Smoke ring didn’t ignite..throw away salmon?

[DarienJim]

Today I tempted my first time to make cold smoked salmon in my Traeger timberline 1300. I cured it for two days in the refrigerator, then I took it out this morning first thing and put it on the smoker at 9 AM with a bowl of water and my new smoke coil with sawdust. I just got home at 3 PM and noticed that the sawdust never really lit much after 9AM this morning when I left home. I just put the salmon in the refrigerator for now and trying to determine if I have to throw away the salmon as it’s no good or can I try again tonight? The daytime temperature was 85 I was playing golf from 9 AM to 3 PM.

Any advice at this point is greatly welcome.

 

[DarienJim]

Looks like the recommendation is that if it’s out for more than two hours, you should throw it away which is what I ended up doing. What a total waste of two nice salmon fillets that I caught in Alaska.

 

[traeger860]

Sucks, but you made the right decision. Not worth getting sick.

 

[RayClem]

Do you normally use sawdust in your smoke ring?

Sawdust can pack quite tightly making it difficult for sufficient oxygen to reach the smouldering fire. I am not a smoke tube/ring expert, but I think a combination of pellets and chips is the normal charge.

I know you hated to throw away the salmon, but the rule is that it either has to be kept hot or kept cold. Six hours at 85F is ideal for bacteria.

I do hope you had a great day on the golf course. It was a little more costly than you expected.