That and you guys really need to give a recipe a try which Tom supplied. The stuff disappears faster than I can catch fish and make it. My change below. Original has teriyaki sauce in place of the worcestershire and syrup and the addition of some powdered ginger. I didn't have that so subbed the worcestershire and syrup. Both are versions are great, my slight preference is below. Probably the best smoked salmon I've had to date. With fresh pinks, you would not be able to decipher from any other salmon other than the size of the fillets. Below is roughly enough to double layer fillets in a 9x11 glass baking pan. I needed to make threes times the recipe to brine 6 fish in a ceramic crockpot dish.
1-1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup kosher/non-iodized salt
4 teaspoons course ground pepper
2 teaspoons lemon pepper
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
2-3 bulbs minced garlic
4-5 bay leaves broken into large chunks
Blend the dry ingredients. Add the wet and minced garlic and bay leaves. Stir until a consistent slurry. Cover fish with mixture and put in refrigerator for 8-12 hours. Remove fish, place on racks. Don't rinse or pat dry the fish after removing from the brine (I do pick off any bay leaf pieces). There is not a lot of salt comparatively, so they don't get too salty at all. This leaves the tops of the fish speckled with cracked pepper and garlic and the remnants of the sweet brine. Amazing.
Allow to sit with a fan on them for 2-4 hours to form pellicle (longer the better). Smoke at 180-200 for 2 or more hours until desired doneness. I use alder or a mix of alder and apple chips.
