Up north Loc: Calumet, Michigan

Works every time smoked with alder

Up north Loc: Calumet, Michigan

Brine is heavily salted water

67Mustang Loc: Washington State

I use Orange tree word. I like the citrus smoke. Apple good too.

67Mustang Loc: Washington State

Brine should have salt. That's the preservative and the basis of smoking. The best smoke salmon I've ever had is the salmon candy from the Tuntutuliaks in Alaska. It's incredible. They strip it and large lay it on cedar Poles in smoke houses but it comes out as a jerky. You can leave it out on a table for a week and it won't go bad. They use it for subsistence on their hunts. It's pretty amazing. We don't get exposed to it here.

fishtail

You should try it before you say that 67Mustang.

67Mustang Loc: Washington State

You should try it before you say that fishtail.

fishtail

Didn't I say brown sugar and SALT?

Kevinsurf71 Loc: Puget sound, Washington

I’ve perfected my smoked salmon over 30 years and the number one important thing to do it fan dry the salmon before smoking it.

67Mustang Loc: Washington State

I totally agree Kevin. Lots of people don't do it.

Edfisher Loc: Athens, WI and Sultan, WA

Leave skin on the filets, slice as desired, I like one inch vertical strips. For thicker filets I will cut narrower, but it needs to not fall over. If brining overnight, half and half soy sauce and water to cover with 1/4-1/3 c brown sugar per two cups of liquid, sweeter is fine. Sometimes I'll add black pepper and minced garlic, sometimes not. If brining less than overnight, increase the amount of soy to water. Do not add additional salt. Remove from brine, place skin side down on smoking rack, sprinkle pepper, onion and garlic powder to taste. Let dry until the shine is gone, or close. Smoke as desired. If no smoker is available, add liquid smoke to brine and dry in the oven.

Skin side down allows removal of pieces without them sticking abd breaking apart, usually. Sometimes the skin sticks, sometimes it doesn't.

Edfisher Loc: Athens, WI and Sultan, WA

I hate "salmon candy", it tastes like old fish (fishy) to me, bleh..... :-)

67Mustang Loc: Washington State

Spray the cooking racks with Canola oil. No stick.

G- Money Loc: Lakeland

I'm sold when it comes to using Everglade Seasoning on the Salmon. They were made for each other. Mine's been best at or around 200°, for about an hour and a half to two hours. I agree, about 165° internal.

Tonyb23 Loc: Auburn WA

I actually got my smoked salmon brine recipe from SalmonUniversity.com. From reading some of the brine recipes posted on here, this brine is probably the simplest out there lol….4 cups dark brown sugar, 1 cup non-iodized salt(canning or pickling salt), 5 tsp. crushed or minced garlic and that’s it for the brine. Mix it all together and coat your fillets liberally. If you need to stack them, put the first fillet skin side down and next layer of fillet flesh to flesh. I brine in fridge for 8-12 hours depending on how much fish I have brining. Rinse fillets with cold water but do not disturb fillets. Lay fillets on the big chief racks inside house at room temp. I let fish dry for 4-6 hours or until a nice pellicle forms. I just purchased a nice electric digital smoker a few years ago and OMG, it is literally so simple to smoke fish now no matter what the temp is outside. I smoke my fish between 180-200 degrees and I smoke fish until it reaches internal temp of 160-165 degrees. After pulling fillets from smoker, I drizzle honey over fillets while they’re still warm and then into the fridge they go overnight. Next morning the honey almost liquifies coats fillets. In my honest opinion, drying your fish to form the pellicle is the most important step of the whole process. I’ve tasted some decent flavor smoked salmon but sorta mushy. When I asked him how long he dried his fish for before putting on the smoker, he had no idea what I was talking about.

Dakoda Loc: Cle Elum, WA

Certainly one of the easiest, thank you.