Home-Smoked Salmon

I love smoked salmon! For years I toyed with the idea of smoking salmon myself so I could control the sodium level, quality, and flavor. And last year while visiting a friend, I had the opportunity to try making and eating fresh home-smoked fish --- what a WOW experience! I arrived home, ready to quit toying with the idea and try my hand at it.


My friend used a specialized electric smoker, but I decided to start off more simply... using my outdoor gas grill. I searched the Internet for recipes and techniques, and I experimented with them whenever local salmon went on sale. What follows is my current recipe. Feel free to change it up so it tastes the way you like best!

It takes about 5-7 hrs total time to make, although most of that time is spent waiting, not working. The breakdown of time is as follows:

       ½ hr preparation + ½ hr brining + 2 hrs drying + 2-4 hrs smoking

Anne's Home-Smoked Salmon

• Brine (use about 1 cup per side of salmon):
  
  • 1 cup of lukewarm water
  • 2T kosher salt
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1+ teaspoon minced garlic (fresh tastes best, but dried is ok)
• Wild salmon fillets.
  
• 2-3 handfuls of wood chips - alder, mesquite, etc. If you use the chips for BBQing that are available at the grocery or other stores, they'll be fine. If you get wood at the lumberyard, make sure it's untreated.

Carefully bone the salmon. First, wash a pair of needle-nose pliers. Then run your finger across the salmon side, feeling for the pin bones. When you find one, use the pliers to grasp it and pull it out. The bones are in there at an angle, so be sure to pull at the same angle, or else you'll rip the flesh.


Then you have a choice --- to leave the salmon fillets whole, or to cut them up. When serving, I like to present a whole side of salmon, but for brining and smoking and freezing, it's easier to work with smaller pieces. So I'll often cut a side of salmon up for smoking and then reassemble it for serving (you can see an example of this in the first picture).

Next, simmer the bay leaf (or leaves) in a little additional water while making the brine. To make the brine, add the various ingredients to the lukewarm water and stir until dissolved. Then add in the bay water & leaves.


Place the salmon in the brine in a glass or plastic container. Since the salmon tends to float, if it all fits in one layer, I place it skin side up so the flesh will be in contact with the brine. Otherwise, if you need to layer the salmon, place the fillets face-to-face and back-to-back to help keep scales off the the flesh. If necessary, place a small plate on the salmon to weigh it down. Allow the salmon to brine for 30 minutes. If you prefer your salmon saltier, brine it longer.



After it's brined to your satisfaction, remove the salmon from the brine, rinse well (but don't scrub the fish!), and pat dry. Allow the salmon to dry on racks (I use cookie racks) over cookie sheets (to catch any drips) in a cool place in the open air for at least 2 hrs (a basement is a great place to do this). No guarantees, but I read that, because the fish has been brined, it won't spoil. As the fish dries, its surface gets kind of tacky --- perfect for capturing little smoke particles!


Soak the wood chips in water for the last half hour of the fish's drying time. About 5 minutes before the drying time is done, place a handful of wet wood chips in a smoking box¹, and place the box directly on one burner on one side of the grill, under the grate. Turn on only that one burner. Set it to medium/high for about 5 minutes to get some smoke going and then adjust it back to medium or low. Adjust the setting as needed to achieve a low temperature (200 – 300 degrees).


Oil a cooling rack and place the salmon on it, skin-side down. If you like pepper, sprinkle some cracked black pepper on the fish. Place the rack on the cool side of the grill and close the lid. If you have more racks of salmon than will fit on the grill surface, I've found it possible to stack them, using other grill accessories like a warming or shish-kabob rack.


Check on the salmon every 15-30 minutes or so and add more wet chips to the smoking box as needed (i.e. if it doesn’t seem very smoky). After an hour, start testing the salmon for doneness and take it off the grill when it reaches 165 degrees. The length of time it takes will depend on the grill temperature.


Serve immediately or cool to room temperature, wrap tightly and then either refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze in an airtight bag.

Enjoy!

--------------
¹ A smoking box is a small metal box with holes in it and a removable lid. I found one in the BBQ section of the hardware store for a few dollars. You can also use an aluminum foil pouch with holes punched in it, instead. Just put the wet wood chips in the box or pouch, place it on or near the burner and, voilà... smoke!