Basic Salmon Smoking
Smoking Salmon isn't very difficult and is my preferred way to prepare (and eat) it. With a few basic tools and information just about anyone can turn out a delicious batch of smoked Salmon. About the only special equipment that is required is a smoker of some sort. It does take a bit of preparation and a day set aside to smoke the Salmon, but it is worth the effort!
Preparing your Salmon to smoke
Starting with Salmon that are in good condition goes a long way to making a good batch of smoked fish. Ideally your Salmon should be bled and gutted as soon as possible after catching them and put on ice. To prepare your Salmon for smoking, first scale them, then bone them out into fillets and cut into chunks.
Basic Salmon Brine
Basic Salmon smoking brine adds flavor and helps preserve the meat. The most efficient way that I have found to brine Salmon is to put all the ingredients in a gallon size resealable bag and mix it all up, and add the Salmon. By removing all the excess air, the Salmon is pretty well covered in brine and you can get away with less brine per fish than if you just dump them in a bowl.
Brine the fish 8 hours or overnight.
Basic Smoked Salmon Brine
| 1/3 Cup |
Sugar |
| 1/4 Cup |
Non-Iodized Salt |
| 2 Cups |
Soy Sauce |
| 1 Cup |
Water |
| 1/2 Tsp. |
Onion Powder |
| 1/2 Tsp. |
Garlic Powder |
| 1/2 Tsp. |
Pepper |
| 1 Cup |
White Wine |
Preparing to Smoke Your Salmon
After brining your fish, remove it from the brine, place it on the smoking racks skin side down and let dry in a cool place. Whether you rinse your fish after removing it from the brine is a matter of preference. I don't rinse mine, but I like it with a bit more flavor and more of a crust. Placing a fan by the racks will help speed the process. This is also a good time to get the smoker warmed up. To help your fish cook evenly, place the thicker pieces of fish on the bottom racks and the thinner pieces at the top.
Smoking your Salmon
Typical woods to use for smoking Salmon are Alder and Hickory or a mix of Apple and Cherry. In most cases you will need to use 2 or 3 pans of chips. Over smoking the Salmon will make it taste funky. I reccomend using a probe thermometer to keep track of the temperature of your smoker. Ideally you want to keep your smoker between 145° and 160° during the smoking process. Much hotter and you will cook your meat instead of smoking and drying it. Depending on air flow (wind), ambient temperature, and a host of other variables, you will need to watch your smoker to keep it in the right range. Expect the fish to be done in about 8 hours. Actual times will vary and how done you want it is also a matter of personal taste.
Storing Your Smoked Salmon
Unless you have no friends, and more fish than you know what to do with storing your smoked salmon generally isn't a problem. Usually it is eaten long before it could go bad! On the off chance you need to store your smoked salmon, it can be kept in the fridge for about a week. The best option is to vaccuum pack it. If you vaccuum pack your smoked salmon it will last about two weeks in the fridge for several months. One tip that I haven't tried, but heard of is to brush your salmon with a light salad oil before packing and freezing to help prevent it drying out in the freezer.
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