Introduction:

"I JUST WANTED SOME SMOKED SALMON" - That's it!  On a drive through Northern California during vacation, my wife and I stopped at a nice little shoreline town for some lunch.  There, at the deli, they had some smoked Salmon and Tuna.  I figured it would be a nice snack for the long road trip home.  $15.00 A POUND!!!!!! (I've since learned that it can be even much more expensive)  Well, of course I bought some (remember, while on vacation money is no object....at least that's what my wife tells me).  When we got home, I went looking for local sources of smoked Salmon in Southern California.  Lemme tell ya, it's tough to find and real expensive when you do find it.  Soooooooooooo, being the frugal (read: CHEAP) person I am, I set out to learn how to make these things at home.

My first stop was that boon to information, THE INTERNET.  Logging on to my system, I was amazed at the range of "information" about "Smoking/Smoke Cooking/Barbecueing/Grilling/Oven Cooking w/sauce"......all under the term BARBECUE, or BARBEQUE.  Geez, this thing was larger than I had imagined.  The subject of What Is and What Is NOT REAL barbecue, I will leave to forum discussions and flame boards.  I must, however, set a few definitions on this page that I stick by (my opinions):

Barbecue, in my opinion, is cooking "low & slow" - cooking at a temperature range from 180-250(°F), with a tough piece of meat, for 4-18 hours, in the presence of burning or smoldering wood (smoke)(notice, I make no mention of which cooking DEVICE is used.  THAT, is another flame board discussion.).  Typical barbecue items include Pork Spare Ribs, Beef Brisket, Pork Shoulder(butt roasts), all of them usually much cheaper, and tougher, than other cuts of meat. In the vernacular of a "domestic goddess" (housewife), it's like a "Crock Pot with Smoke" (not the liquid kind of smoke)

Grilling - This is what most people mistakenly call "barbecueing".  This is cooking over relatively high heat, 300-700 degrees, with a "good" piece of meat, for 2-20 minutes, on an inside or outside "grill" (think burgers, steaks, and hot dogs).  Don't get me wrong, grilling has its place but it's just not the same thing as barbecueing.

• Smoking - divided into "cold smoking" and "hot smoking".
• Cold smoking - a process where an item is held at a temperature below 90 degrees in a smokey environment, for days to weeks, to add flavor (uncooked, but "cured").  (think slices of LOX-smoked salmon, smokey and slimey)
• Hot smoking - a process where an item is "cooked with smoke", in temps between 120-180 degrees, for hours, to add flavor and texture (dry out).  (think "flaky" chunks of Smoked Salmon)

Excerpt from the BBQFAQ Version 2.0:

    Rodney Leist--

     The BBQ List is a loose-structured, tight-knit group of folks from all over the world who have adopted

     a casual 'front porch get-together' climate for discussions. If you've never participated in a front porch

     meeting before, here's the way it usually works. Generally, at the start, serious topics are discussed in

     depth and at length with many varying opinions, pro and con, thrown out for whatever they are worth.

     For us the topics involve what and how to barbecue (and all that goes with it).

     As time wears on, jokes and bull sessions are injected and other topics gradually creep into the

     discussions, displacing the primary topics. Some folks who are not interested in the off topic

     exchanges, may decide to take care of some other business for a while. Hopefully most of them

     gradually return. Occasional lulls in the conversation occur. Some folks get busy or stop to ponder, or

     maybe even sulk, then all of a sudden, the discussion fires back up to a &quotDel key" numbing pace

     before once again returning to issues focusing around the primary topic. The cycle continues into the

     wee hours of the night, again and again and again. Along the way, somehow we manage to talk a lot

     about barbecue.

     With any front porch gathering, there's always assorted types of folks from 'very verbal' to 'quiet and

     reserved', and so it is with the BBQ List. Some posters you like, some you respect, some you tolerate,

     some you wish would go away and some you hardly even know are there. The single most important

     thing gluing the front porch session together is that everybody stepping up on the porch is there

     because they have something in common and want to be there. Listening, learning, participating and

     tolerating who and what you don't like is what it's all about. These are the things that make the front

     porch meeting work. So, come on up and grab a chair.

Oh yeah, back to the Salmon......
I went searching on the Net for info and found Smoky Hale's Barbecuen' on the Internet site.  I searched the FAQ's there and found volumes of information.  I saw a little box that said "Ask Smoky", and a caption that said he answered emails.  "What the heck" I thought, let's see what kind of advice Smoky gives (or if he would even answer).  I carefully phrased an email, politely asking for advice.  Much to my surprise, within 24-hours I got a reply.  He gave me advice, tips, and a recipe to try.  I thought, "Wow, how nice!".  A complete stranger took the time to send me information, just because I asked.  The next day, I made my salmon and found that "Hey, I can make this stuff at home!", which should have been the end of it.  But you know what hooked me into this Hobby/Culture/Family?  Do you want to know what REALLY told me that this was something to pursue?  Well.........the day after I made my salmon, I received an email.  It was from Smoky Hale again.
It was titled "So how did it go?"
 

"Done properly, it's like taking a lump of coal and turning it into a diamond.  Improperly, it's like taking a lump of coal and turning it into a.............well, a lump of coal....with sauce." - RL

"Men will cook when DANGER is involved." - Dexter