Tommy Armour’s Smoked Salmon
Tommy Armour's Smoked Salmon
Author: Tommy Armour Snoqualmie, WA
This is a basic but fantastic way to smoke salmon to perfection every time! An uncomplicated system that in my humble opinion yields the best results when followed step by step.
Ingredients
- 1.) Gently wash fish
- 2.) Take fillets and cut the flesh vertically, down to the skin
- (but not through the skin).
- 3.) Next prepare your brine -You'll need the following ingredients:
- 4 cups (dark) brown sugar
- ¾ cup canning & pickling salt
- ¼ cup Johnny's seasoning salt
- 3 tablespoons coarse fresh ground pepper
- 10 cloves of garlic
- 4 tablespoon teriyaki sauce
- Now mix it all together in a bowl.
Instructions
- )To brine the fish: Cover the fillets completely with the dry brine mixture in
- a non metallic bowl or pot.Place the first fillets in the bowl skin side down,
- and then alternate them so the fish lays flesh to flesh and skin to skin (with
- plenty of brine in between). Cover the bowl and place it in the fridge for
- about 8 hours. Now remove the fillets from the fridge and very gently remove
- any excess brine from the fillets with your fingers(I usually do this over the
- sink and am very careful to handle the fish gently).
- ) Drying out the fish prior to smoking - I place the fillets on just enough
- foil to keep the fish from dripping all over my smoker for easy clean up, then
- put in a cool place for 4 to 5 hours with a fan set on low blowing on the fish.
- I usually do this in the garage in winter (the fan aids in drying and as an
- added benefit keeps any bugs away).
- ) Smoking the fish: Preheat your smoker to get it up to temperature (150 to
- for the first 2 hours) then bring it up to 200 for the last 3 to 4 hours.
- Put the rack of fish into your smoker (make sure you leave plenty of room for
- smoke to get between the fillets).
- Add your Alder chips to get it smoking (I
- soak my Alder chips in beer for 1 hour
- then drain thoroughly before placing in smoker).
- Typically I smoke my salmon 5 to 6 hours (again it is important not to
- let the temperature get over 175 for the first 2 hours then I raise it to 200
- for the remaining 3 to 4 hours. I will use 3 bowls of Alder chips during
- smoking and allow times where no smoke is coming out of the smoker so that the
- smoke flavor doesn't over power the taste of my wild salmon.
- ) Before removing salmon from smoker you want the internal temperature to be
- so that any parasites etc. that may be in the fish are rendered
- harmless.This may require you to raise the temperature at the very end of your
- smoke.
- ) Now that the fish has reached the 165 degree temperature I turn the smoker
- off, take the lid off for a few minutes to let the heat escape, replace the lid
- and let the fish rest a few hours to cool. Next remove it from the smoker and
- place it the fridge for a day or two.
- I then savor some of this delicacy and
- finish the experience with a cigar
- (usually a Partagas D #4 is an appropriate pairing 🙂
- Enjoy!
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