Brandy Candy Smoker recipe
Brandy Candy Smoker recipe
Author: Jim Parsons Walnut Creek, CA
The following is the recipe I've used for several years and everybody seems to like it. A lot of the recipes I've seen are for preserving the fish in addition to flavoring it and call for a lot more salt than I use. The result of my recipe is the salmon must be refrigerated after smoking, but that has never been much of a problem as it disappears pretty fast.
Ingredients
- Here it is:
- 2 cups Soy Sauce
- 1 cup Brandy
- 1 cup Water
- ⅓ cup Dark Brown Sugar (or regular brown sugar or even white sugar)
- 1 teaspoon Tabasco (I'm usually pretty generous with the Tabasco)
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
Instructions
- Mix it all up and stir to dissolve the sugar. Marinate the salmon (fillet it and
- cut into chunks - leave the skin on. I usually scale the salmon as well) in the
- brine. I use quart size zip lock Baggies and marinate for a minimum of 24 hours
- - longer for thick fillets. I don't think you can marinate it too long - I've
- left it for a week before. The salmon will take on a brownish color from the soy
- sauce and will become firmer in texture. I think the salt draws some of the
- moisture out of the salmon, which makes it firmer.
- Remove the salmon from the marinade, wash off with fresh water and allow to air
- dry for 30 minutes to an hour. Then it goes on the smoker (I use alder chips to
- create the smoke) skin side down at just a bit over the lowest setting of my gas
- smoker. I plan on 4 to 6 hours depending on the thickness of the salmon. Once it
- is done I turn off the smoker and leave it there until everything cools off
- (usually I finish it late in the evening and I wait to take it off until
- morning).
- My smoker has a pan to hold water that goes above the heating element to add
- steam to the inside of the smoker. I usually add a gallon or so of water and
- poor a beer into the water. The water is important but the beer is more of a
- superstition than anything else.
- The same recipe works on trout as well except you use the whole fish instead of
- filleting it.