Smoking Fish

[Jeff and Julie]

I hope that no one minds kind of going off topic but I see that there are so many fishermen on this site!
I am smoking up a batch of salmon today and it smells so good!
Does anyone have any good brine recipes that they would like to share?
I am using a recipe that my Uncle who lives up in Sitka gave me. It just uses brown sugar and salt for a dry brine. I hope it turns out good. What is the best way to tell when it is done smoking? I am still kind of hit and miss with this!
Julie

[Sneaks]

Check with my hero Alton Brown

[Jeff and Julie]

Thanks Sneaks! This one looks good too and I like the phone book/brick tips!

Julie

[rogerbum]

Here's the recipe I use. It's basically a mixture of good ideas I found on the web customized over several trials to my taste. I usually brine for 12-24 hours the allow the salmon to drain for 1-2 hours prior to smoking. I also like to use a little spray-on olive oil prior to placing it on the smoker and a few times while on the smoker. This keeps the fish from drying out and also provide a nice glossy coat. I usually smoke for 8-24 hours depending on thickness and outside temperature. I use a Little Chief smoker so the internal temp is fairly dependent on the outside air temp. I wrapped the smoker in insulated aluminized bubble wrap (from Home Depot) to help keep the temperature up a bit. Typically, I use apple or alder wood chips. This recipe is a bit more of a teriyaki flavor since it depends heavily on soy sauce for some of the salt.

Let me know if you try it.

Roger

1 C brown sugar
1/4 C non-iodized salt
2 C soy sauce
1 C water
1 C white wine
4 cloves garlic - chopped
1/4 small yellow onion finely diced
1 tsp chopped ginger

Brine for 12-24 hours. Let drain and dry for 1-2 hours. Spray with olive oil and smoke for 8-24 hours depending on thickness and desired texture. Longer brining and smoking results in drier (but longer lasting) fish.

[Jeff and Julie]

Thank Roger! This sounds great as I really like ginger. I think I will try this one next time since I am trying just the salt and sugar one this time.

Julie

[Cynthia - CLou]

Ask us NO secrets - We'll tell you NO lies...

Jon did smoke up a huge batch of his infamous smoked fishes on Friday. Besides his usual salmon, he also threw in some halibut - What a Treat! ! ! I'm surprised the local Puget Sound Brats didn't smell the smoke drifting to the east & sneak over this way...

Dusty...

C-Lou

[Pat Anderson]

I would not say this is off-topic at all...where is Red Fox's thread on Injun Candy, can somebody resurrect that one?

Anyway, I like a brine rather than a dry rub - the dry rub is certainly the old traditional way, oversalt and then get rid of the excess salt, that definitely will make sure you get the best preservation. But my smoked fish gets eaten up quickly enough so that I don't worry about that.

My recipe is at Birch Bay, so sort of winging it here:

1 qt water
1/4 cup non-iodized salt (Kosher salt, pickling salt, etc.)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons dark molasses
1 tablespoon onion granules
1 tablespoon garlic granules

Brine for at least 8 hours. Cover fish with brine in a plastic or glass container, cover with Saran wrap, refrigerate, turn over about half way through. Rinse briefly, pat dry with paper towels, let air dry on a rack for an hour before smoking.

[Jeff and Julie]

Thanks Pat! This one looks really good as well. We hope to do more fishing this year so I should be able to try out several recipes.

Julie

[UncleRichie]

Hi, heres another one.

2 cups water
1/2 cup soysauce
1 cup apple wine
1/4 cup salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1/2 teaspoon blackpepper

soak over night ,pat dry and smoke

I like to use cheery wood chips gives the fish a great flavor I cut the salt back some from the oraginal recipe

[Jeff and Julie]

Oooh, this one looks good also. Where would you get apple wine?

Julie

[C-Fisher]

The most important step I find that makes or breaks your smoked salmon is the drying period after the brine soak. This is when the coating forms that seals in the mosture. Keep checking the surface of the fish with your finger till it starts to become slightly tacky to the touch, it takes between 1-2 hours depending on conditions.

Just my added 2 cents to some great recipes

Wayne (C-Fisher)

[MOOSE]

Does anyone have any construction plans for building a wooden, offset firebox smoker, or is everyone using commercial varieties? I saw one on the north shore of Superior last summer that looked like a small outhouse. Perhaps it was that it brought back fond memories, but I kinda liked the looks of it.
Al

[Pat Anderson]

I don't, but I'll bet you could Google up a bunch of plans. Unfortunately, it is a Little Chief front loader for me, inexpensive (I think it was on sale at G.I. Joe for $49 or something). You can't cold smoke but it does the job very well for smoking / cooking of salmon, oysters, clams, sausage, cheese, etc.

On the chip side, I have been using hickory or apple sawdust, but I just brought some Tabasco barrel chips back from Avery Island and am hopefully going to test them out soon! These start out life as Arkansas white oak, are made into barrels for Jack Daniels, which uses them once, then they go to Tabasco, which uses them for 21 years, and then sells them off as smoker chips!

[Jeff and Julie]

We use a Big Chief smoker. We tried building a box around it to insulate it but found it smoked too hot after we did that. I would love to eventually have one that you could actually regulate the temp on but they look fairly spendy.

Julie

[Sea Wolf]