I picked up piece of Copper River salmon at Costco.
So what am I looking at? Brine for a few hours and smoke at 180 or something?
I have never smoked a fish.
For hot smoking, I’ve done a dry spice rub overnight, washed rub off the next day, and then smoked on the Big Green Egg at 225 for a few hours. Turns out really awesome, and it’s super easy. The one thing I’ll say is that you don’t really need Copper River Salmon (or other great salmon) to make this turn out great. I’m a huge salmon snob normally, but with smoking salmon I usually go with the big Costco Atlantic Salmon fillets, which work great for this purpose. I’ve never done cold-smoking which is a little harder at home, at least with the equipment I have.
So Ryan,
You don’t wet brine?
I suppose a rub is like a dry brine.
225 for a few hours long - how do you know it’s done?
I’m not entirely sure what these guys are smoking – but it seems possible that those might be salmon?
I agree that Copper River as feed stock for smoked salmon is overkill. A good piece of fatty Atlantic farm raised salmon works great. I use 1/2 cup of soy sauce, 1/8 teaspoon of powdered ginger, 1/8 teaspoon of ground sage, and a pinch of cayenne as a brine for about 12 hours. Out of the brine, pat dry with paper towels, and dry on a rack in front of a fan until the fish shows a flat, dry surface, and continue until the fish shows a bit of a sheen. You want the salmon to have no surface wetness, or it dries out when smoking. Smoke at 180 to 200 for about an hour for a full side. I like Alder wood as a smoking wood. Cherry or Apple works good also. I would avoid hickory or mesquite, as they are overpowering.
I used to do a wet brine but got lazy and just started doing a rub. A full wet-then-dry brine process will probably yield ideal results, but it turns out so good regardless of what I do to it, it’s easy to get lazy.
It’s really a judgment call when it’s done. I like to cook it longer – at 200 or 225 for 4+ hours – so it develops a nice firm texture and good smoky flavor. I agree with Richard that Alder wood is ideal, but I’ve used cherry and pecan and they’ve been good too. I also agree with Richard that you should avoid hickory and mesquite (in fact, I don’t really like smoking with either of those for much of anything I smoke).
If so, they’ll soon be seeing
Ok.
So I have the salmon in a brine, kosher salt, brown sugar, lime.
I know Copper River is over kill but it was there and we bought on impulse.
I have read you want to pat it dry, let it air dry (undernkitchen fan) to develop a pellicle (sheen).
I plan to smoke at 210 with sliced lemon and onion on top on foil.
No alder so I’ll use cherry wood.
Soooo…we will see…
I like a pack of 3 or 4 parts brown sugar and 1 part kosher salt. Pack it on the salmon in the fridge for four hours, take off the pack and let it air dry in the fridge for a few hours and then put it on the smoker. Not original with me, got it from somebody a few years ago on ebob.
I use a dry rub as well, making sure it spends some time uncovered in the fridge to develop the pellicle… I use the cameron indor smoker to great effect here. See this thread:
Not to single you out Richard, but I disagree. Farmed Atlantic salmon is crap, both gustatorily and environmentally
Second that. Any good piece of wild sockeye is what you want. Since you are doing a hot smoke I personally like to pull it when the internal reaches 140.
.
good point 140 is without a cure.
You can count me as a non-salmon person- but going to give smoking one a whirl.
Jay- one of the beauties of the smoked salmon is that it expands to so many dishes adding not just protein, but dimension. That is one of the reasons I like to do it without the cure, I find it more neutral and flexible that way when you have leftovers. For example a few things I did with smoked salmon leftovers this past week-
homemade mac and cheese with a touch of lemon aioli, salmon, and peas (daughter loves it)
hummus wrap with fresh roasted corn/chile salsa and salmon (sweet, spicy, smokey play)
curried red lentils and salmon
eggs benedict
Though “hot” smoked salmon is good…I much prefer cold-smoked…but, it seems that this thread is about how to “hot” smoke salmon?
I will try to keep mine on the low side- say 180-200…
Cold smoked really has to be much lower…if you’re responding to that…like 120-125…max…or it will cook.
I do a dry brine, for which I can post the recipe later, but it’s basically 2:1 brown sugar to kosher salt, with black pepper, granulated onion, granulated garlic, and a pinch of allspice. Fillet the salmon, pack the dry brine on top, then press the fillets together and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Leave in the fridge for 6 hours to overnight. Then rinse, and let air dry until the surface it tacky.
I smoke on the BGE at 150ºF~180ºF using red alder. If I want a slight sweetness, baste with a mix of run & maple syrup every half hour. This for 2-2.5 hours.
I agree with the above about avoiding farmed salmon, however I also avoid King because I believe it’s a waste for smoking. When Copper River Sockeye is at Costco for $6.99/lb or whatever we smoke large quantities, vacuum seal and freeze it. Great fish and a killer deal at that price.
