidding.
cant wait to make some of my own.

[goatdancer]

I used the same method except I sprinkled brown sugar on the fish just before it went in the smoker. The brown sugar melts and glazes lightly on the fish. Only bad thing is it makes an awful mess in the smoker. The oven method would be a lot easier to control and a lot less messy.

[bow_tech_kaldan]

my buddie makes the CNC machines that make those pucks I love it when they have to make "test" batches of them...

[houndogger]

JB that looks awesome! If you don't mind how much for one of those bradys? pms are fine.

[6 K]

Great job Jb, looks very nummy.
I use tobasco in mine as well and is liked by most people who try it.
The Guy who taught me to smoke fish told me never to use anything metal with the brine. Not the mixing bowl or even a stiring spoon. Just curious if you or anyone else may have heard that or not. Regardless your photos make me want to start a batch now.

[Roots]

That looks so good.... I will have to try this!

Oh, I just noticed that you and I have the same spice rack....hahaha