NW Outdoor Explorer

With the ocean salmon season underway and Buoy 10 just around the corner, it is time to free up some space in the freezer.  How better to do that than with my #1 smoked salmon recipe?  This recipe has already been covered in my previous blog posts, you just need to search for it.  In short, this is the brine recipe;

7 Cups of brown sugar
2 Cups of salt (non-Iodized)
¼ Cup course black pepper
¼ Cup crushed red pepper – I bumped this up to 1/2 cup for a little extra kick
¼ Cup garlic salt

You then add 2 cups of Yoshida Teriyaki sauce to the top and let juice.

I let it juice for 18-24 hours then smoke for 6-8 hours.

Anyway, the batch turned out great as the picture shows.  Ate quite a bit and put some back in the freezer.  I know I said making room in the freezer, but smoked salmon takes up much less room.  Especially when half gets eaten before you can vac-u-seal it  🙂

This is part three of a three part post. Be sure to continue to the other posts for the full process.

Continued from yesterday……

This part of the process takes the most time.  Be ready for a long day to monitor the smoking process and adjust as needed.

I pull the fish out of the brine, drain and put on racks to dry for an hour or so.  I do not rinse the meat like some others do.  Let dry long enough for the liquid to start to form a glaze on the top.

You don’t need high heat.  110-130 is perfect if you are using a smokehouse or smoker that you can regulate the temp.  I use a traeger and the average smoke temp is about 150.  For me, it is perfect for a set it and forget it setup.  I have not had any complaints.  🙂  Smoke for a minimum of 6-8 hours, but time can vary quite a bit depending on outside temps.  During the colder winter months, I have to wrap an insulated blanket around my traeger to keep it from getting too cold on smoke mode and shutting off.  There is a learning curve in determining when it is done as the fish is moist and not dry.  It will usually bubble some fat up and get flaky.  I know by touch.  I try to put like thickness pieces together so I can take individual racks out when they are done and leave the others.  I use hickory pellets in my traeger and the flavor is pretty tasty.  You can use any flavor wood of your choice.

When done, remove from the smoker and let rest.  At this point, it is extremely difficult for me to resist snacking.  🙂

I put the finished product in a container and refrigerate over night before vac-u-sealing and freezing.

This is part two of a three part post. Be sure to continue to the other posts for the full process.

Continued from yesterday……

Now, the salmon has been thawed, de-boned and sliced, it is time for the brine.  Again, this recipe can be found with a simple Google search.

This is the recipe that won the Fish Alaska Challenge a few years ago.  It was judged amongst several hundred entries and won by a mile.

Here is the dry brine.

7 Cups of brown sugar
2 Cups of salt (non-Iodized)
¼ Cup course black pepper
¼ Cup crushed red pepper – I bumped this up to 1/2 cup for a little extra kick
¼ Cup garlic salt

Yoshida’s original

Thoroughly mix the dry rub in a big bowl.  Use a separate waterproof container with a lid to brine the salmon.  One that you can turn over and upside down.  I use a five gallon bucket but it can be smaller.  Start layering the fish.  First layer is skin down and flesh up.  Liberally (I use about two cups between layers) spread a layer of dry brine over the flesh side then lay another layer of fish on top of the dry brine but place this layer flesh down or flesh against flesh.  Continue to layer skin to skin and flesh to flesh. You only need to use the dry brine between the flesh sides.  Continue till finished, then add 2 cups of Yoshida’s sauce to the top of the bucket and close.  If you can keep in a frig great… if not, its ok.  I leave it in the garage or outside if it is colder out but not in heat.  Turn the bucket upside down every couple hours as liquid forms.  I’ll let soak for 18-24 hours.  I think I like to soak 24 or even a little more if the fish is borderline thicker.

Continue to Step 3 post……..

This is part one of a three part post. Be sure to continue to the other posts for the full process.

I am about to reveal my newly discovered super secret smoked salmon recipe.

Well, it is not that secret.  A simple Google search for ‘Award Winning Alaska Smoked Salmon’ will expose the recipe.  It was actually shown to me by my friend Jason.  The secret part is how I tweaked it to my preference and what I use to smoke it.

This is a several day process and I will walk you through it one day at a time.  Step 1 is the meat selection, thaw, de-bone and slice to prep for brine.

I prefer Chinook (King) salmon when I smoke it.  The oil rich meat makes for a super moist finished product as compared to the other species of salmon I have tried.  Spring Chinook is the holy grail of smoked salmon in my opinion.  The oil content is so high, it is just dripping with oil when I pull it out of the smoker.  At first, I refused to smoke spring Chinook because it seemed like such a waste to not just cook it up and eat it.  I have since been enlightened.

I always de-bone all of my filets when preparing to smoke.  I have found it easier to pull the pin bones after the meat has been frozen, so I will almost always freeze the salmon first.  I have a pair of kitchen needle nose pliers that are my tool of choice when pulling the pin bones.  It takes a little practice to squeeze just hard enough to pull the bone without pinching it off.  I am still practicing.  🙂

Now it is time to slice the filet into strips.  Because the Chinook usually tends to be extremely thick across the back, I cut it into 1″ slices to get the right brine/smoke to meat ratio.  If you cut it too thick, it starts to get more like cooked salmon than smoked and if you cut it too thin, it gets more like jerky.

Continue to Step 2 post……..