Smoked salmon... the adventure continues

Hi Chrissy and welcome from DFW Texas area!
I've never tried this but without a seafood rack or frog mat you could try parchment paper for baking.  Most grocery stores carry that.  My wife bakes with that at 300 degrees so that or spraying the rack with "Pam" or as we use olive oil spray helps too.  You will learn a lot from this group, I sure have and I've had my smoker less than 2 months, a wealth of information here on this forum!  Have fun with the salmon, it'll be yummy good!!

I found this quote on SmokinKings forum about parchment paper:

"I use parchment paper all the time when I smoke meatloaf and I've used it with skinned fillets of fish too.
The smoke goes right through the parchment so I get the same smoke ring on the bottom as top and sides, and the paper comes off cleanly when you are done. I think it could be a good answer for you."

And Chrissy, if you do use parchment paper for the salmon smoke, be sure and post your results here, it would be good information to have ;-)

Carl
 
Success!  :D I didn't see this reply in time to try the parchment (I wish I had. I'm a pastry chef, so I have tons of parchment paper!), but the Pam spray worked perfectly! I still intend to buy some of the frog mats because the salmon did try to fall through the rack in a few places. I used 2.5 oz of the Hickory because the rest of my wood hasn't arrived yet, but I just couldn't wait! This is just delightful. I couldn't be more pleased with my first attempt. Thanks for your help, guys! I'm already planning my next smoke!
 

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CBAngel106 said:
Success!  :D I didn't see this reply in time to try the parchment (I wish I had. I'm a pastry chef, so I have tons of parchment paper!), but the Pam spray worked perfectly! I still intend to buy some of the frog mats because the salmon did try to fall through the rack in a few places. I used 2.5 oz of the Hickory because the rest of my wood hasn't arrived yet, but I just couldn't wait! This is just delightful. I couldn't be more pleased with my first attempt. Thanks for your help, guys! I'm already planning my next smoke!
Click to expand...

That looks really good. How did it taste with the hickory? Unless I'm mistaken, it looks like it is sitting on a Smokin-it seafood rack in the "before" shot. Is that right? If it is, you won't need the frogmat unless you you keep on using salmon without the skin. Meanwhile, enjoy that fine looking fish!
 
The Hickory tasted great! I'm looking forward to trying maple next. In the before shot, the salmon is on a rack I use for glazing cakes and cooling cookies. I didn't even think to leave it on that in the smoker; I transferred it to the racks that came with the Little Guy. My aunts and uncles all got deliveries of fresh-smoked salmon and I'm pretty sure they're as happy with my new present as I am! This is so fun!  I'm so glad to be a part of this family. :D
 
CBAngel106 said:
The Hickory tasted great! I'm looking forward to trying maple next. In the before shot, the salmon is on a rack I use for glazing cakes and cooling cookies. I didn't even think to leave it on that in the smoker; I transferred it to the racks that came with the Little Guy. My aunts and uncles all got deliveries of fresh-smoked salmon and I'm pretty sure they're as happy with my new present as I am! This is so fun!  I'm so glad to be a part of this family. :D
Click to expand...

That's great, Chrissy. BTW, I probably wouldn't use that rack in the smoker if you're using it for baking. You're in for a treat when you use maple. It's my favorite so far for salmon.
 
Salmon is still on my to-do list, but I can vouch for the Qmatz.  I used them for extruded jerky and about halfway through I not only rotated the racks (front to back and top to bottom) but also flipped the jerky.  There was no sticking at all either halfway through or when it was complete, my tongs actually shoved all the jerky on a shelf over to the side before they'd get under it.
 
That's good to know Steven. I've been thinking about trying a smoke with skinless salmon one of these days and was concerned that it might stick to my seafood rack. Do you spray the Qmatz before using them or just use them without anything else to provide release.
 
For the jerky, I just squeezed the strips directly onto the mats with no prep.  There's less fat in salmon, of course, but I don't believe you would have any sticking at all with bare mats.  If you're nervous about it, a quick wipe with an oiled paper towel or spray of Pam will make doubly sure that you don't get any sticking
 
I'm not a salmon smoker, Steven, but I'd be surprised if it sticks to Q-Matz.  I love 'em, and I don't know that anything would really "stick" to them.
 
Thanks, Steven and Tony. Q-Matz are on order. Now I can buy salmon at Costco (they only sell skinless salmon at the one I go to).
 
The Q-Matz arrived just in time. I had 3 pieces of salmon totaling a little over 3 lbs for today's smoke, and it was too much for one rack. So I cut a 12" x 12" pice of Q-Matz and used one of the regular racks on the rail right below. 2.75 oz of alder and a 1 hr 50 min smoke at 180 degrees. I'm eating some now as I write this... fantastic!

Absolutely no sticking to the Q-Matz (even less than the seafood rack) and it cleaned up really easily. I like them... a lot!
 
Here's an eBay item I purchased, I get 2 mats out of this for my 3D when I cut them, may be less expensive than getting them through the Q Matz website.

eBay item # 252128717533
 
kz0m said:
Here's an eBay item I purchased, I get 2 mats out of this for my 3D when I cut them, may be less expensive than getting them through the Q Matz website.

eBay item # 252128717533
Click to expand...

The 24" wide Q-Matz work out better for the #1, since it can only take a 12"x12" mat. BTW, that's one of the worst looking pizzas I've ever seen in that Ebay listing  :o
 
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