Our Sunday nite group loved the brisket tonight but next week they have ordered salmon. I expect my new SV machine on Wednesday. My wife likes her salmon steamed in tin foil. I like it seared. I'm wondering if maybe doing it SV is a compromise that would work. Serious eats has a recipe with Holandaise sauce that looks good.
I don't like sous vide for salmon. Even if I sear it afterwards. For me unnecessary. The only fish I might sous vide is some large tough catfish fillets.
And I prefer grilled salmon over smoked and I prefer the skin on rather than off. I don't eat the skin but it helps preserve that moistness.
I SV'd salmon once. Cooked it perfectly. Too perfectly because it flaked when I took it out of the bag. I couldn't sear it at all. I don't SV salmon anymore.
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
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Location: Farwell, Michigan- near Clare. (dead center of lower peninsula)
Occupation:
Healthcare- Licensed & Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) at MyMichigan Health, a University of Michigan Health System.
I hear you Jerod, I like grilled as well. I'd like to find something that my wife likes too. I was thinking if I SV it, she can have it right out of the SV. I'll sear it quickly for myself and my daughter just to get a crust. Was it decent when you seared after SV or was it too moist?
ecowper I've done 3, all from SRF's and I could not slice the indirect and reversed seared tips thin enough. With sous vide I can cut a mouthful and go to town. Cover that bad boy with sauteed onions and mushrooms. Yeehaw!!!
I know this is about salmon but ecowper - I almost typed the same thing to Jerod Broussard earlier this week about smoked tri-tip. He has to make a trip out west. I think we can make a convert out of him. Mine is not Santa Maria style so we can give him a variety of goodnesses!
Cookers:
Memphis Advantage w. Searing insert option
Bradley 6-rack digital
Thermal bath for sous vide, pressure cooker, etc.
Time & Temp:
iGrill2 & iGrill wireless thermometers used with iPhone 5
Drawer full of various Maverick models
BBQ Interests:
Love smoking ribs, pulled pork, salmon, sablefish, rib roasts, sausages, lox, beef ribs, and brisket when I can -- strictly for friends, fun, etc.
You can actually mix & match, like with steaks. For King Salmon I really like a mustard-dill rub then sous vide to whatever internal temp you like (depends on how cooked you want it). But then you can also do a quick sear on it. Or of course you could use a more simple oil, then salt & pepper, sous vide, sear, and top with a sauce. Thinner species like Sockeye (Red) I tend to cook more traditionally (usually on my pellet cooker). Lots of options.
Saw you comment after my last post. I had to google King Salmon. I think we call it Chinook Salmon up here. I never thought of looking at species and thickness. Thank you for the insight. Just checked and the local fish store has chinook as well as coho, sockeye and atlantic.
Hugh King and Chinook are not the same thing. Coho, Sockeye, Chinook, King are all different species of salmon. Atlantic is almost guaranteed to be farm raised off of Norway and you should really avoid it at all costs.
Response is over whelming! No SV for salmon, stick to seared. scottranda - I never thought of that, cooked the way she likes it, me searing it isn't going to happen. I'll tell her I got the recipe from a fancy french restaurant (not my BBQ site)!
Grill/Smoke/Roast = SnS Grills Kettle + SnS Deluxe Insert & Drip n' Griddle
Grill/Smoke/Roast = Hasty-Bake Gourmet Dual Finish with HB rotisserie and Grill Grates
Smoke = Weber Smokey Mountain 22.5"
Pizza = Blackstone Propane Pizza Oven (Stacy's, but she let's me use it sometimes)
Indoor Cooking = LG Studio 30" gas range
Camp Cooking = Coleman 2 burner white gas stove
Thermometer = FireBoard FBX2 with 2 ambient and 6 meat probes
Thermapen Mk IV = Light blue
Thermapen Mk IV = Black
PID Controller = Fireboard Drive + Auber 20 CFM Fan (FB gen 1 fan)
PID Controller = Fireboard Drive + Fireboard 20 CFM Fan (FB gen 2 fan)
Knives
Wusthof Classic Ikon set: 9" carving knive, 2X 8" Chef's Knife, 7" Santoku and three utility knives
Kamikoto Kuro set: 7" Santoku, 6.5" Nakiri, 5" Utility
Amazing Ribs Brazilian Steak knife set
Favorite wine = whatever is currently in the wine rack
Favorite beer = Sam Adams Boston Lager or Shiner Bock
Favorite whisky = Lagavulin Distiller's Edition 16 year old single malt
Best Cookbooks - Meathead's "The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling", Chris Lilly's "Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book", Aaron Franklin's "Franklin BBQ"
Cookbooks to check out - Raichlen's "Brisket Chronicles" and anything by Adam Perry Lang.
Current fanboy cookbook - "Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around the Levant"
So ... I'm from the Pacific Northwest, for what that is worth. I cook salmon all the time. Mostly on the grill. My two preferred approaches do not involve sous vide or searing :-)
1. Take a whole side of sockeye or king, skin/fat still on. Season with preferred rub (I have a good rub based on Moroccan flavors that my family likes) .... cook indirect, skin side down to medium'ish ... then flip to meat side over direct heat for 2-3 minutes ....long enough for grill marks and bring the meat temp to medium well. Pull and serve
2. A whole sockey or silver ... crust it heavily in a kosher salt rub .... mix the kosher salt with a bit of oil to bind it, then layer on the fish until about 1/8 inch thick. Cook on the grill on indirect heat until it probes to medium .... pull and allow it to rest for about 10 minutes. It will continue to cook in the salt and reach medium well.
Finally, you can do a wood plank approach, like the northwest Indian tribes do. Not something I've tried yet.
Grill/Smoke/Roast = SnS Grills Kettle + SnS Deluxe Insert & Drip n' Griddle
Grill/Smoke/Roast = Hasty-Bake Gourmet Dual Finish with HB rotisserie and Grill Grates
Smoke = Weber Smokey Mountain 22.5"
Pizza = Blackstone Propane Pizza Oven (Stacy's, but she let's me use it sometimes)
Indoor Cooking = LG Studio 30" gas range
Camp Cooking = Coleman 2 burner white gas stove
Thermometer = FireBoard FBX2 with 2 ambient and 6 meat probes
Thermapen Mk IV = Light blue
Thermapen Mk IV = Black
PID Controller = Fireboard Drive + Auber 20 CFM Fan (FB gen 1 fan)
PID Controller = Fireboard Drive + Fireboard 20 CFM Fan (FB gen 2 fan)
Knives
Wusthof Classic Ikon set: 9" carving knive, 2X 8" Chef's Knife, 7" Santoku and three utility knives
Kamikoto Kuro set: 7" Santoku, 6.5" Nakiri, 5" Utility
Amazing Ribs Brazilian Steak knife set
Favorite wine = whatever is currently in the wine rack
Favorite beer = Sam Adams Boston Lager or Shiner Bock
Favorite whisky = Lagavulin Distiller's Edition 16 year old single malt
Best Cookbooks - Meathead's "The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling", Chris Lilly's "Big Bob Gibson's BBQ Book", Aaron Franklin's "Franklin BBQ"
Cookbooks to check out - Raichlen's "Brisket Chronicles" and anything by Adam Perry Lang.
Current fanboy cookbook - "Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around the Levant"
Sooooo many choices. I know I like Jerod's and ecowper's techniques. Having said that.....I really like the idea of introducing the SV purchase as 'NOT another BBQ toy', its for cooking fish and vegetables and such don't you know..'.
Added bonus, I just have to play with the darn thing, so I have to experiment with David's suggestion.
So I think I'm going to buy a big hunk of King and cook it up all four ways and see what the crowd likes. Too much fun.
My toys:
Weber Summit Charcoal Grilling Center (WSCGC) aka Mr. Fancypants
Pit Barrel Cooker (which rocks), named Pretty Baby
Weber Summit S650 Gas Grill, named Hot 'n Fast (used mostly for searing and griddling)
Weber Kettle Premium 22" named Kettle Kid, eager to horn in with more cooks in the future
Camp Chef Somerset IV 4-burner outdoor gas range named AfterBurner due to its 30kBTU burners
Adrenaline BBQ Company Gear:
SnS Low Profile, DnG, and Large Charcoal Basket, for WSCGC
SnS Deluxe for 22" Kettle
Elevated SS Rack for WSCGC
SS Rack for DnG
Cast Iron Griddle
Grill Grate for SnS
Grill Grates: five 17.375 sections (retired to storage)
Grill Grates: six 19.25 panels for exact fit for Summit S650
gasser
Grill Grates for 22" Kettle
2 Grill Grate Griddles
Steelmade Griddle for Summit gas grill
Fireboard Gear:
Extreme BBQ Thermometer Package
Additional control unit
Additional probes: Competition Probes 1" (3) and 4" (1), 3 additional Ambient Probes. 1 additional Food Probe
2 Driver Cables
Pit Viper Fan (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Pit Viper Fan new design (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Thermoworks Gear:
Thermapen MK4 (pink)
Thermapen Classic (pink too)
Thermoworks MK4 orange
Temp Test 2 Smart Thermometer
Extra Big and Loud Timer
Timestick Trio
Maverick ET 73 a little workhorse with limited range
Maverick ET 733
Maverick (Ivation) ET 732
Grill Pinz
Vortex (two of them)
18" drip pan for WSCGC
Ceramic Spacers for WSCGC in Kamado Mode: 2 sets each 1/2", 1", 2". The 2" spacers work best with the 18" drip pan. The 1+1/2 inch spacers work best with the 14 inch cake pan.
Two Joule Sous Vide devices
3 Lipavi Sous Vide Tubs with Lids: 12, 18 and 26 quarts
Avid Armor Ultra Pro V32 Chamber Sealer
Instant Pot 6 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot 10 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Charcoal Companion TurboQue
A-Maze-N tube 12 inch tube smoker accessory for use with pellets
BBQ Dragon and Dragon Chimney
Shun Classic Series:
8" Chef Knife
6" Chef's Knife
Gokujo Boning and Fillet Knife
3 1/2 inch Paring Knife
I sous vide salmon all the time with my Joule. I follow Chef Steps' method: 122 degrees for 1 hour for 1.5 inch thick piece of salmon; 40 minutes for 1 inch piece of salmon. Then I either sear it in a skillet in brown butter or, for a change of pace I coat it with dijon mustard, cover with buttered lemon pepper panko and broil for a few minutes. Yummy yum yum says my fish-loving husband.
I handle it gently taking it out of the sous vide bag and it's always firm and flaky.
My darling wife likes her fish well done (along with everything else). If I take it to 130 and serve directly, will that be well done or do I need to go higher?
Have done a lot of SV salmon for wife, done low and then seared one side on the grill. Gently out of the bag, good candidate for Sans Vide processing (put it in a ziplock, don't seal the bag, keep the mouth of the bag out of the water), also a good candidate for cooking with a bit of oil or butter, to reduce adhesion to the bag.
Salmon can have a lot of albumin expelled by SV, which can lead to white junk on the salmon. Easily removed with paper towel, always gently.
Could always do "slow roasted" salmon (from Hubert Keller). Salt and pepper, baste with butter and in 250F oven for 15 min. It is done, almost poached but better. You could then sear yours quickly if you really must. It is awesome with a dill cream sauce!
I like SV salmon but not as much as my foil on the BBQ salmon. My daughter LOVES the SV salmon. She finds that the leftovers are much more versatile. After firming up in the fridge after day 1, she fries it in a pan and mixes with egg. While still slightly soft out of the SV she takes some aside for sandwiches and dips.
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