Hey AG!
Nice catch! That silver is mint bright and very nice. Looks like the rack is for a Luhr-Jensen Big Chief smoker. I long for the day when I used to be able to do it.
I really like your photos and vids as it brings me back a long way, and I miss it. For all the non-Alaskans, here is my salmon preference:
#1) Reds (Sockeye), #2) Silvers (Coho), #3) Kings (Chinook), #4) Humpies (Pink), #5) Dog (Chum). Chum salmon is for only those folks who have nothing else to eat. It turns grey in the smoker, and Alaska Natives used it for dog food, hence the moniker.
I also like (saltwater) halibut, Pacific (grey) cod, turbot, ling cod, and red rockfish, along with spot and sidestripe shrimp, and crab (King, opelio, tanner, and Dungeness). All we get fresh here in WA is Dungeness.
My oldest daughter decided she like cod more than halibut, and as there is much more meat on a 40#-50# halibut than 5# cod, I would mark some of the halibut packages as cod so she would eat it when we had a halibut dinner. She would religiously watch me cook it so it did not get mixed up with the halibut that the rest of us ate. Years later I told her about that. She was embarrassed and now eats her fill of halibut.
I also like Dolly Varden/Arctic Char, and lake trout (a char) much better than rainbows, and also whitefish and burbot. Grayling is great only if one has the frying pan hot when the fish are caught, otherwise they are mushy. Those are mostly for frying breaded. I once caught a 5# rainbow, brined and smoked it in strips like salmon, took it into work as a taste tester, and those folks said it was very good salmon.
So much for palates.
Just reminiscing!
Regards,
Jim
