Trent and I headed out to Williamstown Tuesday morning in search of snapper. Well, that's about as far as that story goes. We both came across a different school of good sized salmon - 40+cm. Boy they pull some good string!

Meandering between all of the red fever boats who were grasping at the slim chance of landing their first red after leaving lockdown we could stay on the shoal. I looked around at the dozens of boats who weren't giving them a second look as they continually checked their untouched baits.

While sat there, it got me thinking that it's a shame such a great sporting fish has such low table value and appreciation. Conversely, what would the stock levels of salmon be like if every Nonna's husband went fishing for salmon rather than snapper.

Surely this fish has its place on the table somewhere. If you are simply pan-frying or grilling fish then maybe salmon isn't your bag, but if you're cooking with strong flavours then is the structure/flavour of the fish imperative? I'm thinking, Indian, Arabic, northern African.

I then decided to make it my goal to try and make salmon "work" for my needs. First up is smoking - after all it's my latest home fad. Not to mention we fairly regularly purchase smoked trout for a selection of dishes like kedgeree, smoked fish pasta in creme friache sauce.
I forgot to picture the whole fish but we all know what salmon look like.

I brined the salmon overnight before patting dry in the morning and airdrying them on a rack in the fridge (uncovered all day). I then fired up the smoker and kept the temp below 150degF for the first hr before brushing with maple syrup and increasing the temp to 175F until it reached an internal temp of 130-140degF/54-60degC.

I cooled on a rack until room temperature before vac packing.

I used apple wood which a colleague kindly gave me after his winter pruning of his tree and mainly followed this recipe: https://honest-food.net/how-to-smoke-salmon-recipe/

Looks fabulous.

Fantastic!!!

Thanks for the great write up and pics.

What Smoker is that?

That looks so good Nath, made me hungry lol Yeah I like the look of your smoker too, saying that most people don't give salmon a look is so true, years ago I knew an older guy that would fish for parrot fish of the rocks down Cape shank way and his wife would smoke them in the electric frying pan, I don't know how they were smoked maybe just butter as smoke, but they did taste quite good.

I use lots of different herbs and spices for making different flavors to meat mainly Middle eastern and Asian flavors, although the Asian flavors are more in the broth. I love to experiment when cooking it adds more interest to a somewhat boring chore lol