Dipnetting - The Smoking

Brendan's Cabin, The outskirts of Talkeetna

For two days during torrential rain in which the Susitna River in the township of Talkeetna overflows and residents are evacuated from their homes, we smoke fish.

Brendan cuts Alder branches and burns them down to coals

The coals are placed under the salmon fillets that have soaked in a brine overnight, and rest on racks in the light wooden smoker house. This is cold smoking, a technique that is slower than hot smoking (where the fire would be built directly under the meat), but produces a more succulent result without the drying of the heat.