SALMON FISHERIES OF PACIFIC COAST. 63 



thus cured, are used for fox food at the numerous fox ranches. This 

 product is called " ukalu." 



SMOKING. 



The smoking of salmon is virtually a continuation of the pickling, 

 as the fish must be pickled before being smoked, the main purpose of 

 the pickling being to preserve them until the time arrives for smok- 

 ing, which may be weeks or months after the fish are caught. For 

 smoking them the salmon are taken out of the barrel and soaked 

 until as much as possible of the salt is removed. They are then put 

 into the smokehouses and subjected to the heat and smoke of a fairly 

 hot fire for about two days in order that they may be thoroughly 

 dried and hardened. Exposure to a smoldering fire (alderwood is 

 a favorite fuel) for about three days completes the process. 



For shipment smoked salmon are packed in wooden boxes, oil. 

 paper being placed between the fish. 



A variation of the smoking process is known as " kippering." 

 With this method the salmon are dried in a hot fire for about 20 

 hours and then smoked over another hot fire for about 24 hours. 

 The "buckling" process is also similar to this. 



Dog and king salmon are often cut into steaks and kippered. As 

 the sale of white-meated king salmon is somewhat hampered by the 

 whiteness, the smokers use a coloring preparation, known in the 

 trade as Zanzibar carmine. This gives the outside of the fish a deep- 

 colored red gloss, but leaves the inside its natural white color. The 

 steaks are wrapped in paper and packed in baskets holding 10 pounds 

 each. 



A smoked product known locally as " beleke," is put up at Kodiak, 

 Alaska, from red and coho salmon. Steelhead trout are the best 

 for this purpose, but are not often utilized owing to their scarcity 

 in this region. In preparing " beleke " only the backs of the fish 

 are used, the belly part being cut out and pickled separately. The 

 backs are divided into three grades, according to size, viz, " small," 

 " medium," and " large." They are first put into a brine, the " large " 

 being put in first, followed by the " medium " and " small " at in- 

 tervals of 1 hour each, so that all will be cured at about the same 

 time. The coho backs, being the largest, are kept in the brine from 

 19 to 20 hours, while the red salmon backs, which are smaller, re- 

 main in the brine only about 16 hours. After being thoroughly 

 salted the backs are removed from the brine and rinsed in fresh 

 water, then hung in the air for about 21 hours to dry and to allow 

 a thin skin to form on the outside. They are then hung in the smoke- 

 house, in the presence of a little fire of cottonwood or alder. On dry 

 days the gable windows are thrown open and the wind allowed to 

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