Smoked Salmon Recipe

chrome/22

chrome/22

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Going to do up a 6 lb batch over the next few days. I've been using this recipe.

Smoking Salmon Simplified!!! | The Outdoor Line Blog https://share.google/onvN3hIIDObLY4XuX


Got Costco farmed steelhead from a Norwegian vendor. Not my personal favorite fish type but the price was right & everybody always seems to enjoy it.

I actually don't eat that much of it, just enjoy making it. And it's a good barter chip to trade, seems like everyone over here has a specialty product they are good at. I vacuum pack it in 6-8 oz chunks so it's easy to swap out for deer/elk salami, bear breakfast sausage or dried plums ect..

I usually add more brown sugar and a bit less salt in the brine as I like a sweeter taste to my finished product.

What's your favorite version?


c/22
 
Dry brined BS and Kosher salt, ratio depends on thickness and available time I have.

And I only smoke with Alder, period, anything else is sacrilege!
 
As Paige says, you may smoke salmonids with any wood you like, as long as it’s alder.

I don’t brine it, just coat the fish with dill and lemon. Smoke with alder to a temp 165F.
 
chrome/22 said:
Going to do up a 6 lb batch over the next few days. I've been using this recipe.

Smoking Salmon Simplified!!! | The Outdoor Line Blog https://share.google/onvN3hIIDObLY4XuX


Got Costco farmed steelhead from a Norwegian vendor. Not my personal favorite fish type but the price was right & everybody always seems to enjoy it.

I actually don't eat that much of it, just enjoy making it. And it's a good barter chip to trade, seems like everyone over here has a specialty product they are good at. I vacuum pack it in 6-8 oz chunks so it's easy to swap out for deer/elk salami, bear breakfast sausage or dried plums ect..

I usually add more brown sugar and a bit less salt in the brine as I like a sweeter taste to my finished product.

What's your favorite version?


c/22
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I mix non-iodized salt in a bowl of water. Using a raw egg and mix in enough salt until the egg floats. Place the fish filets in the bowl and let them sit for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on thickness. Remove them from the brine and let them sit without rinsing them. I rub a film of brown sugar on top used sparingly and some pepper flakes. Once the brine solidifies and forms a pellicle, place in the smoker. The smoking process draws the salt into the filets. Most often comment is that the smoked filets are not too salty. It’s a recipe that my uncle perfected on Long Beach peninsula in Washington. He used alder in a smokehouse that he built. I use an electric smoker but his results were always better.
 
For a successful product here is my recipe -
1) Start with the very best fish I get my hands on. Typically, that means a fish at nears its peak condition that is bled and cleaned within minutes of being caught before going on ice.

2) I use the simplest dry brine recipe. I filet the fish leaving the filet whole for kokanee and other "trout" size fish, With most salmon/steelhead I cut the filets into individual sized (snack size) pieces. With larger salmon I usually cut narrow strips across the filet usually about 1.5 times wider than the thickness); this allows for more even smoking. If I expect that young kids will be eating the product I will remove the bones or make sure that they get boneless tail pieces. I layer the various pieces in a plastic or porcelain container liberally covering the pieces in the layer with salt and repeat for each layer.

2) After refrigerating overnight, hand rinse each piece to achieve the desired saltness. I put the pieces on the smoker racks arranging the pieces according to size/thickness, give then a liberal coating of brown sugar and a good sprinkling of lemon of pepper. Let stand in the smoker for 45 minutes before starting the smoking.. I arrange the racks with the one with the thickest piece being closest to the pan and the thinnest the furthest.

3) I typically use alder or hickory chips, I like the alder on milder fish, like steelhead, farmed salmon etc. and prefer the hickory on my kokanee, sockeye, etc. With most smokers I add more chips every 45 to 60 minutes.

4) During the smoking process I check the fish every hour or so for degree of "doneness" and rotating the racks so that they all reach the desired degree of smoking at about the same time. In smoking in damp/cool weather I will after 3 or 4 pans of chips I will pull the fish and fish the process in the oven preheated to 200 to 225 leaving the oven door crack at bite to finish the good process. This has to be watch carefully, checking every 20 to 30 minutes.

After more than 60 years of smoking various fish of all the variables in the various process without a doubt the most critical step in any process is my step #1!
 
Nice responses.

I always use a mix of Alder & Apple chips, nice mild smokey flavor suites me

This farmed steelhead has a unique buttery flavor to it, kinda different

The Coho & Kings I use on my Fall batch have there own flavor profiles the King is superior of course. But getting harder to find a nice chrome one out on the Washington coast.
 
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