Pinks it's whats for dinner or smoker?????

[PA BEN]

A lot of people told me when I moved over here Pinks are not good to eat. Well there pretty good on the BBQ. And very good smoked. Unless you tried them don't talk.
BBQ'ed pink

Cured eggs


ready to go in the smoker


Ready in the smoker

[upwind]

Taste good to me.

[3dsheetmetal]

 

[lokidog]

Nothing wrong with fresh pinks from the salt on the BBQ and especially in the smoker... shhh, don't tell anyone!   

[Ripper]

I'm with ya on this one Ben. Properly cared for and fresh out of the salt they are great eating. Just looking at your pics makes me hungry.

[trippledigitss]

I dont like salmon/steelhead at all, none of it, except for smoked. But everyone I have either given pinks to or known that cooks them fresh or even from a frozen vac pack says they are just as good as anything. I gave a fresh one to this gal at work last week and the next day she was raving up & down about how goooood it was! One year my wife made coho, chinook, steelhead, and pinks all in the exact same recipe and did a 'blind' taste test with my family and every single person except my 8yr old son like the pinks best. My boy liked the chinook. So if you ask me pinks are just as good as the rest of them!

[sisu]

If they have sea lice, have no color to them & female maybe. Other that that sorry, no. 

[bigtex]

From the salt= BBQ or Bake
"Fresh" in the river (still very shiny/silver)= BBQ/Bake or smoke
Been in the river and losing their "shinyness"= smoker it is!

[Buckslaya]

I'm with you Ben, they are some good eating. After reading about them on this site I would have thought they were worse than shoe leather, but now that I've caught and cooked a couple of them, they are great on the bbq! Actually after giving some to friends of mine that have not heard of the pink stigma, they couldnt have liked them more...

[seansfire]

you guys got a smoking or brine recipe for pinks you would be willing to share?

i tried smoking one a few years ago that i got up at Hoodsport but i had a helluva time keeping it lit. 

[singleshot12]

Yeah never could figure out why humpys got such a bad rap. A fresh well taken care of brite humpy is a fine eating fish.

Simple recipe is to sprinkle kosher salt on filets then rub in brown sugar, let it create own brine for a day or two. Then smoke with 2 pans of apple and then finish off in oven at 170

[WSU]

They are edible, not not near as good as other salmon.  Why eat pink when the freezer is full of better fish?  That said, bright ones aren't bad smoked.

[seansfire]

the one humpy i did smoke came out really greasy. maybe it was the brine i used. it was a mixture of apple juice and some other stuff. can't recall honestly. thanks for the tip.

[DOUBLELUNG]

Pinks evolved to begin to rot as soon as they die, and to die right after spawning.  Keeps the nutrients in the estuary where their fry develop. 
 
Need to catch them pre-spawn, shiny bright as has been said.  Bleed them, gut them, bury them in ice, eat ASAP or smoke fresh.  I really like them smoked, very fine texture.
 
However, I would never consider one from the grocery store 

[PA BEN]

Bleed them, gut them, bury them in ice, eat ASAP or smoke fresh.  I really like them smoked, very fine texture.
This is what I do.
As far as smoking I use soy sauce and honey. Enough honey to sweeten the soy. Soak for 4 to 6 days. Wash and pat dry, pepper them and I let them dry on the racks for an hr or two, heat up the smoker and smoke until dry, 8 to 10 hrs. I don't like the salt so soy is what I use. Pull the skin off when you take them out of the smoker, the skin keeps the moisture in. 

[lokidog]

I bleed but don't bother gutting, the gut cavity is sealed and as long as it is on ice or cold has no effect on the meat quality.  Plus there's more for crab bait that way.

I brine with 50/50 soy  and water, add about a third cup brown sugar per cup of soy.  Sometimes will add chopped garlic and black pepper.  Brine overnight is enough, put on racks, sprinkle onion and garlic powder and then smoke.  I use the same brine for prepping to grill salmon and prawns as well.

[TheHunt]

I have eaten so much smoked pinks I am sick and tired of them.  I gave way 5 -1 gallon zip lock bags full of smoked salmon last week. 

[trippledigitss]

you guys got a smoking or brine recipe for pinks you would be willing to share?

Check your PM's - sent a few of the ones I use to you. Good luck! 

[longknife]

My brine is real easy, 3 to 1. 3 cups brown sugar to one cup kosher salt. mix dry brine, and coat flesh of fish. brine for 12-24hrs. before smoking, slightly rinse the salt off fish, pat dry, then let it sit for about 2 hrs. This gives it a tacky surface, and seals the meat so there is no white fat that comes through the top.(this is critical if you want to store the smoked fish. If you see white on top of smoked salmon, it wont keep for long and you can get sick). set in smoker at 180deg, for about 4 hours.
I use hickery, apple, alder, and or cherry. NEVER use misquete while smoking. This gives a metalic tinge in the meat just from the smoke.
When its done, if its not cooked all the way, i will set it in the oven to finish. If you let it cool, then put it in the fridge for about 10 hrs, the brown sugar really starts to push out of the meat, and is ready to eat. If you vac seal, it gets better with all the pressure pushing the smoke deeper into the fish.

Everyone is diffrent on their variation, this works great for me, family, and friends.
I had people think the pinks are silvers, and small kings, but its all salmon, THE OTHER PINK MEAT!

[halflife65]

I ate a few and smoked a bunch.  They ate REALLY well and the last batch I smoked was the best fish I've ever made.  I don't know if it was the fish or the fact that I happened to cook them perfectly (I'll admit to mostly luck rather than skill) but they turned out awesome.  I'm almost afraid to make more because I'm not sure I can repeat it...

[GCRocketman]

I pulled a pink or two out of the Carbon over the weekend ... put them in tin foil, put on some bacon salt and honey mustard

WAY freakin' good that way.

[trippledigitss]

....pat dry, then let it sit for about 2 hrs. This gives it a tacky surface, and seals the meat so there is no white fat that comes through the top.(this is critical if you want to store the smoked fish. If you see white on top of smoked salmon, it wont keep for long and you can get sick).....
 
....NEVER use misquete while smoking. This gives a metalic tinge in the meat just from the smoke....
\

Is that why all the recipes say to pat & let dry to a glaze? I didnt know it would stop the white fat stuff and help it keep longer. I always vac pack mine but it doesnt last very long so I havent had any go bad - that was vacuum packed at least.
 
I have only used mesquite once and it was for beef jerky. I didnt notice any "tinge" and I dont think it was as strong smoke flavor as say apple, alder, or hickory, so I dont plan on using it again for that reason. My neighbor cut down an apple tree last year and gave me a bag full of trunk chunks so I have been using that - just chip/shave with a hatchet and it works great!

[h20hunter]

I think the tacky surface that developes after a bit of air drying simply helps capture a bit of smoke and flavor. Never had a problem with the fat.

[C-Money]

My Mother in-Law made up the pinks I caught and WOW! They were very good. I am not a big Salmon eater but they were the best salmon I had ever ate! I even put back a Top Sirloin steak to have more room in my tummy for pink salmon. I was not expecting much as I have heard many time Pinks are nasty unless smoked. I did not find this true!

[hoytem]

hey it's better than tilapia and pollock. doesn't have the flavor other slamon have but it's good fish.

[longknife]

I think the tacky surface that developes after a bit of air drying simply helps capture a bit of smoke and flavor. Never had a problem with the fat.

It seals it, not allowing the white fat to come through. The fat on fish once its cooked can turn bad real quick. This keeps the fat inside, or between the skin, and is sealed. The drying stage explains it on the link.
heres the link i have been using, but i dont use the brine recipe.(just finnished the Brisket this morning! YUM)
http://www.smoking-meat.com/july-2010-smoking-salmon.html

[longknife]

....pat dry, then let it sit for about 2 hrs. This gives it a tacky surface, and seals the meat so there is no white fat that comes through the top.(this is critical if you want to store the smoked fish. If you see white on top of smoked salmon, it wont keep for long and you can get sick).....
 
....NEVER use misquete while smoking. This gives a metalic tinge in the meat just from the smoke....
\

Is that why all the recipes say to pat & let dry to a glaze? I didnt know it would stop the white fat stuff and help it keep longer. I always vac pack mine but it doesnt last very long so I havent had any go bad - that was vacuum packed at least.
 
I have only used mesquite once and it was for beef jerky. I didnt notice any "tinge" and I dont think it was as strong smoke flavor as say apple, alder, or hickory, so I dont plan on using it again for that reason. My neighbor cut down an apple tree last year and gave me a bag full of trunk chunks so I have been using that - just chip/shave with a hatchet and it works great!

Sealed in vac bags wont allow it to go bad. If you take too much out, or dont vac seal, the air allows bacteria to form on the fat, and thats where it will start to mold first.
I watch alot of cooking shows(married w/3 kids), and Alton Brown, from the food network channel highly insists on no mesquite for smoking.(watched a show where he smoked a pork shoulder) When i used to use it, i would notice the tinge. Very light, but first bites, i could tell. JMO

I also dont gut my fish til i filet them. I will keep my bellys whole.Smoked belly meat is my golden egg of smoked salmon! Loaded in oils! I will cut the rib bonesoff with the filet running knife down backbone, then flip the fish, and repeat running knife down the spine. The filet will be whole, both sides, and belly. I will take a knife, and cut the rib bones out, then cut the belly to where the filet is the same thickness. (know where the thinner piece of meat always is done before the 1" thick centers). T

[trippledigitss]

I was talking to this gal here at work and she pats & dries til it glazes too but says with the pinks being so oily/fatty she will still get the fat on the surface just not as much. I used to do it years ago when I 1st started but soon after just skipped that step. Guess I'll have to try it again. I always trim the filets really well and cut out all the belly fat meat. This year, on a tip from FC, I started to skin them too before cooking/smoking and not only are they less oily they dont have as much 'fishy' taste to them either. But I dont like salmon at all unless smoked so I dont eat any of them, pink, nook... none.

[trippledigitss]

I smoked about 4 fish a few weeks ago and was too lazy to vac seal them   I just put them in gal zip lock bags and in about 10days they were moldy & bad.        
 
 I wont do that again.... 

[lokidog]

Smoked fish freezes up nicely after vacuum packing.