SMOKED SALMON or STEELHEAD SMOKER RECIPE
SMOKED SALMON or STEELHEAD SMOKER RECIPE
Author: Dixon Brown Bend, Oregon
This is a dry brine that I find makes a wonderful smoked fish. This recipe will produce a fish that is almost candied.
Ingredients
- 1.25 cups non-iodized salt
- 3 pounds dark brown sugar Mix dry ingredients in bowl.
- This recipe was plenty to smoke 4 average size (28 inch) steelhead.
- Adjust the quantity to the amount of fish you are going to prepare.
Instructions
- Place fillets or pieces of fillet into a non reactive baking dish.
- Pack each layer of fish with generous quantity of the sugar and salt mixture.
- Cover the dish and refrigerate.
- Rotate (every 12 hours or so) the fish and make sure that it is covered with the mixture.
- The fish will exude all the moisture the brine needs
- and will eventually be covered in a thick briny ooze.
- Some of the sugar might not dissolve but that is normal.
- I usually smoke my fish after 48 hours using alder.
- I do not rinse my fish before I smoke it - I simply wipe off any excess ooze
- and place on the smoker racks.
- I smoke my fish in an electric smoker between 6 and 9 hours depending
- on the temperature outside, the temperature that is reached inside the smoker,
- and to the degree I want to smoke it.
- I stop smoking it when it looks dark and caramelized.
- When it is done let it cool in the smoker and remove.
- If I am going to freeze any of it I wrap it in saran wrap and place into ziplocks.