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Smoked salmon

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salmon
4K views 47 replies 31 participants last post by  Curtisrose20 
#1 ·
Its been a couple years since I have smoked salmon, but I plan on busting the smoker out tonight. Anyone have a good dry brine recipe? I usually just use the one from the book my smoker came with. Thanks guys!
 
#7 ·
4 to 1 brown sugar to salt.

Add whatever spices you like...i tend to keep it simple with garlic and onion powder

I like a light salt brine so I can brine longer. After brining make sure to let the pieces dry to form a pellicle. This is an important step. I usually dry for 4-6 hours or more.

Smoke till it looks done then finish it off at 325 in the oven for 20 minutes. I like to brush honey on the fish for a glaze before putting in the oven
 
#8 ·
4 to 1 brown sugar to salt.

Add whatever spices you like...i tend to keep it simple with garlic and onion powder

I like a light salt brine so I can brine longer. After brining make sure to let the pieces dry to form a pellicle. This is an important step. I usually dry for 4-6 hours or more.

Smoke till it looks done then finish it off at 325 in the oven for 20 minutes. I like to brush honey on the fish for a glaze before putting in the oven
When will it be done? I'll be right over.
 
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#10 ·
several years ago I came up with a good alternative to a smoker.

I brine the fish per a pre smoker procedure being sure not to brine in a metal container and I like a weaker salt brine as Nick described. After 5 or 6 hours I pull the fish and rinse in fresh water and blot dry and then lay out on a rack in the refrigerator and let dry over night. This pulls out extra moisture, do NOT place on a pan, you want circulation on both sides of the fish. So far just like smoking prep.

Now here comes the twist. I turn the oven broiler on and set the temp at 325 degrees. I spread a fine layer of dark brown sugar on the upside of the fish and put on a broiler pan mid way down and leave the oven door open a jar, about 2 inches or so and let broil for 20 to 30 minutes depending on thickness. Pull the fish out and flip over, if the skin is still on remove it and all the grey matter, and if not proceed by again spinkling dark brown sugar on the fillet and put back in the oven. Cook until the flakes just start to open and remove and cool. Or just grab some crackers and cheese and your favorite refreshment and enjoy.

No it does not have a smokey tang to it and if you want that you can season after brining with liquid smoke or use molasses instead of brown sugar. The up side is you are not tending a smoker all day and trying to keep the heat where you want it to be and making sure the chip pan has chips.

If nothing else just give it a try with some of your brined fish and compare to your smoked product.

Dave
 
#16 ·
That's pretty sweet. I've always just used a box over the top in the colder months but this would be much better. Still probably wouldn't get as hot as others but it would keep that heat in better. Smoking times in the Chiefs increase dramatically when it's cold outside due to poor insulation. I may have to try this.
 
#17 ·
All I ever use;
2 cups brown sugar
1/3 cup salt
1 tbsp onion salt
1 tbsp garlic salt
1 tbsp celery salt
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp white pepper
1 tbsp dried hot mustard
1 tbsp dried lemon peel
1 tbsp dill weed
:D
 
#19 ·
I try to keep the smoker below 170 degrees, usually around 145 and then jack it up at the end to make sure the fish reaches 160 internal temp for a half an hour. That is the minimum recommendation by food safety experts. I find that finishing smoked fish in a hot oven changes the texture/quality considerably. It isnt necessary to do that.

Dry brine 3:1 sugar to salt works good if you know what you are doing and if the fish is thick enough, but you need to be careful not to over brine the fish or it will be too salty. Much more reliable to use a wet brine recipe like Tom Nelson has on the nw outdoor website. Wet brines are more forgiving on brining time and tend not to get too salty.

Also try making gravlax. It is quite good and a nice change of pace from hot smoked salmon.
 
#22 ·
I use the same recipe as Nick. I also finish in the oven with a glaze of honey, jalepeno jelly, etc. I don't find the oven time changes the texture at all. This is the 5-Cents recipe that is very popular. http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=64066
 
#25 ·
Anyone else using their Treager for smoking? I've had decent results (without much to compare it to) and the main challenge seems to be keeping the temp low-enough while smoking. I typically prop open the lid to keep the temp as low as possible which works well enough.
 
#26 ·
I built a plywood box for insulating a little chief smoker. Works like a charm for smoking steelhead in the winter. I would be concerned that a box made of styrofoam insulation would get a bit too warm inside.

On freezing, I don’t freeze the fish before brining and smoking, because I vacuum pack it afterwards and store it frozen. I have found that freezing it twice affects the texture a bit.
 
#27 ·
everybody has their own idea on smoking and these are all good as i sit here drooling on my key board .My personal fave is simple 1cup sea salt 1cup brown sugar 1gal water soak 12 hours smoke till brown but my twist is an old 2 tank bbq small pile of briquets for fire and i use green vine maple chunks .After using all the other fruit woods I ;ike this the best.The smoke seems sweeter and being green it burns slower and has more smoke I think. Then I put it in the oven fore1 hour at 200 till it dry to my preference.
 
#28 ·
Thickly apply Rock Salt and Brown Sugar on meat side, Layer in a Bowl, Cover with plastic wrap, leave in fridge 24 hours...it'll brine itself.
Lightly rinse
Set on rack to air dry for 30 minutes
Smoke

(Tail first is the traditional way to "smoke" a fish...light carefully. ;))
 
#29 ·
Rock salt is not for human consumption so might want to change that(my dad and i used it for 30+ yrs) so who knows? Also all I ever use is Alder, I try and find a small sapling 2-3 diameter and cut 2" rounds, soak over night and place 4 or 5 around the pan and fill with chips. I tried an apple cherry mix one time 20 yrs ago and took 3 different sessions to get rid of the taste. Nothing but Alder for me!
 
#34 ·
I moved away from a wet brine just to save time. My recipe isn't really a recipe at all. I just bury the pieces in non-iodized salt (Costco 25lb. bag is super handy) with about 4 layers of pieces so they don't squish too bad. Leave them buried for an hour. Rinse off, pat dry and coarse black pepper to taste. I don't like to mask the fish flavor very much, just compliment it with a heavy dose of apple and alder smoke.

The comment @Nick Clayton made about the pellicle is spot on. I use oven racks in my homemade smoker (below and since modified to use a crab boiler and cast iron skillet for the wood) so when I get the fish laid out on the racks I put them in the oven and place a box fan on the lowest setting on the oven door to speed up the process.

The speeding up theme has to do with trying to get a batch done in a day. I like to hold the temp around 130 so it can take up to 15 hours to pull enough water out of the meat to get the texture right. All this thinking about smoking fish I'll have to run a batch this weekend!
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#36 ·
Funny story @Jim Mcallister, but Badass Smoker is actually it's given name. My neighbor and I were sitting out "tending the smoker" (read: drinking beer) on it's inaugural weekend and a guy from down the block rolled by, threw it in reverse, and shouted out "that's a badass smoker!" We looked at each other and said, "Yes. Yes it is." And a legend was born. She's spawned a half dozen other models. Pretty much any time we can find a nice oak cabinet at a government auction the next version is created.

As far as losing fish goes I can sympathize. This last summer I was very fortunate to catch a bunch of nice kings and was looking forward to running a few large batches once the weather cooled down a bit. Unfortunately, during the wild fires in Sonoma Valley my family was in Tahoe so we didn't get a chance to clear anything out before the mandatory evacuation and our house lost power for nine days. Lost a full season of salmon and whitefish and about $3000 of other food that we had to toss for smoke damage. But like you said, now I've just got to go catch more fish!
 
#37 ·
Picked up a Little Chief and gonna take my first stab at smoking and canning some salmon here soon. I've gotten some good brine/recipe ideas from this thread. My question is how long do people usually leave the salmon in the smoker? And if canning, I believe you want to take it out a little early bc the canning process also cooks it some - is that right? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!
 
#43 ·
@WildBrookie Smoking time really depends on the thickness of your fish and the temp of your smoker. Mine is usually a couple hours. Keep an eye on the fish. It's ready when it starts to flake (around 155*F internal temp I think).

As mentioned earlier it's a good idea to either freeze for a few days first or make sure fish gets to 165*F internal temp to ensure parasites are killed. I like to freeze first so I don't have to worry about internal temp. Honey or jalapeno jelly (etc) glaze takes it next level. ;)
 
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