question about smoking fish

[stout]

i'm wondering when i smoke smaller pieces of fish that cook fast anr shrimp
things i would only put in the smoker for an hour
should i put them in a cold smoker then start it like with other things or should i let the wood begin to smoke before i put the fish in?

 

[old sarge]

I did salmon in a cold smoker.  I have to admit at a low temp - 140 - I had a tough time getting the smoke going. Suggest you experiment unless some folks with a lot of fish experience come along with some tried and true methods.

 

[stout]

I did salmon in a cold smoker.  I have to admit at a low temp - 140 - I had a tough time getting the smoke going. Suggest you experiment unless some folks with a lot of fish experience come along with some tried and true methods.

thanks man
i'm sorry though i wasn't clear.. i didn't mean to cold smoke.. i just meant a shut off smoker vs one that has gotten up to heat ... say 225 . and started to produce smoke

 

[old sarge]

My mistake was in using whole chunks and a low temp.  Next try (when the family tires of pork and brisket) will be splitting the chunks into slivers.  The slivers should smoke more readily.  And if necessary, I will bump the temp to 165/170.  Trial and error.

 

[Pork Belly]

Chips is always they way to go on low temp smokes, also any time you want smoke to develop quickly.

 

[SconnieQ]

Use chips and it will be fine to start your fish in a cold smoker (without preheating).

 

[polarlys]

I tried cold smoking just yesterday with some salmon.  I used a coarse hardwood sawdust with the screen in the wood box.  At 140+ it did smoke a little but I was looking for lower temps and got it down to 120 +/- and at that low of a temp I got no smoke at all so had to use an external generator. 

Roger from NJ

 

[SconnieQ]

I tried cold smoking just yesterday with some salmon.  I used a coarse hardwood sawdust with the screen in the wood box.  At 140+ it did smoke a little but I was looking for lower temps and got it down to 120 +/- and at that low of a temp I got no smoke at all so had to use an external generator. 

Roger from NJ

Are you making cold-smoked salmon or hot-smoked salmon? Lox would be cold-smoked and is not cooked. If the salmon is "cooked", then it is hot-smoked salmon, and the process is actually a low-temp smoke (not a cold smoke).

For true cold smoking, you want to keep the box temp below 100 degrees, below 90 degrees even better. The smoker needs to be set to at least 150+ for the element to be on long enough to get smoke going. If you want to cold smoke using the element and chips in the smoke box, then you will need a cold smoke plate. Or you can cold smoke without using the element, and use an AMNTS or external smoke generator (which you already have) with ice frozen in 2 liter soda bottles.

If you are actually "cooking" the salmon (hot-smoked salmon), you are actually doing a low-temp smoke. You don't need the cold smoke plate. Try setting the temp to somewhere between 160 and 180 (so it will generate smoke). Probe the thickest piece of salmon and remove when it reaches 130-135. It won't take long. Probably an hour or less.

It also depends on whether you have a D model or not too. With the analog controller, I do a 15 minutes on at full blast, 45 minutes off process to control the temperature and smoke production for cold smoking. It is helpful if you could put your smoker model in your signature line so we know how to be more specific with advice.

 

[polarlys]

I usually do a cold smoke.  The colder the better but the weather often has something to say about this.  This most recent attempt was following directions to smoke at 130 deg.  I tried to set the temp to that but it was approaching 150 degrees before stabilizing and making smoke at that temp so I lowered it to 120 and it finally stabilized at
130 or so but no smoke at this temp so therefore the external generator.  Anyhow,  yes this was a low temp hot smoke.  Good fish but just not to my liking.  Next time I'll wait until a cool evening and try again.  I have some small pieces of salmon I caught in Alaska so I'm just playing around trying different methods.

I'm a newbe here and just got my 3d last week. 

 

[SconnieQ]

I usually do a cold smoke.  The colder the better but the weather often has something to say about this.  This most recent attempt was following directions to smoke at 130 deg.  I tried to set the temp to that but it was approaching 150 degrees before stabilizing and making smoke at that temp so I lowered it to 120 and it finally stabilized at
130 or so but no smoke at this temp so therefore the external generator.  Anyhow,  yes this was a low temp hot smoke.  Good fish but just not to my liking.  Next time I'll wait until a cool evening and try again.  I have some small pieces of salmon I caught in Alaska so I'm just playing around trying different methods.

I'm a newbe here and just got my 3d last week.

I'm not totally clear on what you are going for. A raw texture like lox? Or a cooked, but moist texture where the fish flakes? Both are pretty different processes. Maybe somewhere in between? Are you curing the salmon in salt/sugar? If so for how long? Are you allowing it to dry after the cure? If you are going for the cooked/flaked texture, sometimes the difference between firm/dry and moist/soft is a matter of minutes. So a temperature probe in the meat is your best friend. Texture will be defined by the salmon's internal temperature.

 

[polarlys]

Yes.  The two processes are apples vs. oranges.    My preference is the raw texture and thin slices.  The other day I was trying a lightly cooked process as an experiment following directions from another person.  Like I mentioned it came out tasty and good and I knew it would be a different texture.  I cure with kosher salt / brown sugar at about a 60/40 mix.  My old method was an overnight cure.  This attempt was a small piece of fish so I went with a 3-4 hour cure.  Finished saltiness was good.  As the weather cools I'll wait and try and do another one on a cooler evening and see. 

ThanX all.  I appreciate the discussion and input.