Smoked salmon issue

I just smoked up a batch of salmon, and one of the fish I smoked was the oilest salmon I've ever seen. It was a wild, pale fleshed fish around 12-14 lbs. slippery like tuna. I smoked it along with other fish in the big chief for around 9 1/2 hours on saturday, and after the fish cooled, I noticed how soft the pieces were. My daughter who is a smoked salmon eating machine wouldn't finish it. it's from all the oil in the fish, as it's fully cooked through. before i vac pac it all, is there any thing i can do to fix it? I could try to render more of the fat in the oven, but I'm afraid of over doing the fish. the oil is concentrated along the blood line under the skin.


thanks!

willy

Its a white king! They are the best!

Fix it?

SERIALLY?

Sounds like a premium product to me.

Bring it over Willy, I will take care of it for you Maybe we can use a bit to grease the bearing on the trailer?

smoooshy. feels like it's under done. don't get me wrong, the flavor is great. just a little too squishy for my taste....

not a white king, though. This is the only pic. 3 kings all from swiftsure. the one on the left is the one in question, middle white king, and the reddest hatchery king i think i've seen.



willy

If I pm you my address will you send it to me?

try baking it till firm

marks on the scales?

Apricot flesh is CLEARLY the oiliest... just look at all those THICK white lines of fat between the muscle layers!

White king is middle of the road

Bright red king looks lean as a coho... NO FAT!

What's funny is that the majority of PNW anglers equate "cut red" with "cut good". Even upriver boots "cut red"... but without fat, MEH!

I'd take that cut on the left ANY day.

....

BTW the fat NEVER lives near the midline. That is ALWAYS the leanest part of a salmon fillet. (See how the white lines fade to almost nothing near the spine and get thicker the further from the midline?) Fat piles up as you move toward the belly or the back. The best bites will come out of the top inch and the bottom 2 inches.

I think that maybe it's just under done,as the fat is dripping from the midline-thickest portion of the piece. similar sized pieces with little fat like the red king were firm, like I like it. I put the pieces of mr fatty back in the oven @200F for a bit and see what happens.


thanks,
willy

Dang, probably too late. If it's going in the oven, line a baking sheet with foil. Put a cookie rack on the baking sheet. Fish goes on the cookie rack. Drizzle on some honey and bake at 300.

Keep it on the racks to cool as it will try to sweat oil.

That's how I do springer anyway. My $0.02 for next time.

When I smoke Salmon pieces that are quite thick or quite oily I remove the skin after the fish is partly smoked/cooked, it should peel off easily, and that allows the fat with a place to escape from.

You can also simply cook it some more as some have suggested.

that's what i did. i put it in the convection at 200F for 2x 30 minute stints. I removed the thinner pieces after 30, and put the rest back for another 30. it firmed up pretty well. should be good to go.

thanks for the suggestions and offers to find a home for the salmon.



willy

Do you air dry your fish before smoking it? Letting it sit allows all the nutrience to settle back into the meat.

yes. i put the smoker in front of a fan for at least an hour to get good pelicle formation. it's great, it was just a little under done. oven fixed it. delicious...





willy

I'll be the judge of that.

i can hook you up!

The oilier the better for me.

Tulie ?

If you are EVER in this predicament again.... simply let the salmon cool. The luxurious "softness" you find so unpalatable will simply gel up, esp once you get it in the fridge.

I like the "melt in your mouth" feeling right out of the smoker while still warm. My family is spoiled and almost will only eat it that way any more.

I have found that after smoking, put all of the fish in a Tupperware for 24 to 48 hrs. Let the fish almost sweat in the container. I find it to calm the smoke taste and solidify the fish even more, even if there is an abundance of oil present. That's the good stuff.

I have a pretty simple recipie I have worked on over the years and now got a finished product that is so dialed, its rare to try anything else that comes close.
It's either too mushy or too smokey. I know people that don't even like fish or seafood try my stuff and end up asking for more.