Found this on the internet. No problem may have to make it myself.
Made smoked smelt way back when. Have not been much of smelt runs since Mt. St, Helens blow its top.
I make this salmon jerky fairly often, and in fact am making some tomorrow. Some of it I will eat. Some of it will go into Christmas care packages for family and friends. There is a lot of variation that can go into a recipe like this. But below is how I make mine most often. I love jerky, and this is the perfect food for a long drive, hiking, or a day in the field (whatever that looks like for you). Or shoot, just a snack while working on the computer at work. I eat that way, too. I got this recipe from a friend at work, and modified slightly.
Servings:
Depends on how much you make. I usually work with between 2 to 4 fillets of salmon. I happen to live in a place with abundant salmon, so I can make as much as I want of this stuff. The recipe is scalable. The other key factor is how big your dehydrator is. I use a five tray Excaliber. It can be a little tough to figure out how much fish will fit on five trays after it's been cut up. So I usually end up filling only three to four trays. That ends up close to filling a gallon ziploc. I usually end up with 5 or 6 vacuum sealed bags per batch. If you brine more than will fit in your dehydrator, just store the remainder in the fridge and dry the rest in a second batch.
Time:
10 - 24+ hours. Most of this is brining and drying. It's probably a good hour of prep time if you have to slice up the salmon. That's what takes the longest. The ingredients take about 5 minutes to assemble.
Special Tools:
A dehydrator - I've read you can do this in an oven, but I have never tried it. If you have a smoker you can keep at a relatively low temperature that should work as well. But a dehydrator is meant for the job and works beautifully.
A Suitable vessel for brining - I use two 8x12 inch glass containers with sealable lids.
Ingredients:
2-4 salmon fillets (the amount can vary), doesn't really matter what kind. Use what you like or what you have. Unlike other salmon recipes, I have not noticed a large difference between species. I've used pink, red, silver and king. Side Note: If you're fortunate enough to catch your own salmon... my favorite meat to use is actually the scraps I cut off the salmon after I fillet it. There is always a thin piece of fish still left on the carcass between the spine and the dorsal side. Some people use a spoon to get this last bit off. I use a think fillet knife, or a cheap Victorinox knife to get it off. It takes a bit of time, but the meat is good and useful in many recipes (jerky, sashimi, throw it in an omlette - just be sure to freeze it for a few days before you eat it raw). This is a great way to salvage fish if you end up messing up the fillet when removing it from the fish. This meat is the perfect size and shape for jerky. It saves time in this recipe. I catch enough salmon that I save this up over the summer and then make two or three batches of jerky with it.
2/3 cup plus +1 Tablespoon soy sauce - I use the full sodium kind for this. 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
5 Tablespoons honey - you could probably substitute molasses, maple syrup, something sweet like that. More honey for brushing on later - optional, but nice if you like your jerky on the sweet side 1 Tablespoon ground pepper 1 Tablespoon dried onion
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon Sriracha - This was in my friend's original recipe. I leave it out. Not my thing. But feel free to get creative on these last few ingredients.
Sometimes I add a tablespoon of liquid smoke, but it's not necessary.
Method:
1. If you are using salmon you've caught yourself, I recommend freezing if for a few days first, to kill any parasites - just in case. If you buy salmon chances are it's already been frozen.
2. Cut up your salmon. If you have scraps as described above, this part is done. If not, here is what I have found works the best:
-First, get the skin off. This is hard to describe, but use the sharpest knife you can. Start a cut at one end of the fillet, between the meat and the skin, just a quarter to half an inch. It's okay to leave a little bit of meat here to grab with your hand. Next, I take the knife and press it sideways into the cutting board and hold it steady. Press down hard. I then grab the skin in my other hand and pull it towards the knife but moving it back and forth laterally as I do so. The knife stays still but the fish will move as if the knife is slicing along it's length. If you do it right, the skin will come off leaving the fillet intact. Sometimes I still need to do a little clean up. The skin will be super tough if it dries with the met.
-Next, slice the fish lengthwise (head to tail, or tail to head) on a bias, like you would lox. Tilt the knife at a steep angle, pressing straight down towards the cutting board. Slice the fish thin, no more than a quarter inch thick. You should end up with a lot of thin long slices. You can cut the fish any way you want, really, but I find this is the easiest for the next step. Just remember that the surface area to volume ratio of the pieces will greatly affect the drying process. You want a high surface area and a low volume. So - make them thin. Ideally, they will be very similar in thickness, but I find it difficult to achieve this.
-Next you need to get the fat off, unless you like a REALLY fishy taste. I find most people don't. And I'm not crazy about it either. The fat is a gray colored meat that is in a wedge shape next to the skin. If you sliced like I described in the last step, you will have some of the pieces with the thin gray strip of fat on one side. You can just cut that off easily. Not all the pieces will have fat on them, only the ones from the middle of the fillet. You can try to remove the fat before cutting the fish into pieces, but I have found that takes a lot longer and it's a lot harder and messier. These two steps are the longest and most labor intensive of the whole process.
3. Mix up all the other ingredients (I often end up doubling these and doing a little more fish at one time). The honey will clump on the bottom so be sure to stir it (tip: heat up the honey in the microwave to get it runny, it's easier to work with). You can do this ahead of time if you want. You can even do it a day or more before, if you're short on time.
4. Lay the fish pieces in a suitable pan or bowl, and pour the rest of the mixed ingredients over them. Be sure that the liquid coats all the pieces. Sometimes when I have a bunch of thin pieces of fish they stick together enough that the liquid doesn't run between them unless I manually separate them.
5. Brine the fish in the fridge for at least two hours. I usually let it sit overnight, but at least eight hours. I have gone as long as 48 hours and had no problems. Longer is better, but I think 8 is just fine. Sometimes I turn the trays over (since they are sealed) to mix it up a bit.
6. Remove the fish from the fridge, and pat it dry with paper towel. You're going to go through a lot of paper towel. Discard the brine.
7. Spray your drying trays with cooking spray. This REALLY helps in preventing the fish from sticking to the trays.
8. Spread the fish on the drying tray, making sure there is a gap between pieces. They can be as close together as you want just as long as they aren't touching.
9. Optional step: brush pieces with more honey, if you like your jerky sweeter - I do! (nuke the honey for 30 seconds and it makes the job easier - feel free to substitute other sweeteners). You can also sprinkle more pepper on if you like that.
10. I set my dehydrator between 145 and 155 degrees F, and dry it for 8 hours. Check it after 6 or so, to see if it's done. Thicker pieces take longer. When they come out the pieces will be warm and pliable (and extremely yummy). They will harden as they cool. I often start the dehydrator right before I go to bed, and it's ready in the morning. It will smell AWESOME! Prepare to wake up to mouth watering stomach growling goodness. You won't want to stop eating it.
11. I don't know how long this fish will last on the shelf. I usually vacuum seal mine and store it in the freezer. It will last for months that way and be yummy when you open it. If it's dried well it should last quite a while - days to weeks - on the shelf. But... do what you feel is safe. I don't really know. I keep open bags in the fridge. I do not hesitate to take it with me in the car or camping and eat it hours, or days later without refrigeration. This method calls for freezing, brining and essentially cooking, so it should be free of any nasty bugs for quite awhile. I do live in a cooler climate though, so it probably varies in warmer areas.
Since I am making this tomorrow I will try to take some photos and post them here.
Finally got to uploading some pics. This is how I remove the skin. You got to get the knife started between the skin and the meat. One you do, you can hold the knife flat against the cutting board, and the pull the skin with your other hand in a zig zag motion.
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It doesn't always work. Sometimes there is a little clean up. But see that lighter pink section in the middle of the filet? That's fat. Ideally you can get that off or it comes out really fishy tasting.
Next, cut the filet into strips. Unfortunately, I should have taken this photo from the other side. But you turn your knife on a diagonal, and press straight down while slicing. The goal is to get strips like you see in the background. A sharp knife is a must. My strips often end up in all kinds of different dimensions. Just make sure they are less than 1/4 inch thick.
Here is where you can easily remove that fat. The thin pink edge on some of the strips is the fat. Simply cut it off.
Here is my fish just before I poured my brine/marinade on it. The dish on the right is strips cut from filets. The dish on the left is scraps from when I cleaned the fish, already a good shape and size.
With the brine/marinade.
Now, unfortunately I forgot to take photos of the dehydration process. But honestly, that's the easy part. The picture above is the end result.
Voila. Some will be sent as Christmas gifts. Some will get eaten on my next long car ride.
I realized after I posted the recipe above that this thread was for smoked salmon jerky. I don't smoke mine. Sounds delicious. I meant to smoke some of this batch to try it out. I smoked some fish a few days after this... but forgot to include some of the jerky. Next time, I guess. If I can remember. It takes awhile to get this far and it's pretty good as is, so I'm content.
Thanks for all the information! This is great! I will need to bring this up for my next trip up to AK. I always bring jerky up for my guides every year. It is like currency at camp. It is always beef though, I would love to make some salmon jerky.
Red (or sockeye) and silver (coho) are what I use most often, because those are the two I catch most often. I prefer silvers for smoking and regular cooking, so I end up using reds a bit more often for jerky. I wouldn't hesitate to use any species I had on hand, though.
Upstate NY, by upstate I don't just mean 30 miles north of NYC ;-)
My current cookers include a Shirley Fabrication 24x36 patio model; Weber Performer with the Slow-n-Sear 2.0 & Drip & Griddle; Pit Boss Series 2 propane smoker & SnS Travel Kettle.
Straight Whiskey: I'm a bourbon guy. All time favorite Pappy Van Winkle 12 year. Standard go to Blantons
Blended Whiskey: James Oliver American Whiskey
I also enjoy an occasional cigar
I have never made salmon jerky, but I get excellent quality salmon via Sitka Salmon shares. I just got this link from them today if anyone is interested in checking them out. https://sitkasalmonshares.com/collec...b16e4e1a4a32a0.
Anyway back to the recipe, I picked up a Pt Boss propane smoker to, among other things, make jerky. I think I have to try smoking this recipe. If I do, I'll update the thread with my results.
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