Tag: Smokers
Smoked Salmon Candy
Smoked Salmon Candy
When I used to run a meat and seafood department, we would make our own salmon candy and sell a ton of it. We brined salmon bellies in a simple salt and sugar mix. The bellies would then get smoked and brushed with maple syrup during the process. This stuff was so damn good. We could barely keep it in stock. So now that I own a smoker, I thought that I’d recreate the recipe and save you about $15/lb.I had purchased 2 large sides of farm raised salmon for smoking. I cut off the whole bellies for the candy. You can use salmon portions if you want. I also used the first couple of inches on the head side of the fillet and chopped them up into nuggets. They brined for 4 hours. Pat them dry with paper towels, then rub them with brown sugar. Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees, then turn it down to 225 degrees. Smoke the salmon for an hour. At that point, brush on maple syrup and smoke for 30 more minutes. Let cool before eating. The salmon candy is good for up to a week in the refrigerator. But I guarantee to you that it won’t make it for more than a day or two.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
Ingredients
- salmon bellies
Brine
- 1/2 gallon water
- 1/2 cup sea salt
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
Glaze
- brown sugar
- maple syrup
Wood Chips
- alderwood chips
Instructions
- Mix together the brining ingredients.
- Brine the salmon bellies for 4 hours.
- Place the bellies on a rack. Pat dry with paper towels. Let cool at room temp for an hour before smoking.
- Rub the bellies with brown sugar.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Turn down the smoker to 225 degrees. Smoke the salmon for an hour.
- Brush maple syrup on the bellies. Smoke for 30 more minutes.
Smoked Boneless Ham
Smoked Boneless Ham
Brining and smoking hams is fairly easy if you have the patience. You get to control what goes into the ham without them being overly processed. It will cost you a fraction of the price while delivering better results than any store bought ham you can find. The brine for the hams is straight forward. 1/2 gallon of water with 1/2 cup of sea salt, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 1 1/2 tbsp of pink curing salts, plus a few other seasonings. The brine is enough for 2 sirloins. The pink curing salts are very necessary in the ham making process. Without them, you will have a smoked pork sirloin and not ham. A good rule for curing hams: cure the pork 1 day per pound to ensure that the meat is penetrated by the brine all the way through.As far as what cut of pork to use; ham is always made from the leg. Pork sirloin is your best option if you’re looking to make small boneless hams that aren’t spiral cut. You can find pork sirloins at just about every grocery store for $3/lbs or less. They all average around 3lbs for a whole one. You can definitely buy a pork leg and bone it out, but that will require a lot more work. The pork sirloins I cured brined for 3 days. Place them on a rack in the refrigerator to dry out for 1 day. Plain, basic hams can really be smoked with any type of wood; depending on the flavor that you are looking for. I smoked my hams with maple and applewood. You will need to preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Smoke the pork sirloins for 2 hours, maintaining a smoking temp between 225-250 degrees. At the 2 hour point, take the temp of the hams with a probe thermometer. Continue to smoke the hams until they reach an internal temperature of 150 degrees. Mine took an additional 30 minutes. Let them rest for a day before slicing.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- whole pork sirloins
Brine
- 1/2 gallon water
- 1/2 cup sea salt
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp pink curing salt
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 tbsp thyme
- 5 bay leaves
Wood Chips
- maple wood chips
- applewood chips
Instructions
- Mix all of the brining ingredients together. Place the pork sirloins in a gallon sized storage bags along with all of the brine. Brine the pork for 1 day per pound. These sirloins were 3lbs each.
- Let the pork dry out on a rack in the refrigerator for a day. Let rest for an hour at room temp before smoking.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Place your sirloins in the smoker.
- Smoke the pork for 2 hours. At the 2 hour mark, take the internal temperature with a probe thermometer. You want the internal temp to read 150 degrees. Both of my sirloins took an additional 30 minutes to smoke.
- Let the hams cool completely before slicing.
Smoked Duck Heart and Pork Belly Skewers
Smoked Duck Heart and Pork Belly Skewers
This was a great idea my high ass though of when I wanted to start clearing out the freezer. I had some duck hearts and a little pork belly left. Why not skewer them together and smoke it. Place 4 pieces of duck heart and pork belly on a bamboo skewer, alternating between the two. Season with sea salt and cracked black pepper. They only took 90 minutes in a preheated 250 degree smoker. I’m telling you: if you think duck hearts sound gross, you couldn’t be more wrong. They are so tender and not organy tasting. I really think that they are one of the better organ meats that everyone should try.
Equipment
- Electric Smoker
- bamboo skewers
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb duck hearts
- 1/4 lb pork belly sliced thinly; cut into 2” pieces
- cracked black pepper
- sea salt
Wood Chips
- mesquite wood chips
- peach wood chips
Instructions
- Skewer up the duck hearts and pork belly slices, placing 4 of each on each skewer. Season with sea salt and cracked black pepper.
- Place in a 250 degree preheated smoker. Smoke for 90 minutes.
