Kippered Sockeye Salmon
Brief Description: Pantry staple Kippered Sockeye – brined, smoked, pressure-canned red salmon.
Servings: 6 People
Equipment
- Smoker (Big Chief)
- Pressure Canner
- 10-12ea Pint or 20-24ea ½ Pint Glass Mason Jars, lids & bands
Ingredients
- 6 sockeye fillets – Kachemak Bay Size makes 10 pint jars
BRINE INGREDIENTS
- 7 qts Warm Water
- 3 c Salt
FEED-THE-FAMILY SALMON DIP
- 1 Pint Kippered Sockeye
- 1 Pint ‘Plain’ Canned Salmon
- 8 oz Cream Cheese
- 8 oz Mayonaise
- 2 tsp dill
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp all-purpose seasoning blend salt-free
- 1/3 c Onion – minced optional
SAVORY KIPPERED SALMON DIP
- 1 Pint Kippered Sockeye
- 8 oz Cream Cheese
- 1 tsp dill
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp all-purpose seasoning blend salt-free
- 1/3 c Bell Pepper – minced red, orange, yellow (optional)
- 1/3 c Onion - minced
Instructions
Stripping the Salmon
- Remove collars from fillets if present & set them aside
- Cut fillets (back-to-belly) into jar-length pieces (see photos),
- Cut each piece (head to tail) into ½” – ¾” wide strips (see photos).
Brining the Salmon
- Mix warm water & salt until all of the salt dissolves.
- Place collar strips & fillet strips in brine (bowl, pot, zip-loc bags) for 30 min.
- Rinse brine from strips
- Lay strips out on towels & pat dry to form some glaze
Smoking the Salmon
- Place strips on smoker racks, leaving room for air flow
- Fill smoker pan with wood chips (we prefer smaller-cut apple wood)
- Let smoker run until pan of wood chips is fully burned (30-45 min)
- Salmon should be lightly smoked & skin should want to peel off easily - but leave it on!
- For a smokier flavor, swap top & bottom trays and repeat steps 2&3
Canning the Salmon
- Prep your jars with your preferred method
- Fill jars with salmon strips – I take care to set them vertically in the jar & use a butter knife to lightly squish them to one side to always fit 1 or 2 more strips.
- Place jars in canner and pressure can at 10lbs for 100 minutes (1hr &40min)
- Let cool & ENJOY!
Feed-The-Family Salmon Dip
- Remove cream cheese from fridge a few hours ahead of time to soften
- Mash cream cheese in a bowl with mayonnaise & some liquid from a jar of Kippered Sockeye. Mix well.
- Add salmon meat (hold back remaining salmon juice) and mix well (I often use my kitchen mixer for this part)
- To make dip creamier, add some more salmon juice.
- Add dill, garlic powder & all-purpose seasoning.
- Mince onion & bell pepper and add to dip.
- We most enjoy this dip on rice crackers, wheat cracker & carrots.
- Add any other favorite flavors or dipping implements & let us know what they are!
- ENJOY!
Kippered Salmon Dip
- Remove cream cheese from fridge a few hours ahead of time to soften
- Mash cream cheese in a bowl with liquid from a jar of Kippered Sockeye
- Once cream cheese is softened & well mixed with the salmon juice, add the salmon meat and mix well (I often use my kitchen mixer for this part)
- Mince onion & bell pepper to add to dip.
- We most enjoy this dip on rice crackers, wheat cracker & carrots.
- Add any other favorite flavors or dipping implements & let us know what they are!
- ENJOY!