MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.02

     Title: Smoking Salmon And Trout Part I - Caring for the Catch
Categories: Fish, Smoke, Info
     Yield: 1 text file

 Fish begins to spoil the minute you land it. Enzymes and bacteria go
 to work immediately especially in the slime, gills and intestines. To
 reduce spoilage and maintain flavor you must bleed, clean and cool
 fish quickly.

 ~1- Remove the slime and scale [if applicable] as soon as possible.
 ~2- Cut the throat and remove the gills. The intestines can wait a
   few hours. -3- Remove the intestines. Save the liver, roe and milt.
 Remove the
   kidney, that dark streak along the backbone by cutting away the
   covering membrane on either side of the kidney,  where it is
   attached to the flesh. Then scrape out the kidney. -4- The head may
 stay on but remove the head now if you have to save
   cooler space. Leave the lug bone, that bony plate behind the
   head if you are going to smoke the fish as the lug will support
   the handling cord. -5- Cool the fish to close to freezing with
 chipped ice. Make sure
   that there is a layer of ice between every layer of fish in the
   cooler.

 Careless handling can bruise fish. Use a net if possible; if gaffing,
 gaff the least valuable part- the stomach if possible. If using a
 fish club to kill quickly and prevent threshing, one sharp blow to
 the head is enough.

 Rigor Mortis: a dead fish will stiffen but in time will relax again
 unless it goes into accelerated rigor form being too warm. If you try
 to straighten out a fish in Rigor or the fish goes into heat induced
 Rigor, you will tear the flesh disturbing the appearance and allowing
 succulent juices to escape. Prevent Rigor damage with prompt cooling
 and filleting before or after the fish has passed through rigor but
 not during it.

 Cooling: Ice has a terrific ability to absorb heat when it melts as
 it took a tremendous amount of heat removal to freeze the water in
 the first place. 2 lb of ice melting will do the same job of cooling
 as 37 lb of block ice or extremely cold water. Chipped ice will melt
 faster and therefore chill fish quicker than block ice. Pack the
 belly cavity of cleaned fish and make sure there is a layer of ice
 between every layer of fish.

 To transport frozen fish you need dry ice or Eutectic ice, as melting
 ice would thaw frozen fish. Eutectic ice is a solution of 23% salt by
 weight and 77% water by weight, which freezes at 0 deg F. [-18 deg
 C.], in a break proof plastic container. You can buy these or make
 your own.

 Extracted from: Smoking Salmon & Trout by Jack Whelan. Published by:
 Airie Publishing, Deep Bay, B.C. ISBN: 0-919807-00-3 Posted by: Jim
 Weller

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