First catch some Tuna/Salmon or King Mackerel and ICE them well as soon as possible. The coolder the quicker the better. I perfer to catch them out of my Kayak which is quick, cheap and fun.
Clean into chunks discard 'little pieces" and all red meat if from Mackerel. Chill and do not freeze.
Here is the total list of ingredients:
1 Gallon King chunks.
1 1/2 Cups (Packed) Lite Brown Sugar
4 Tblspns Morton Salt
1 1/2 cups water (bottle or filtered - not tap with chlorine in it)
3 hours NON-Nut wood for smoke. Wild Cherry, Alder, Apple, Maple, etc... not a nut wood much too acidic.
Put salt and brown sugar into a bowl with water mix until dissolved. Pour into ziploc gallon of king chunks - work the bag to remove all air and get chunks coated with brine. Let brine 1 hour. While brining get the smoker and wood chunks ready. Lightly coat the smoker racks with olive oil and get the brined King.
Place the chunks around the smoker to evenly cook and cover the chunks. You each know your smoker - this is how mine works best.
Notice - don't plug in/start the smoker yet. Once your meat in out you must let it air dry for about an hour. Here's the chunk right out of the brine:
During that hour get your heat source ready, just make sure that it's ready an hour after you start the air drying process. The air drying process sets the glaze which is called pellicle and is the key in any quality smoked meat. The glaze is set by the outer cells absorbing salt and sugars until they burst and create a 'slime' (hey it's a tasty slime!) Here is the same piece after the pellicle has set.
Now your ready to start the smoking process - for the first couple hours you want to keep it around 160-180F and have lots of smoke finish the drying process of the pellicle and set the smoke into the outer layer.
This is how I start the heat and the amount of wood for smoke. The wood I use is Wild Cherry from the farm in OH.
There is no basting or flipping the meat. Constant low temp and smoke are your curing tools. Our piece after an hour of smoke and 170F.
Clean into chunks discard 'little pieces" and all red meat if from Mackerel. Chill and do not freeze.
Here is the total list of ingredients:
1 Gallon King chunks.
1 1/2 Cups (Packed) Lite Brown Sugar
4 Tblspns Morton Salt
1 1/2 cups water (bottle or filtered - not tap with chlorine in it)
3 hours NON-Nut wood for smoke. Wild Cherry, Alder, Apple, Maple, etc... not a nut wood much too acidic.
Put salt and brown sugar into a bowl with water mix until dissolved. Pour into ziploc gallon of king chunks - work the bag to remove all air and get chunks coated with brine. Let brine 1 hour. While brining get the smoker and wood chunks ready. Lightly coat the smoker racks with olive oil and get the brined King.
Place the chunks around the smoker to evenly cook and cover the chunks. You each know your smoker - this is how mine works best.
Notice - don't plug in/start the smoker yet. Once your meat in out you must let it air dry for about an hour. Here's the chunk right out of the brine:
During that hour get your heat source ready, just make sure that it's ready an hour after you start the air drying process. The air drying process sets the glaze which is called pellicle and is the key in any quality smoked meat. The glaze is set by the outer cells absorbing salt and sugars until they burst and create a 'slime' (hey it's a tasty slime!) Here is the same piece after the pellicle has set.
Now your ready to start the smoking process - for the first couple hours you want to keep it around 160-180F and have lots of smoke finish the drying process of the pellicle and set the smoke into the outer layer.
This is how I start the heat and the amount of wood for smoke. The wood I use is Wild Cherry from the farm in OH.
There is no basting or flipping the meat. Constant low temp and smoke are your curing tools. Our piece after an hour of smoke and 170F.
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