Smoked Salmon??

[tdub24]

Anybody got a good recipe for smoked salmon?? From the brining to the smoking I could use help. What smoke do you use? How long should I smoke for at 250 degrees. Smoked my first filet about a week ago and the brine called for a considerable amount of salt. Not knowing anything better, it turned out extremely salty.

My buddy says he is going to give me some halibut and salmon, so any good recipes will be appreciated.

 

[pmcgovern]

Anybody got a good recipe for smoked salmon?? From the brining to the smoking I could use help. What smoke do you use? How long should I smoke for at 250 degrees. Smoked my first filet about a week ago and the brine called for a considerable amount of salt. Not knowing anything better, it turned out extremely salty.

My buddy says he is going to give me some halibut and salmon, so any good recipes will be appreciated.

Tdub I don't have a recipe written down, but I know what I use and everyone says my smoked salmon is the best they've had(I'm sure they say that to everyone). Of course quantities vary depending on how much fish you have..
I bone out the filets. I cut them into 1-2" strips and layer them, skin side down, in a large Tupperware. My brine is basic. It's a dry brine. For one filet(large), I start with about 2 lbs of brown sugar. About 3/4 cup coarse salt. from there I mix in some garlic, cayenne, black pepper, Johnny's season all. After mixing I cover each layer heavily and repeat until I run out of fish. I let it sit in the fridge for atleast 12 hours if not longer. I rinse under cold water, place on racks and let it air for an hour or so. I use a Bradley smoker so I set the temp for 180-200 degrees and smoke timer for 5 hrs and heat for 6-7 depending on thickness of cuts. I put thinner cuts on top. I use Alder chips/briquettes or sometimes hickory. Turns out amazing everytime.

 

[libidilatimmy]

One simple trick to know with smoking fish is to rinse the fish and let air dry to develop "pellicle", this is sort of a dry and tacky surface to the meat that helps seal in the juices and let the smoke flavor attach to it easily. There's a multitude of smoked salmon recipes out on the net that would turn out great, just remember to rinse and air dry as PMC said and your brine shouldn't be over powering.

 

[pmcgovern]

The salt is not only for flavor, but it accelerates the curing, so I'm told. I used a buddies recipe once and it called for a TON of salt. I thought, what the heck, he knows what he's doing.........WRONG!!!! Terrible. Wasted a perfectly good salmon. I started trying this and that and I've found, for my taste, whatever you use for a base flavor/seasoning/main ingredient, I use about a 1/4 to a 1/3 of that quantity in salt. I've heard people say you HAVE to use a lot of salt, but I disagree. Strongly. Mine always cures right and tastes phenomenal. Everytime. I don't like to be overwhelmed with saltiness. I like the sweet, smokiness to compliment the fishiness. Just my .02

 

[pmcgovern]

and BTW, if you take this smoked salmon, blend it with cream cheese, a big scoop of sour cream, pepper, shredded cheese, a few good splashes of hot sauce, and green onion it makes an absolutely amazing salmon dip.

 

[libidilatimmy]

For all of my brine's, I take 1/2 cup of water in a liquid measuring cup (any size will work, really) and heat that water up hot in the microwave. Next, I pour salt in the same measuring cup until the water level reaches 3/4 cup for 1/2 gallon of brine (you add the 1/2 gallon of cold water to your salt solution to make the simple brine). This method allows the water to "swallow" up almost exactly 1/4 pound of salt, regardless of the salt type (canning vs table salt, etc.) so there is no need to weigh the salt. Yes, if you compared the volumes of the different kinds of salt that equal a quarter pound, they would be very different but with this method you don't have to remember what 1/2 cup by volume of canning salt is equal to in table salt, etc if you don't have the same salt kind as the recipe calls for because 1/2 cup of canning salt IS NOT equal to 1/2 cup of other kinds of salt.

 

[libidilatimmy]

and BTW, if you take this smoked salmon, blend it with cream cheese, a big scoop of sour cream, pepper, shredded cheese, a few good splashes of hot sauce, and green onion it makes an absolutely amazing salmon dip.

It's official, now I'm hungry!

 

[pmcgovern]

It's official, now I'm hungry!

I just called the GF. Told her to thaw the last filet. UGH!!!!!

 

[Work2hunt]

Now I need to go get some salmon!!!!!

 

[pmcgovern]

For all of my brine's, I take 1/2 cup of water in a liquid measuring cup (any size will work, really) and heat that water up hot in the microwave. Next, I pour salt in the same measuring cup until the water level reaches 3/4 cup for 1/2 gallon of brine (you add the 1/2 gallon of cold water to your salt solution to make the simple brine). This method allows the water to "swallow" up almost exactly 1/4 pound of salt, regardless of the salt type (canning vs table salt, etc.) so there is no need to weigh the salt. Yes, if you compared the volumes of the different kinds of salt that equal a quarter pound, they would be very different but with this method you don't have to remember what 1/2 cup by volume of canning salt is equal to in table salt, etc if you don't have the same salt kind as the recipe calls for because 1/2 cup of canning salt IS NOT equal to 1/2 cup of other kinds of salt.

What else do you use in your brine? How long do you brine it? Now you've got me curious and wanting to try other recipes.

 

[nv-hunter]

Try replacing half the water with prune juice in your brine and cut back on some of the sugar . I use this on trout and kokanee, but no two of my brines ever taste the same as I dont use any kind of recipe. but they all taste good.

 

[libidilatimmy]

What else do you use in your brine? How long do you brine it? Now you've got me curious and wanting to try other recipes.

Kind of depends on what I'm making, but for salmon I'd add 1/2 to 1 part sugar to 1 part salt (by weight, not volume) depending on your personal tastes, and a couple tablespoons each of garlic powder and black pepper for that amount of brine. The thing with wet brining is to use spices and such that are water soluble. Ingredients such as herbs are mostly oil soluble and won't impart any flavor into the brine, and in turn meat, at all. I also won't leave the salmon in this brine for more than 2 hours, less if the fillets are thinner. Sometimes I like the salmon with a sweet glaze on it if being served as it's own dish. All you do for this is crumble a little brown sugar on the fillets and the sugar will melt in the heat forming the glaze. I'll smoke mine at 220F until the internal temp of the fillets are 145F-150F.

 

[pmcgovern]

Sounds delish!! May have to give it a try..... Thanks

 

[woodtick]

Nice boys!! I've got some large trout that I need to do something with, this looks like a great idea!!

 

[sneakypete]

I use a brinkman smoker with the water bowl, my rub is brown sugar for a few minutes, you'll see it breaking down, wipe as much off . I then grind black pepper to your taste. My brinkman has the charcoal bowl , fill it and put lighter fluid in the center to just get the center going. I soak Alder chips" very important for salmon. Use foil and make as many small " like baked potatoes" to go from side to side of the charcoal bowl. This will allow the smoking process to continue as the fire gets hotter. I leave it on the smoker roughly 6 hrs. Almost forgot the water bowl will be under the lower rack, you can fill it with water , add a little white wine maybe some seasoning? Enjoy. I do the same for trout for like 4 hrs.

 

[biggergun]

I mix 4cups brown sugar 3/4 CUP kosher salt . layer and cover salmon on all sides with the mix, no skin on fish, cover and refrigerate for 8-12hours , rinse and dry on racks in cool area to for pelicle, smoke at150deg for 2-4 hours pending on thickness of filets, I use apple or cherry or maple..I also apply to filets, pure maple syrup for the last half hour of smoke.

 

[RSHusker]

I've found 2-3 parts sugar to 1 part salt seems to work fairly well. I use this formula for dry rubs as well as brines. As for the other flavors thats up to you. I have sprinkled them with lemon pepper seasoning right after rinsing them off and putting them on the racks to air dry before putting them in the smoker. This lets the seasoning stick to the fillet well. I use fruit woods or alder to smoke and have found that it doesn't take a lot of smoke to give them a great flavor.

 

[25contender]

The only thing I add to mine is a little ground pepper. The brown sugar is the key to the cure!! I use the same brine for my Elk and der jerky except I might add some sweet teriyaki mix to the brine if I want teriyaki flavored jerky.Veril Yeri Teriyaki Marinade is what I will add if I want that flavor.

Tdub I don't have a recipe written down, but I know what I use and everyone says my smoked salmon is the best they've had(I'm sure they say that to everyone). Of course quantities vary depending on how much fish you have..
I bone out the filets. I cut them into 1-2" strips and layer them, skin side down, in a large Tupperware. My brine is basic. It's a dry brine. For one filet(large), I start with about 2 lbs of brown sugar. About 3/4 cup coarse salt. from there I mix in some garlic, cayenne, black pepper, Johnny's season all. After mixing I cover each layer heavily and repeat until I run out of fish. I let it sit in the fridge for atleast 12 hours if not longer. I rinse under cold water, place on racks and let it air for an hour or so. I use a Bradley smoker so I set the temp for 180-200 degrees and smoke timer for 5 hrs and heat for 6-7 depending on thickness of cuts. I put thinner cuts on top. I use Alder chips/briquettes or sometimes hickory. Turns out amazing everytime.

 

[Team Kabob]

I'm hungry

 

[pmcgovern]

The only thing I add to mine is a little ground pepper. The brown sugar is the key to the cure!! I use the same brine for my Elk and der jerky except I might add some sweet teriyaki mix to the brine if I want teriyaki flavored jerky.Veril Yeri Teriyaki Marinade is what I will add if I want that flavor.

So my question is....... Assuming that deer/elk meat is more dense than salmon, would you need to brine/smoke for a longer time period?