Pinks

[racfish]

I got a couple of nice looking pinks this last Sunday off Lincoln Park. I bled them immediately and iced them. Took them home and BBQ very quickly. No offense to those who love pinks ,,,Bleeccchhhh I just cant eat them. Maybe Im spoiled on Chinook. The meat on the pinks is way to soft for my likeing. I just couldnt eat it. I froze one for crab bait or possibly smoking. Maybe as a jerky they will be better.As far as eating them fresh? forget it. JMO

[tnj8222]

Yup your spoiled. My brother in law would always fish stocker trout to eat. I introduced him to drift fishing for pinks and he is in heaven.

[Gringo Pescador]

Last run I took a a resident coho and a pink to a family BBQ. Both caught on the same day from the same beach (salt). Both prepared in the same way. The pink meat turned a whitish color and the coho pinkish. It was about 50/50 - those that liked the pink better thought the coho was too strong, those that liked the coho thought the pink was too bland. For me personally - pinks are for smoking, river or salt.

[jens]

I got a couple of nice looking pinks this last Sunday off Lincoln Park. I bled them immediately and iced them. Took them home and BBQ very quickly. No offense to those who love pinks ,,,Bleeccchhhh I just cant eat them. Maybe Im spoiled on Chinook. The meat on the pinks is way to soft for my likeing. I just couldnt eat it. I froze one for crab bait or possibly smoking. Maybe as a jerky they will be better.As far as eating them fresh? forget it. JMO

I'm with ya. The meat is super mushy even after getting them on ice right away. Like you, most of mine will be used for crab bait. I did save a little bit to smoke up and give away.

[curado]

pinks are great on the bbq. but they need to be bled and cleaned within 10 minutes of catching. same with coho and king.

[Matt]

The key to having good smoked Pink Salmons is NOT to freeze the fish. They are softer and more bland than other salmon, which is actually a good thing when smoking. The soft flesh takes the brine like a sponge, and the lack of flavor allows the flavors from your brine to really shine through. Unfortunately, if you freeze the fish first, when you thaw it out it will be mush and the freezing process often imparts a "muddy" flavor. If I plan to eat ANY pinks they go from the ice box to the fillet board and into the smoker within 72 hours without freezing, this keeps them in better shape. Smoked pink salmon is actually quite good in my opinion.


What REALLY disgusts me is these people I see up in the river that keep their fish on a stinger in the water! Last I was out, the surface temp on the Snoho was 60*f. YUCK!

[kingfisher101]

LOL.Hey Matt is there any good shore access on the snoho?Thanks

[curado]

ya there is alot of shore access

[knotabassturd]

LOL racfish, sorry to hear of the putrid experience.
I am with the smoking pinks.

HOWEVER, I think they make GREAT smoked salmon. They are soft so the don't dry out as quick and can get a little longer smoke (although they're thin too so can't go hogwild with heat).

The other huge yuk to pinks is they are slimy as Western Washington lawn dolphins (slugs). So when I cath them and have time, I wrip the skin off 'em like a big old bear having a snack (uh, using the hands though not the mouth).

If I can't deskin them at that point, I MAKE SURE to remove the skin before they hit the brine. Not into brining fish for 10+ hours in slime.

Hmmmm, if I can somehow make the Aug 26 get together maybe I can bring a li'l pink smoked stuff to let the fine wine crowd on here have a go at them. Cheese, crackers, and wine will not be provided though

PS- +1 on Matt not freezing them. Turns 'em more mushy (mushier? ah well). I like to have mine smoked within a couple days of catching and in meantime refrigerate. I also brine them in the fridge (ziplocs) and often do not brine chinook and coho (5 gallon bucket) in the fridge. Oh ya, and they need sea lice or look bright. Otherwise my wife gets them to make fish cake.

PSS- Mike Carey, no I did not actually cath the pinks... That's a typo (meant catch of course).

[Gringo Pescador]

I only fish for keeps low enough in the system to be affected by tides (and of course they have to be bright). Keeping them cold as possible at all times is key.

My process..

At the river:
1.) Hook it
2.) Land it
3.) Cut the gills/bleed it
4.) Record it on your catch card
5.) Take a couple casts
6.) Throw it in the cooler with ice.
7.) Clean it & throw it back in the cooler

Steps 1-4 are immediate.
Steps 5 & 6 just long enough for the fish to bleed out, then in the cooler it goes (5 minutes or less)
Step 7 is done as soon as the school has passed while waiting for the next one.

At home:
1.) Remove the scales (easily done with "jet" setting on a garden sprayer).
2.) Fillet
3.) Rinse in cold water
4.) Vac Pac & Freeze or Brine

Step 1 & 3 will take care of the slime
Step 4 depends on if I have time to smoke em right away or not. Never had any issues freezing & thawing before brining and smoking myself. If I do freeze them, I thaw them slowly in the fridge. Not sitting out at room temp.
I always brine in the fridge - again, cold is key..

[racfish]

I caught out of the salt. I ripped the gills out and bled it then imediately packed in ice. It was tolerable but almost not. I gave some to my kitty and he gave me his middle paw.Smoking it to the jerky feel is best.

" Aint No Nookie,Like Chinookie"

[Bodofish]

Ralph,

You're a canner. I haven't done it in a few years due to time constraints but canning pinks is a great way to have the little buggers. Just think ahead, what would I like in the tuna salad or the casserole. Stuff it all in the jar with the fish, onions peppers, celery, carrots..... Take up the remaining space with chicken stock, lid lightly and pop in the bath or pressure cooker. The key of course is clean, clean, clean and get the temp up enough and long enough to cook the fish and veges. I would really recommend using a pressure cooker for obvious reasons but you can use a water bath. The bones just disappear and the skin is a quick pick. Dump the entire jar in whatever you're making.

I really think when you do them yourself you get a better product and you can control what goes in your diet. I personally like them better than commercially canned tuna. Any kind and I'm one of those guys that only eats solid albacore that comes in the can with the star and I don't mean kissed.

PS: I'm a canner or a smoker. No BBQ for me.

[knotabassturd]

Never have tried bottling up salmon but Bodo has me wondering. Especially putting it wiht racfish's assorted pickling posts.

For now, the smoked salmon addiction shall suffice. Ate a whole smoked pink fillet for lunch.

[tnj8222]

Just ate some pinks, rubbed in johnnys salmon seasoning and tossed in the oven. They were really good must have been the johnnys

[MarkFromSea]

Just ate some pinks, rubbed in johnnys salmon seasoning and tossed in the oven. They were really good must have been the johnnys

That's funny! I used johnnys for crab boil a couple weeks ago since we ran out of Old Bay. It was darn good!

For canning pinks, I like to remove the skin before canning, drop the whole beheaded and definned pink into a sink of hot water direct from the tap, let sit, skin will come off very easy in a couple/few minutes. You're going to pressure cook them for a couple hours anyway so it's not going to hurt the flesh and it is certainly going to look much better in the jar without the skin.

Hope this helps!

[racfish]

Old Bay The greatest seasoning.I too use it on almost all my seafood.My big problem with smoking them is the salt and sugar combined.Canning sounds great Bodo. Im am looking into a new canner today. I remember a bad experience with pressure cookers along time ago. It really scared me from using them. But then that was in the late 60's and Im sure they are safer now.

[natetreat]

I think that the pinks are great eating. The reason that you ice them right away is that you want them to go through rigor mortis as slowly as possibly. When fish go through rigor, they are consuming the energy that is left in the fish through chemical reactions that tense up the flesh. At high temperatures, rigor goes really fast and is violent on the proteins and other stuff that hold the meat together. The optimum temperature for salmon to go through rigor is 32 degrees F. This slows the process down, making it gentler on the meat, leaving more of the meat for a firmer product. Bleeding the fish keeps the blood from remaining in the meat, which imparts a muddy taste to most fish. They are not a strong tasting salmon, so those of us used to sockeye or coho are just waiting for that salmon taste that just isn't there.

I have experimented with fish handling, and have found that filleting the fish as soon as you get home will damage the meat. Although it's counter intuitive, the fish tastes much better if you wait to process it after it has gone through a slow rigor in the fridge. There is less separation between the flakes and the meat is twice as firm as a fillet that has been immediately processed.

Of course pinks don't have as much fatty tissue saved up as a king or coho does, so when they enter the river in preparation for the spawn they quickly degrade in quality, as their flesh becomes food for their eggs or spawn, and their body shuts down. So the chromest fish are the ones that you want. Bleed them, gut them, ice them and age them through a slow rigor and they end up being a firm mild tasting salmon. But this process can get screwed up too.

On the smoker, I just smoked up a big batch of it and they are DELICIOUS. But we grill it up too and it's really quite tasty. The absorbancy of the pinks flesh takes a marinade exceptionally well, I use a mixture of fresh garlic, onions chopped finely and sliced oranges with tarragon, thyme and dill with a healthy pinch of kosher salt. Cover the fillet with this for 20 minutes, leave it on top of the fish, put a few dollops of real butter on top and bake at 325 for 20 minutes on a cookie sheet with a tented sheet of foil over it. It's delicious.

The trick to keeping the meat firm is a slow gentle heat. The flesh is very delicate and a quick heat tears apart the bonds that hold it together and destroys the delicate flavor particles resulting in mushy muddy flesh.

That being said, our smoked pink salmon turned out amazing, we are going to can a lot too for posterity. Freezing the fish is too violent and destroys the flesh again, so it's not recommended unless the fish is processed first. It's true that a lot of people are content with sub par handling of the meat. The folks that have 'em on a stringer in the water without bleeding and gutting are just marinating their fish in blood and guts and I can't believe they actually eat those fish. Blech.

[tnj8222]

I saw people leaving their fish on dash pt pier for hours in the sun. Cant believe people eat those.

[racfish]

I was going through my pickling recipes and found the one for pickled salmon. I think Im gonna try picklin some pinks. The vinager and salt/sugar combo should toughen the meat up. I pickled coho and sockeye with decent results.

[curado]

hey send me the recipe rac plzzzz. it sounds good