Do It Yourself Smoked Salmon Made Easy
Smoking your own fish is surprisingly easy and an ultimately satisfying activity. The one investment you will have to make is the purchase of a smoker, but keep in mind that this can be used for all sorts of other food preparations, thus it is worth getting. Other than that your only other expenses will go into purchasing the salmon, ingredients for preparing the brine, as well as the wood to use in the smoker. Aside from this you just need a little bit of patience and time to prepare your smoked salmon. Here are the tips that are the trick to smoking salmon.
The first step involves preparing the brine. A basic brine used for preparing fish includes 4 cups water, 1/4 cup kosher salt, and 1/4 cup brown sugar. For additional flavor you can add bay leaf, celery, fennel, onion, as well as garlic. Mix all these ingredients together and then place your fish in the mixture. Cover the container and let the fish cure in the refrigerator for about 8 hours. Depending on the thickness of the fish you will need to let it cure for more time. At this point you are on your way to achieving delicious smoked salmon.
But the trick to smoking salmon does not stop there. Many people forget the following step which involves air drying the fish. This step is important because it allows a thin layer to form on top of the fish, allowing the smoke to adhere and add more flavor to the fish. Let the brined fish rest on a rack and place it in a room at less than 65 degrees. You can turn a fan on low or simply choose a room that has decent air circulation for the best results. Let the fish rest as such for 2 to 3 hours.
From here the trick to smoking salmon involves actually placing it in the smoker. You’ll need to select the type of wood you would like, keeping in mind that the various kinds such as alder, hickory, or oak all add a different flavor. When smoking fish the ideal temperature is about 140 degrees and can range from anywhere from 1 to 4 hours depending on the thickness of the fillet. Once the internal temperature of the fish has reached 140 degrees, your fish should be ready. From there you can eat it immediately, keep in the fridge for a little over a week, or freeze it up to 6 months. You’ll see that the trick to smoking salmon is actually no trick at all!
Looking for wonderful Alaskan Seafood recipes? Check out great meals to make for your family from ASMI, the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.
Herb Baked Salmon
In case you love consuming salmon but don’t wish to add a whole lot of extra fat just to enrich the taste, you need to test this particular baked salmon recipe. Only making use of a touch of butter keeps this specific recipe incredibly great for your heart. The essential fatty acids in salmon will help maintain cardiovascular health and also have also been tested to aid reduce the signs of depression and mood disorders.
Despite the fact that this menu is listed as a baked salmon it can be quite ideal for use with other sorts of seafood. If you favor trout or bass to salmon this is a recipe you need to have to test because the flavour is equally as divine.
If you need to discover ways of eating healthy with out sacrificing by any means when it comes to taste, this recipe must be on the top of your respective menu. Serving it with a side of rice or perhaps a lightly dressed salad may also be fantastic just make sure that the acidity in your side dishes would not compete with the taste and texture of the fish.
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ lbs of fresh salmon, trout or bass fillets
- ½ cup. of 1% or 2% partly-skimmed milk
- 1 tsp chervil leaves (dried)
- 1 tsp. basil leaves (dried)
- ½ c.. flour (all-purpose)
- ¼ teaspoon salt (use table salt for this recipe)
- 1 lightly beaten big egg
- ½ c. of panko, Italian bread crumbs or other type of bread crumbs that are fine in texture and quite flavorful
- 1 tbs melted butter
- Lemon wedges and parsley leaves (garnish)
Preheat oven to 450 Fahrenheit
Clean fillets and pat dry gently with paper towel. Cut fish to ensure that it can be pre-portioned into desired portion size pieces. Fish will cook more rapidly this way and will be simpler to serve.
Make coating mix out of flour, salt, chervil and basil. Put in container and place milk in the separate, flat pot. Dip fillets in milk after which into herb and flour mixture.
Mix remaining milk with beaten egg. Incorporate remaining flour and herb mix with breadcrumbs. Ready fish fillets must be dipped into milk and egg mixture. Dip into breadcrumb and flour blend. Place in rimmed baking dish that has been prepared by greasing it lightly. Drizzle with some of the dissolved butter.
Bake in pre-heated oven. Right after 10 minutes, check to find out if it’s finished cooking. This is going to be evident when fish flakes very easily using a fork.
Garnish fish with parsley and serve right away along with lemon wedges.
Raymond Levi is very passionate about Freshwater Fishing in Canada. He has been in so many places but his heart and fishing hook belongs in Canada. To know find more, Baked Salmon Recipe, drop by on his recommended site, http://www.freshwater-fishing-canada.com.
