Scottish smoked salmon

1 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
-For a 10-to-12-lb salmon
2 cups Coarse or iodized salt
2 tablespoons Cognac or brandy salt cure:
2 cups Dark brown sugar

Directions

Scrape or scale the fish. Split through the back into butterfly style to clean. Cut the head and remove the bones. Salmon smoked according to the old Scottish method is not washed out. The blood particles may or may not be washed out. Dry the fillets carefully if washed. Pour the brandy or cognac over the fill the fillets. Rub well all over with the salt cure. Lay the fish skin down in in a suitable wooden box. Rub the cure mixture into the raw flesh and fold the fish with the cure inside. Place a board on the fish with a 25-to-30 lb weight.Scottish fishermen would place a "killick"(an anchor weighing 28 lbs) over the salmon fillets to leach the moisture from the fish tissue and replace it with the salt, thus inhibiting the spoiling action of ba bacteria. This method is still used today. Hang the fish in a dry, cool shaded place, spreading it with sticks to permit even drying, until a filmy skin or pellicle forms. Cold smoke for approximately 48 hours.

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