The Yuletide malt cold smoked salmon.

 

Now this is the finished article and I can tell you that if you could smell it you would want some! It is absolutely delicious, easy to make and less expensive than buying it at the supermarket. I like to imagine it was designed by a Scot to go with malt whisky because it so does! I am thinking of an old friend and colleague from Glasgow whilst I'm writing and if he is reading this - " a Merry Christmas mate and please get in touch it would be good to talk"

Now, as an old architect, how do I know how to cold  smoke salmon and why is it 'cold' smoked. Let me tell you more.

"Once upon a time in the olden days I worked with a 'trout fishing' quantity surveyor named Derek. He very kindly gave me a set of instructions for constructing a 'cold smoker' which included the method for curing and smoking the fish. Derek has sadly gone to the celestial  ' masonic trout lake in the sky' but every time I smoke salmon I think of him. I believe one of the best bits of Christmas is the way that activities you do and the things that you make, remind you of times and people from long ago. When Toot mixes the Christmas cake, we use Grandma Lucy's mixing bowl and once again she is there in the kitchen with us.

So nostalgia aside,  lets deal with hot and cold smoking. It is not rocket science! - which is much more difficult and may involve overlooking the humanitarian crimes of a technically experienced Nazi - a practice difficult for most, other than politicians and other sociopaths! 

 For cold smoking the fish must not exceed 30 degrees centigrade during the whole process. - Simples! 

Remember, before we cold smoke the salmon, we have to cure it.  The smoking process does help to preserve the fish but in this area, and much like the Saturn V rocket, it is the curing that does 'the heavy lifting'.

You might be wondering - what quality of salmon makes the best cold smoked salmon? Many American Internet sites will tell you that previously frozen salmon works fine. I have tried this and it can be used but I think it is texturally wrong, however, you don't need to spend a fortune on fresh wild salmon pulled from a Scottish Loch by Rob Roy. Chilled farmed salmon - descaled, skin on fillets - make brilliant cold smoked salmon and are what I use all the time.

"Now Christmas being Christmas and all Mr. Scrooge", best not to be parsimonious and for the 'Yuletide smoked salmon' I would recommend that, prior to the curing process, you place the fish in a bowl and pour a small glass of malt whisky over it. Leave the fish to marinade for about 30 minutes. If you leave it for longer than half an hour, you risk the the salmon becoming 'pissed' and if sufficiently fresh, dancing out of the bowl and into a brief relationship with the family cat. (See 'give the cat another goldfish')  

A word of warning once the  salmon has been removed from the whisky, resist the temptation to drink the marinade. - Its real fishy!

And so to Stage One -'The Cure' - what does the curing process involve?

Two salmon fillets after 6 hours in the cure mix

• Select a glass or ceramic dish which you will use for the cure. DO NOT USE A METAL DISH AS THIS MAY REACT WITH THE SALT IN THE CURE.
• Mix, in equal measure, salt and brown sugar -. you need enough of this mixture to cover the bottom of the curing dish and also to cover the salmon fillet.
• Add herbs to taste. I use fennel seeds and some chopped fresh fennel leaves.
• Grate the zest from a lemon and add about two full teaspoons  to the cure mixture.
• I usually add a couple twists of cracked black pepper.
• Cover the dish with cling film or something more environmentally sustainable and place in the refrigerator for six hours -  (don't use a goat because, although they are environmentally friendly, they cannot be relied upon to resist the temptation of eating the contents of your fridge or, come to that matter, its operational components).
• The salt and sugar cure mix removes water from the fish so after six hours there will be some liquid, pour this liquid off, reseal the dish and replace in the refrigerator for a further six hours.

Stage Two - 'Washing and Drying' - this stage washes out salt and firms the fish flesh.

The salt and sugar crust being washed from the salmon under running water

• Remove the fish from the refrigerator and the cure mixture.
• Dispense with the cure solution.
• Wash both sides of the fish fillet under running water - in total for at least an hour. The longer you wash it for, the less salty the salmon will taste. The thicker the fillet the longer the wash required. The fish is cured so you can cut a small piece away to eat and test. Remember, if you take your sample from the thinner end of the fish, it will taste less salty than a sample from the thicker end.
• After washing, pat dry with kitchen towel, place on a mesh rack and leave in a dry cool place and dry over night (12 hours).

Stage Three - 'Cold smoking' - this stage adds the lovely smoky flavour. 

Charging the home-made dust holder with a mix of apple-wood and oak dust

Putting the salmon fillets into the smoke chamber

Applying a combustion source to the dust in the smoker fire box

• Source your hardwood dust. I use a mixture of apple wood and oak dust. I buy the apple-wood dust off the internet and my son Andy, being a carpenter, gives me the oak dust. I combine them 50-50 and add a little brown sugar to the mix.
• How you proceed from now depends upon the smoker you have available and on how smoky you like your salmon.
• All your smoker has to do is to enable the dust to burn without flame, enable the smoke from it to remain in contact with the fish and to prevent the temperature of the fish rising above 30 degrees centigrade. Anything extra offered by the smoker may be dismissed as 'fancy-dannery' or 'show-boating'
• I smoke my salmon for about two hours - which does for me rough as I am - "stick another fish up the pipe number one"!
• After smoking, the salmon needs to rest on a rack in a cool space over night (12 hours).
• The fish is now ready to eat. It will keep in a refrigerator for up to 5 days and freezes spectacularly well.
• A good sharp long thin bladed knife is a useful acquisition for creating wafer thin slicers just before you eat.

'Chill' whilst the smoke does its magic - a glass of wine helps the time pass

I hope you decide to give smoking salmon  a try. It is good fun and at the very least will create a strong bond between you and the family cat. Merry Christmas apprentice smokers!