494 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
flesh of the fish is smoothed with the side of a flat knife, all ragged parts being pressed 
down. Each fish is then trussed with two or three thin, flat wooden sticks, so as to 
keep it spread out, the rough-pointed sticks being fastened transversely across the 
back on the skin side, the end of each stick slightly entering but not passing through 
the skin. If the heads have been left on, as in case of northern or Halifax salmon, a 
small stick or pin of hickory or other hard wood is shoved through the head at the eyes. 
A rope-yarn cord is next passed around this iiin and about the gills, or about the uiiper- 
most of the flat stretching- sticks, in such a manner that when suspended thereby the 
weight is distributed proportionately and by means of which the fish may be hung 
from the sticks in the smokehouse. The Pacific coast salmon, which have the heads 
removed, are usually tied up by a cord passing through the napes or around the tail, 
and if very large they are sometimes cut into strips before being smoked. Some 
curers hang the fish up by means of five or six iron or wire hooks passing through the 
flesh, thus doing away with the sticks and cords above described. 
The fish are permitted to drain for several hours, when they are hung in the upper 
part of the smokehouse, away from the heat, but not so high as to be in the warm air 
which accumulates at the top of the bay. Usually only two rows or tiers are smoked 
at a time, and in the lofty smokehouses the smoking is continued for 18 to 30 hours. 
About 24 hours are usually required, but on dry windy days 16 to 18 hours are 
sufticient, and during sultry weather 30 or more are necessary. When low smokehouses 
are used, in which the fish are hung within 8 or 10 feet of the fire, as at Washington, 
D. 0., the smoking is usually completed in about 12 hours. Tlie smoke should be even 
throughout and with little fire. In some houses a light fire is built under the fish as 
soon as jilaced in the smokehouse, and this is continued for G or 7 hours, when a 
shovelful of sawdust is added and the smoking continued 12 or 14 hours. 
When sufficiently smoked, the fish are permitted to cool and are then packed, 
usually with paper or matting wrapped about them, the spreading-sticks at the back 
being left in. A barrel of j)ickled salmon yields about 180 pounds of smoked fish if the 
smoking be done in October, but if postponed until the following June it will yield 
only about 105 pounds. The average wholesale price in Hew York or Boston for 
smoked Halifax salmon is about 18 to 20 cents per pound, and for Pacific coast fish 
about 12 to 14 cents per pound. They will keep in good condition for 10 days or 
longer under favorable conditions, but are used mostly in the vicinity where cured. 
Smoked salmon have been shipped to Hew York from Hova Scotia, but although they 
looked well on being opened they had a tendency to mold soon after being unpacked. 
The following general method of smoking salted salmon in Sweden and Germany 
differs from the foregoing in several particulars: 
The fish are immersed for 48 hours in soft cold water, which during that time is changed at least 
three times. Then with a medium stiff brush and warm water each fish is well cleaned outside and 
inside, and by means of a cord about the tail is hung in a tub of clear cold water, where it remains 
for 12 hours, when it is suspended in the air for 6 hours to dry. After that it is laid on a clean table, 
and when well drained it is trussed or braced with three sticks along the back, as in case of Halifax 
salmon, and suspended for 2 hours in the smokehouse over a gentle heat, then subjected to a dense 
smoke for 24 to 36 hours, until it acquires a dark-red color. The cure is then complete, and after 
cooling the fish is ready for the market. 
In preparing frozen salmon for smoking, the fish on removal from cold storage are 
thawed out either by immersing them in water over night or laying them on boards 
in a moderate temperature and turning them over every 2 or 3 hours for 8 or 10 hours. 
