I used a 2:1 ratio of brown sugar and kosher salt as the base of the dry brine, some garlic powder, pepper and onion powder. No exact measurements for these. The most important part is the brown sugar and kosher salt.
Before placing any brine on the fish, I removed the skin from the two salmon fillets as I don't care for the skin. Remove or not, it's up to you. Once the skin is removed, cut the filets into pieces about 1-2" wide.
Use 2 large glass Pyrex pans, line the bottom with a layer about 1/4" thick, and then put the salmon on top. Once the fist layer of salmon is on, add more brine and then another layer of salmon, and repeat until the pan is full. Do same thing for next pan. Cover and place in refrigerator overnight.
Next day, remove from refrigerator and rinse the salmon as thoroughly as possible with water to remove the brine. Use a drying rack as shown in one of my pictures, and let sit in the counter for 2-3 hours until a sticky pellicle is formed (Google this if you're unsure what I mean). I use a fan to speed up the process.
You're then ready to smoke. Set your smoker up to cook at 200 degrees with alder wood. If using charcoal, you can use wood chips or chunks. Smoke for about 2 hours, remove and let cool. I prefer to put straight into the refrigerator and eat the next day. You'll get better smoke flavor and the meat will taste better.
You can also coat the salmon with maple syrup (I did for this batch) before putting on the smoker.
I lived downstream from a salmon farm at one point, and every now and again there'd be a jailbreak and we'd just put out nets and pull in a couple of dozen salmon. We'd always smoke a bunch as whole sides, not smaller pieces as you've done here, and give them out to friends - I still love smoked salmon. I couldn't believe how expensive it was/is in stores when I moved to mainland Australia.
Anyway this looks delicious and makes me want to go back and visit :)
![image showing [Homemade] Smoked Salmon](406c1223-2390-5f16-aa6d-3dba21d6e3ec.jpg)
Thefathern8 on June 5th, 2017 at 00:11 UTC »
I tried this once, and learned that I'm terrible at smoking (fish that is) and went to the store to fill the cravings
Smithers1945 on June 5th, 2017 at 01:20 UTC »
Here's how I made the smoked salmon:
I used a 2:1 ratio of brown sugar and kosher salt as the base of the dry brine, some garlic powder, pepper and onion powder. No exact measurements for these. The most important part is the brown sugar and kosher salt.
Before placing any brine on the fish, I removed the skin from the two salmon fillets as I don't care for the skin. Remove or not, it's up to you. Once the skin is removed, cut the filets into pieces about 1-2" wide.
Use 2 large glass Pyrex pans, line the bottom with a layer about 1/4" thick, and then put the salmon on top. Once the fist layer of salmon is on, add more brine and then another layer of salmon, and repeat until the pan is full. Do same thing for next pan. Cover and place in refrigerator overnight.
Next day, remove from refrigerator and rinse the salmon as thoroughly as possible with water to remove the brine. Use a drying rack as shown in one of my pictures, and let sit in the counter for 2-3 hours until a sticky pellicle is formed (Google this if you're unsure what I mean). I use a fan to speed up the process.
You're then ready to smoke. Set your smoker up to cook at 200 degrees with alder wood. If using charcoal, you can use wood chips or chunks. Smoke for about 2 hours, remove and let cool. I prefer to put straight into the refrigerator and eat the next day. You'll get better smoke flavor and the meat will taste better.
You can also coat the salmon with maple syrup (I did for this batch) before putting on the smoker.
Viola. You're have smoked salmon.
kahrismatic on June 5th, 2017 at 01:37 UTC »
I lived downstream from a salmon farm at one point, and every now and again there'd be a jailbreak and we'd just put out nets and pull in a couple of dozen salmon. We'd always smoke a bunch as whole sides, not smaller pieces as you've done here, and give them out to friends - I still love smoked salmon. I couldn't believe how expensive it was/is in stores when I moved to mainland Australia.
Anyway this looks delicious and makes me want to go back and visit :)