Here's a link that may be of interest. I sent 50 lbs of smoked fish to the East Coast and lost it all due to slow delivery.

HERE are the facts.

I recently sent some smoked fish to my Airman stepson and purchased a guaranteed delivery date, long story short they missed him and delivered it to his last known address. Luckily his last room mate put it into the freezer and only through my biatching and complaining went and picked it up and delivered it to him a month later.( He was set to leave the country a day after that delivery date for a month)

If it were not for his ex room mates action to freeze the package (it was marked perishable and to keep it frozen) that fish would have gone bad. UPS did not live up to the contract nor did they want to rectify the situation until I contacted them and their agent out here and told them I would contact the local media.
I have not received a refund!



Fishy

I think that the method of smoking would be a factor in shelf life of smoked fish. I cold smoke salmon and trout for about 40 to 60 hours and make a point to keep temp. down to 100 to 110 degrees. I know others who smoke fish at a higher temp. for shorter times and keep more moisture in fish. This is a "wet" smoke with a much greater need for cold temps and has a MUCH shorter shelf life(weeks intead of months). A lot of the process I use is slowly removing most of the water from the fish. I use honey instead of sugar and remove skins prior to brining, the skin generates slime that makes it a requirement to rinse salmon after brining to remove taste and bacteria. By not using skins the honey and spices are retained more effectivly then by rinsing and overall flavor is improved greatly.I also remove most of grey fat under skin, I think it improves taste to do this. A little more work to keep fish from sticking to racks, the upside is that after 24 hours I flip racks 180 degrees using a second rack on top and oils stay in the fish throughout it.The lower temp. and use of honey instead of sugar are related in that the honey acts as a preservative in its' own right so long as it isn't heated above 160 degrees, making less salt possible.You can see the red oils come out when I vacuum it, omega 3 oils are not destroyed by high heat in this method. I can send salmon vacuum packed in the mail, safe for two or three days, but I overnight it to make sure. My salmon can be left on the counter at room temp for 24 hours and it dries out a little, kind of turns a little more like jerky, but certainly not evn beginning to be suspect. I've had folks carry my salmon around in their pocket all day while they did chores around their farm, and I know some hunters who also use it unrefrigerated for days at a time. Voltage regulators on big chief smokers helps with temp. control. If fish are not frozen first shelf life seems to improve as well.I have a shelf life refrigerated of 6 months to a year.I chunk all fish (except smaller trout, kokanee or jacks) rather then whole fillets,I leave skin on the trout and smaller fish, but scale fish before brining (another source of bacteria and off taste). I know there are other methods, I've developed this way of doing it after 34 years and lots of input from others, both native american and scandinavian.Interesting read on shelf life.Sorry for your loss, I know how much work it is to smoke 50 lbs. Thanks for post. Bob R

Just can it!

I tried overnighting fish to Southern California. USPS messed something up, and our So Cal cousins got a batch of 90 degree mush.

Interesting post Bob R, 40 to 60 hours is a long time. I might experiment with a voltage regulator a bit. Do you do this cold smoking in a Big Chief? How many pans of smoke do you run through?

I do my salmon in a big chief, 3 pans of smoke. I've had it done in as little as 3 hours, and as long as 12 depending on the outside temp, humidity, and wind.

So what's in the smoked fish that they sell at the airport, kitchen stores etc, which stays at room temperature for months? Is it full of preservatives? How did the natives keep it for months?

I use two big chiefs.I usually go through 4 or 5 pans, I alternate alder, cherry, and apple, if I use much more then that it will make it bitter.fish4brains is right, conditions with weather can change things one way or another.With me it ranges from 45 to 65 hours.Some folks prefer a warmer smoke with less time, but to truely preserve smoked fish for longer periods the bulk of the water must be removed. I have had more then a few air dried as well, while I don't do this myself when done by people that know their business and use top quality fish it's hard to beat. That I think is truely "indian candy".They use a special tool to remove every other "file" of fish to maximize air flow.It just disintigrates in your mouth, really a unique type of preserved fish. Only the 1st batch I tried was exceptional, batches I tried after that ranged from O.K.,acceptable as preserved fish only fit to be boiled with potatoes, and not good.All from different sources.You can find reo-stats to reduce A.C. voltage, a little pricy but worth it. Bob R

Ship in dry ice over night.Good luck,
SZ

I believe that it is a wet smoke that has been pasturized (i.e. processed above 185 degrees), it's the same deal used for envelopes of cooked tuna, chicken, etc.The tribes have a couple of ways, air drying as discussed, hard smoked to the point where you can just about hammer nails with it, it looks like it has been varnished or something, when shown to me (years ago) it had a smudge of green mold on the surface,, he wiped it right off, it couldn't get into the fish. It will tear your mouth up to just chew it, really salty and hard. It can be boiled with potatoes or added to other soups, that is the method of long term preservation that I have seen.Not sure about preservatives in commercally available envelopes, look at the label the next time you are in cosco or the airport store, it will say. Once you open that fish it must be used pretty quickly and refrigerated. Bob R

As long as you vacuum pack it, there should be no problem even if it takes a couple days to get there!
Smoked fish under vacuum will last a long time!

It all gets back to cured? I send care packages to Kansas. As much as I can stuff into a priority mail box. I tell my uncle to eat within the week or freeze for later.

I would for one like to hear more from bob r, perhaps over on the recipe page. I can smoke a good batch of fish using the usual methods, but the cold smoking process and techniques have always interested me. Gravlax are awesome, but not quite up to the quality of a good cold smoked salmon.

Time it so it ships on Mon., Tues., or Wed......that way it will probably get there by Saturday..........you don't want it to get hung up for a couple of days before it moves.

I've even shipped fresh fish to Eastern WA....no problems!!!

UPS overnight, 2 days max. We send stuff all over from my work with very few problems.

Smoke fairly dry, vacuum, freeze, ship USPS priority or UPS overnight. Ship on Monday. No problems. I have done it many times.

That fish is in a retort pack. Sealed and pressure cooked like canned salmon. The natives smoked and dryed the fish to the point of being similar to a shingle but is was preserved. I know people that still do that.

bobr....great post on cold smoked, I'm liking the honey instead of sugar idea. Thanks

I should also note that I sent fresh vacuum sealed salmon that had been in a sub zero in the same container. All fish was vacuum sealed, frozen and put into a small cooler with freezer packs. All put into a box and shipped on a monday morning for delivery on thursday.

Interesting thread about smoking fish,preservatives and perish-ability.


Fishy

I would be happy to post my process and brine recipes for all to try, I'll put it in the recipe section in a day or two, I am trying my best to get over this coughing. I went to my nieces' wedding in San Francisco last weekend, must have picked up some cruddy illness on the flight back home(just in time for a couple of sweet days weather-wise!). I was going to Summit Lake for big trout tomorrow, hopefully the Chehalis will drop back into shape by Sunday.Maybe I'll feel well enough to make it. Thanks for a great thread, with all the great shared info it's a way for me to give something back.Bob R P.S. Anyone got a idea when the river may drop back into shape either by Monte or at Elma?

I've sent it to AZ in an insulated box with blue ice and it was fine