Hey all,
I just wanted to post a great method for curing/smoking salmon. I started with a beautiful skinned Costco Norwegian farmed salmon filet of 3 lbs. I cut the filet into 2" wide strips across the grain, then used a wet brine for 12 hours. The brine recipe was:
1/4 cup of kosher salt
1 cup of dark brown sugar
1/2 cup of grade A maple syrup
1 quart of water
I took it out of the fridge in the morning and washed each piece under cold water then placed it on drying racks after sprinkling with coarse black pepper and put a fan on it for 2 hours.
I brought my BGE up to 150 and used 1"X4" pieces of almond for the smoke (about 6).
I was able to maintain a grill temp of around 148-156 for the first 2 hours and basted the fish with more maple syrup when it had been on 2 hours. It was smoked to an IT of 135/140 and I let the grill temp creep up to 190 during the last hour of the cook. Total cook time was 3.5 hours. I also basted the fish in maple syrup once more just before removing it from the egg.
I let it rest for 30 minutes before putting it back in the fridge, but I had to taste it before it went back and I gotta say this was some perfectly smoked, mouthwateringly good stuff. There was just the right amount of sweet/salt/smoke flavor for my taste, and I can't wait to make another batch!
Thanks for listening and for all the help you all offer here on SMF!
BB
I just wanted to post a great method for curing/smoking salmon. I started with a beautiful skinned Costco Norwegian farmed salmon filet of 3 lbs. I cut the filet into 2" wide strips across the grain, then used a wet brine for 12 hours. The brine recipe was:
1/4 cup of kosher salt
1 cup of dark brown sugar
1/2 cup of grade A maple syrup
1 quart of water
I took it out of the fridge in the morning and washed each piece under cold water then placed it on drying racks after sprinkling with coarse black pepper and put a fan on it for 2 hours.
I brought my BGE up to 150 and used 1"X4" pieces of almond for the smoke (about 6).
I was able to maintain a grill temp of around 148-156 for the first 2 hours and basted the fish with more maple syrup when it had been on 2 hours. It was smoked to an IT of 135/140 and I let the grill temp creep up to 190 during the last hour of the cook. Total cook time was 3.5 hours. I also basted the fish in maple syrup once more just before removing it from the egg.
I let it rest for 30 minutes before putting it back in the fridge, but I had to taste it before it went back and I gotta say this was some perfectly smoked, mouthwateringly good stuff. There was just the right amount of sweet/salt/smoke flavor for my taste, and I can't wait to make another batch!
Thanks for listening and for all the help you all offer here on SMF!
BB
