And So It Begins...

[fish brain]

I want to smoke my own loins next year, have you posted your technique in the past? If not can you share it?

 

[IronNoggin]

I want to smoke my own loins next year, have you posted your technique in the past? If not can you share it?

It's been posted here before, but it doesn't hurt to do so again methinks:

Cold Smoked Tuna

Slowly thaw the desired amount of whole tuna loins. Once thawed, make up a DRY Brine of 4 parts Demerara Sugar to 3 parts non-iodine (coarse or pickling) Salt. Put enough of this in a plastic container to cover the bottom of it:

Place the tuna loins on top of that. And cover well with the balance of the brine mix.

Now let sit for at least 24 hours in the fridge (If you don't have room in your fridge, keep cool by whatever means). After that period the tuna will have "leaked" a fair amount of juice (moisture) and the brine will pretty much dissolve.

At this point the tuna will have darkened substantially in response to the dry brining process.

It is not necessary to rinse the loins, as they now go onto the next stage - the Wet Brine process. Yes, that is correct, two brines as apposed to a single one that we are all most familiar with. I chose to go this route due to the advice of some VERY serious lox producers who insisted this was the "preferred" method to ensure a great quality product.

Run enough cold water into your tub to cover the tuna. Add in a LOT of salt (in this case a little better than half a bag went into the brine). You want a "super saturated" solution, meaning that the brine can absorb no further salt, and there is salt settled out on the bottom of the container. Then add the tuna loins. Let sit in the fridge or a cool place for another 24 hour minimum period. Following that the loins will lighten considerably:

Remove from the brine, and prepare for the next step

This next step is CRITICAL and very finicky!

This is termed "Freshening" in which the salt is slowly removed from the tuna.
Place the loins in another container and run cold water into that, allowing the water to run over the sides carrying away the salt with it:

You MUST keep a VERY sharp eye on this process! If you don't allow sufficient time for the desalination to occur, the tuna will be overly salty, and no-one will want to consume it! On the other hand should you leave the loins in for too long, they will turn into a wet soggy mess and be ruined - non-recoverable error!

The Glaze is a mix of full bodied Rum, maple syrup and brown (Demerara again) sugar. I used quite a large amount of rum, as I like the taste it instills. For this run the ratios were 3 Parts Rum to 1 part Maple Syrup. Then I added in 1/2 bag of the sugar. The sugar will settle out, so to combat that and mix it well, heat (GENTLY) just until the sugar dissolves. DO NOT OVERHEAT!

Check the tuna over the freshening period. What you want to see is the ability to slice the loin VERY thinly, and no salt taste.

WELL oil one of your smoking grills, and place the tuna loins on that. It is best to ensure air flow both above and below the surface to the grill. You can now apply the glaze either by brushing on, or as I did with a squirter bottle:

This is a somewhat messy process, so make sure you cover the surrounding area with some type of protection. The glaze is very sticky!

Set up a fan so the air rushes over all sides of the lions:

Over the course of the next several hours the tuna will absorb the glaze. Add more glaze as it does so, keeping the surface of the loins moist. The drying process will vary, in this case they ran under the fan (with a lot of glaze sprayed on continuously) for 8 hours. At the end of that time allow a "patina" to form with the glaze. You must stop adding the glaze to induce this, and it will likely take an hour or two before it dries enough to form the patina:

The final step of course is the actual smoking. Regardless of how you do it, the internal temperature of your smoker should NEVER reach more than 70 degrees F - and cooler is indeed better.

Again, the temperature is CRITICAL! Do not overheat the loins, or they will dry out and be ruined!

COLD Smoke Generator is best.
Only run a few hours even with that set-up, all you want to do is infuse a little flavor.
For that process I used apple / alder (50 / 50) mix.

Here's the step by step with pictures on HuntBC. That recipe has a minor variation with the wet brine.

Cold Smoking Tuna

Bit of a lengthy and picky process, but the end result is well worth the effort IMHO! Partially thaw said Tuna: - it is easier to loin when it is still fairly stiff deep inside: https://i.imgur.com/K5GfegE.jpg Rip the hide, and yes, Rum Required for this entire...

www.huntingbc.ca

Cheers,
Nog

 

[donnie d]

This is awesome

 

[IronNoggin]

After 24 hours the dry brine has well penetrated the loins, and largely turned into liquid:

The loins themselves have darkened considerably in this process:

The next step is the Wet Brine process. You need to create a super saturated salt brine for this. Easiest way to determine that you have reached that is to drop a raw egg into the brine. If it floats, you are good to go. If not, stir in another 1/2 cup of coarse salt and try again:

Then toss in the loins - note there is no need to rinse them from the previous brine:

In the past this is the wet brine we've used with success. Never did add anything else as I always thought that any other additives would be washed away in the upcoming desalination process. but, after a few good reports from buddies, I am trying a modified wet brine with a small amount of product this time. This brine includes both maple syrup and demerara sugar:

It will be interesting to taste test the two types and see if this makes any real difference in the long run.

The four totes now sit over night. Good thing our overnight temperatures are hovering between zero and two degrees!

Checked them this morning, and they will be ready for the desalination process and racking later this afternoon.

And on it goes...
Nog

 

[Strait shooter]

While that first run of Candy was smoking, I set to getting the next batch ready:

Takes hours to do, but by the end of that shift Round Two managed a successful splash down:

No sooner finished that when the run in the smoker suggested it was time. So out of the big box and on top of a house freezer overnight:

You can sort of see that they indeed are translucent and very much like the Gummy Bear product they got their name from.

A better boo:

Both The Lady & I concur - another super fine product!

Makes it all worth the effort!

Today is bag and tag day, then prep the screens for their next go.

Be nice to have a day "off" tomorrow!!

Cheers,
Nog

Looks

Wrapped up the smoking of this lot yesterday. Sat overnight on the house freezers to do their thing:

Vacuum sealing took around 4 hours this go. Bit of effort, but worth it IMHO:

Another whole tote full of Yummyness now sits overnight before jumping into the cold box:

And that's a wrap for salmon. Taking a day or two off, then onto a massive double run of Cold Smoked Tuna...

And on it goes...
Nog

Looks yummy. How long in the smoker for these?

 

[IronNoggin]

Looks

Looks yummy. How long in the smoker for these?

Candy goes into a preheated Smoker (80 degrees) then gets cold smoked at 75 - 80 for 5 to 6 hours. Another 2 - 3 hours in there with no smoke to finish.

Cheers

 

[IronNoggin]

So, after around 20 hours or so, the tuna is now ready to get the salt removed (called Freshening or Desalinating).

The coolers are set up such that a gentle flow of fresh water goes into each, and leaves via the drain and overflow from the top:

Then the loins are carefully submerged in that:

This step is extremely fussy but critical.
Too short a time in the fresh water and they will be so salty no-one will eat them. Too long, and they become a wet rag and are ruined. Have to stay right on top of the progress:

This lot took just over two hours. At that point they look decidedly unattractive and washed out:

What you are looking for is just so firm, on the edge of being soft, and not too damn pretty:

Must be able to easily slice it very thinly, and little to no salt taste:

As expected, the experiment batch stayed a darker color than the rest, but consistency is the same. Shows better just how thin it should slice:

Then it's off to the racks to dry, and soak up the rum & maple glaze to bring the color back and introduce more flavor:

Already checked & glazed early this morning but I forgot to take a picture.
They are both drying and darkening right on schedule.

And on it goes...

 

[walleyes]

Skillful process.

I think I ever wanted to do this I would be far better off hiring you to do it for me Lol.

 

[IronNoggin]

A day to dry, then two days of glazing.
Here's a picture I took last night when applying the last shot of glaze:

You can easily see how much they have darkened and firmed up as they absorbed the glaze:

I'll try to remember to take one more shot before they come out from under the fans.

Smoker is now preheating, and shortly to engage...

And on it goes...
Nog

 

[Bueller]

Looks fantastic!

 

[IronNoggin]

Oops! Belay that last. The fat side of the loins is still not quite dry enough.
So, smoking will commence tomorrow.
No more glaze required, just a tad more drying time.
Smoker cooling down... For now...

Nog

 

[IronNoggin]

Upon inspection this morning the tuna proved to be quite dry to the touch, considerably darkened, and ready for the next stage:

You can see the experimental batch darkened even better then the rest:

Another comparison:

And so into the big box to smoke for a handful of hours...

Already the neighborhood smells like a fine mix of rum, maple and apple + alder smoke!

And on it goes...
Nog

 

[Captain PartyMarty]

I am right behind you Nog, My loins went into the dry brine last night. How much Maple and Sugar did you add to the wet brine?

 

[IronNoggin]

I am right behind you Nog, My loins went into the dry brine last night. How much Maple and Sugar did you add to the wet brine?

For the experimental batch, I added two bags of Demerara (2 kgs), one kg of coarse sea salt and one liter of Maple Syrup.
May have been a little heavy on the syrup, but won't know until taste test time.

The balance was simply a saturated salt brine with no other additives.
We've used that a lot to great success in the past.
Simply running the two simultaneously to try and determine which is the best route to go...

Best of Luck with your run!

Cheers,
Nog

 

[IronNoggin]

 

[IronNoggin]

Taste Test Time:

Houston, we have another WINNER!!

Pulling the lot off the smoke now.
Sits overnight, then vacuum sealed (or eaten).
Already better than half a loin gonzo! LOL!

Cheers,
Nog

 

[Rain City]

Taste Test Time:

Houston, we have another WINNER!!

Pulling the lot off the smoke now.
Sits overnight, then vacuum sealed (or eaten).
Already better than half a loin gonzo! LOL!

Cheers,
Nog

Looks amazing.

 

[IronNoggin]

And on the eighth day, he said That's a Wrap for Round One on the Tuna:

Round Two starts tomorrow...

Don't see a whole lot of point to rehashing the process with this next run. But stay tuned... I'll start up another thread once we get to Sausage Time...

Cheers,
Not

 

[Captain PartyMarty]

Going to be doing the freshing step tonight. Do you dry then apply the glaze or can I apply the glaze right away after after I put them on the rack. How many coats of the glaze would you say you put on? Do you rotate the loins to get the glaze on all three sides?

 

[IronNoggin]

Going to be doing the freshing step tonight. Do you dry then apply the glaze or can I apply the glaze right away after after I put them on the rack. How many coats of the glaze would you say you put on? Do you rotate the loins to get the glaze on all three sides?

You can put the glaze on when right out of the freshening process.
Good idea to pat somewhat dry with paper towel.
Doing so allows for better penetration than glazing when the pellicle has already formed

I put on a minimum of three layers of glaze. Usually four.
And yes, I flip the loins between applications to ensure overall coverage.

Best of Luck with your run!

Cheers,
Nog