Christmas was approaching fast and it was time for my traditional gift bags. I have always waited until the last minute to prepare and distribute the gifts, often even the day after Christmas. In the past it has always consisted of homemade items like summer sausage, jerky, jellies, wine, and some sort of sweet snacks.
This year I though I would do something different. On an earlier trip to Alaska I was given some smoked salmon that my Alaskan cousin Larry had smoke himself, which I thought was great. I had a surplus of frozen salmon so I decided that it would be the new addition this year. There are two kinds of smoke fish: hot smoked which is actually cooked at a low temperature, and cold smoked which is cured with a brim and then smoked at a low temperature for several days, usually under 90 degrees which preserves and flavors the fish. I choose cold smoked because of the texture and flavor and I have already hot smoked fish before with good success which my father