1st Try at Salmon

[baseballguy99]

My wife has been asking me to fix her some Salmon for a while now (I don’t care for it). So last week I stopped on my way home from work one morning and picked up a couple of chunks of skin on salmon from Schnuks.

It was a balmy 16deg that day!

I followed the 4:1 ratio of brown sugar and salt. Put the 2 pieces in a pan and covered with the rub. I then put some foil over it and put it in the fridge for about 5 hours.

Here it is fresh out of the brine and rinsed off before going back into the fridge for about an hour to dry.

After about an hour in the fridge, I put it in front of a fan to dry some more while I fired up the smoker and lit the AMNPS (1 row with cob/hickory blend).

After the MES30 was preheated to 125 and the TBS was flowing, I put the salmon in the smoker. I did 1 hour at 125, 1 hour at 135, and finished at 145 until the IT was 140.

Here it is in the smoker after the first hour.

It took just over 3 hours to hit 140. Perfect timing for supper. When I brought it in, my wife was asking all kinds of questions and doubting that it would be any good! She said I don’t want it to be sweet and where is the seasoning... I will let the next picture speak for how she liked it!!

As soon as she took 1 bite, she asked when I was making it again and she called her mom to tell her that she will have to come over for salmon some time. She said the only time she has had better salmon was when they went to Alaska and had it fresh!

The other piece was vacuum sealed and frozen for later consumption.

 

[markh024]

Always a good day when the misses is happy. Great job, looks delicious.

 

[cmayna]

Looks fantastic. Congrats

 

[myownidaho]

Nicely done!

 

[swampsmoker]

Looks good! Nothing like some good ol smoked salmon.

 

[azbohunter]

Good job, smoking salmon is my favorite right behind catching salmon! Yours looks very good!

 

[SonnyE]

She must have not liked it much...
She only ate one of the pieces. :confused:

You don't like Salmon?
I'll take your piece!
The one you Vacuum sealed may have a more smokier taste later.
The smoke flavor gains character in storage.

Congratulations on what sounds like a very successful smoke!
It looks delicious to me. :D

I do a 1-cup of Salt, to 4 cups Dark Brown sugar as my brining rub. Simple, old fashioned cure. Sound like what you do?
I used a Pyrex glass baking dish for mine, covered with cling wrap plastic.
(Incidentally, Rings Я Us (Johnny B), shared a link with me about how to make my own dark brown sugar, you might like to add this to your bookmarks: Make your own Brown Sugar. Invaluable for the bottle of Molasses back on the shelf. Make your own fresh brown sugar.) ;)

I use Costco plastic Salmon from the freezer case. It's just easier for me because my wife hates fish. And she don't care for smoked meat either.... But, she's a keeper, in spite of her faults. LOL.
And I used Alder for my smoke, but like hickory the best.

Smoke on! Sounds like you hit a winner!

 

[baseballguy99]

I also used a Pyrex dish, but used aluminum foil. I used 1 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup of salt since I only had 2 small pieces.

She only ate 1 piece because she is on one of those so called “diets”!

 

[browneyesvictim]

Homerun! That old-school ratio is all I ever use for salmon. Its so simple and there is no other need for anything else. Yours looks as close to perfect as you could expect. Congratulations!

And just remind your wife that that salmon there is rich in Omega-3 Fatty Acids, and is the "Good" kind of fats your doctor wants you to eat more of. OOoo... That crispy belly fat on that edge she missed is like BUTTAH! Then again I like to fry the leftover skin up to a crisp in a little sesame oil and eat it too. :rolleyes:

 

[SmokinAl]

Your salmon looks fantastic!
Salmon cooked just about any way is a big favorite around here.
Personally I'm a big lox fan & I could eat lox 7 days a week.
Anyway your salmon looks delicious!
Great job!
Al

 

[SonnyE]

I also used a Pyrex dish, but used aluminum foil. I used 1 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup of salt since I only had 2 small pieces.

She only ate 1 piece because she is on one of those so called “diets”!

Something magical about that ratio.

I'm on a seafood diet,
I see food, I eat it.

My doctor strongly recommends Salmon. He said grilled salmon was the best for my cardio program.

 

[Geebs]

With the 1 cup Brown Sugar and 1/4 Cup Salt about how much water do you mix with that?

 

[baseballguy99]

You don’t mix any water. The salt will draw moisture out and liquify the salt/brown sugar.

 

[Geebs]

You don’t mix any water. The salt will draw moisture out and liquify the salt/brown sugar.

So all I need to do is put the salmon in a dish and mix the salt and brown sugar and pour over the top and let it brine for a few hours?

 

[SonnyE]

So all I need to do is put the salmon in a dish and mix the salt and brown sugar and pour over the top and let it brine for a few hours?

Watch dis....

Discussed are two old fashioned brining methods, wet and dry.
Book mark it. Refer back to it a couple of times. Enjoy your Salmon!
Dry Brining is the 1 part Plain Salt to 4 parts Brown Sugar.
I do my Salmon overnight (~15 hours), in the Fridge. The salt/brown sugar melts down and makes a liquid. Mix the salmon around once or twice and turn it over to get it evenly brined.

Also, Bear's got a most excellent recipe for Smoking Salmon.
I've used Bears recipe and got some of the best tasting salmon ever.
Because Bear takes you all the way to the finish line.
I have two variations I like: brushed with a bit of Lemon juice, and sprinkle a bit of Dill, then Vacuum bag it for Sous Vide. I say brushed, because it can stop my Vacuum sealer in it's tracks trying to fuse the bag if there is liquid along the heater zone.
I've been absolutely enjoying this recipe doing Sous Vide out of the freezer, with rice.
Delicious!