After this afternoon’s BurntWurst debacle, I had to try again…
I defrosted a Sockeye Salmon that had been in the freezer… then I marinated it in some Rice Vinegar, Soy Sauce, with Cinnamon and Ginger, and a healthy portion of Sea Salt for about three hours.
I stoked the fire, added a few charcoal briquets, and a heathy helping of hickory chips, and let it start smoking.
I put the Salmon on the grill around 4:00. The temp was 120°F and the smoke was flowing. I checked it every 10 minutes or so until about 4:40.
Looks good, doesn’t it?
Grayson woke up right after I took that photo, and was crying, so I got distracted for a few minutes… I took it off the grill at 5:00. I should have grabbed it at 4:45 or so, I think.
It smelled amazing. AMAZING!
I put it in the oven to cool a little while I finished up the peas and corn.
We sat down to eat around 5:30, and while the Salmon tasted like Smoked Salmon, it was just a tad dry. Not bad, mind you, but definitely should have come off the grill a little earlier.
Did a much better job of keeping the fire under control this time, and got the perfect amount of smoke.
More practice is in our future for sure. Tastes too good, and I definitely want to get good at smoking…
You’ll never cook the same! Even when using my gas grill, I always throw some oak bark in my little cast iron smoker box to introduce some smoke to whatever I’m grilling. Next time when you cook with indirect heat and smoke, place a can of liquid (water, drippings, beer, wine, etc.) on the grill side to keep things humid and prevent drying out.
I used to use some wood in my gas grill, but never really noticed the difference… actually smoking with big hunks of Hickory made a huge difference… Also, I think I’m going to get a cedar plank, which they recommend for cooking fish…
Oh, and I’ve heard that using bark actually causes things to taste too acrid, if you use too much… just what I’ve read.
We still have a real smoker. It uses charcole. Smoked a couple of chickens a few weeks ago. Takes 8 hours and 3-4 lbs of chaecole. Hickory chips for more smoke.
Yeah, I don’t know how to spell charcole.
Back when our gas grill still worked and salmon didn’t cost as much as steak, we used to fry salmon in cast iron skillets heated by the gas grill.
hm….adding soy sauce and sea salt must make this salmon taste too salty.