Hi, I’m Randy with BBQGuys.com i’ve got the cold smoker hooked up on my Traeger and
I’m going to show you how to cold smoke some salmon, then we are going to turn that
into some nice salmon stacks.
Let’s get smokin!
So my good buddy Rigs had the opportunity to go up to Alaska to do some fishing and
was able to bring me back some beautiful salmon fillets.
I’ve been excited to try out this cold smoker, so I set aside two big fillets to fill this
bad boy up!
Start off by getting a good rinse on your fish.
Then we want to pat it dry, because the goal of this salt curing stage is to pull out as
much moisture as possible.
The salmon needs to be completely covered with salt, so make sure to choose a pan big
enough to achieve this.
I’ll go ahead and lay down a bed of salt for the fish to sit on.
Salt is cheap, so don’t be shy..
Just pile it on!
I’ll smooth this top layer out.. and repeat the same with the second fillet.
For best results with the curing process, I’ll place them in the fridge for 48 hours
before smoking.
Ok, it’s been two days..
After curing, you’ll notice the fish has richened in color & firmed up a good bit.
Go ahead & rinse off the salt & pat the fillets dry.
Time to load the hopper with our pellets.
I chose Alder wood, because it really compliments fish.
I’ll kick on the Traeger & set it to smoke mode for this cook.
Since we are down south, where it’s warm..
I am going to set an ice tray on the bottom rack of the cold smoker to help keep our temperatures
as low as possible.
Once the smoke starts rolling through, i’ll go ahead & lay in the fillets.
Now these only need to smoke for about an hour and a half, and you’ll be surprised
how much smokey flavor you can get in that amount of time!
For cold smoking, you’ll want to keep the temperature from reaching any higher than
80 degrees.
If you find yourself needing to lower the temperature, there is a bottom vent on the
cold smoke chamber, this will allow more air to flow through…. lowering the temperature.
Alright..
The salmon is done smoking.
I’m really pleased with the amount of smoke this setup produced.
Let’s go ahead and pull these off.
Once off the grill, it’s important to wrap the fillets in plastic wrap to help seal in
that smoky flavor.
We’ll chill these in the fridge while we gather the ingredients for the salmon stacks.
For the cream cheese topping, we’ll mix in some poppy seeds….
Followed by a little lemon zest.
I like the contrast of color this adds to the dish.
Next up, slice some heirloom tomatoes.. and some avocado.
Once everything is gathered for the stacks, it’s time to slice this salmon!
For our stacks, i’ll slice about a quarter portion from the fillet & remove it from the
skin.
You’ll want to have a sharp knife on hand for this, because we will be slicing it thin.
Our curing process really helped preserve the fish & gave it some beautiful texture.
I’ll go ahead and slice this whole portion so I have plenty to build my stacks.
With a nice multigrain cracker being our base, i’ll layer the tomato, followed by a slice
of avocado…
I’m using two slices of salmon for evenness of our stack.
Then a small dollop of our poppy cream cheese mix..
For garnish we’ll add a few rosemary leaves.. and some citrus zest.
This dish is best served cold, so it’s a good idea to chill all of your ingredients
while the salmon smokes… this makes for a really refreshing appetizer or mid day snack.
Before serving this up..
I’ll add a touch of lime zest as well.
For as simple as this dish is, it sure is quite elegant when plated.
Let’s give this a try!
Really refreshing with those chilled ingredients and that lemon zest, and the smoky flavor
from the salmon really came through.
Thanks for watching today guys, and remember..
at BBQGuys.com, we smoke the competition.