Where there’s smoke there’s salmon

While not spoken directly, I got the feeling that someone was suspect of my mission to get a hold of a fish smoker. After all we’re on the road…Viking-style and needing to travel light with just our animal robes and battle axes.  That’s all fine and dandy but someone who shall remain nameless decided that they were going to fill the boat with salmon…..you see the issue.

Problem -lots of salmon

Solution -salmon smoker

Thus in the interest of helping I began searching for the right fish smoker when you’re living light and mobile. Over the years I’ve had a variety of them, all outdoor models. Doing my research I came to discover that the traditional outdoor models were not built with Vikings in mind.  My next thought was finding a hollow tree and crafting a crude lost-in-the-wilderness model. Unfortunately, due to fire restrictions, this option was out. 

This resulted in me taking a chance on a stove-top model. I had visions of filling the place with fishy-smoke which I knew would detract from the end result. Reading reviews they indicated that a normal kitchen fan would perfectly manage the small amount of escaping smoke. Skeptical but loaded with salmon…I hit buy. A couple days later it shows up.

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Getting the smoker was the easy part. I’m a smoked fish snob. Only alder chips will do. I had some troubles ordering the chips and ended up with too many kinds. Enough that I think I’ll donate them to a local high school botany class as we exit the country. 

The process….step 1 prepare the salmon by removing all the pin bones and letting it soak in a brine of water, rock salt and brown sugar overnight. Remove from the brine and rinse off under cold water, pat dry and let stand until it develops a sheen.

Step 2 involves preparing the smoker with the alder chip inside the bottom pan, placed over a burner on a medium heat setting. As soon as wisps of smoke appear, close lid and leave it alone for 35 minutes. The reviews were accurate, very little smoke escapes and I have yet to set the smoke alarm off. When time is up, remove from heat and let cool until you can’t stand the smell anymore…open the lid and start eating.

To date I have smoked 5-6 sockeye salmon. I’ve given our host several bags of fish the rest has gone in our bellies. We’ve used it in cream cheese spread on bagels, chowder and for straight out of the bag lunch time snacking.  

Moral of the story…problem solving can be delicious.