How to Smoke Salmon Recipe

Recipe Ingredients:

• 10-20 lbs. Ed’s Wild Salmon, fillets
• 14 cups Salt
• 7 cups Brown Sugar
• 5 gallons Water
• 5 gallon Bucket
• Alder wood chips
• Smoked Salmon
• Ed’s Smoked Salmon
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Recipe Preparation:

Begin with either fresh for frozen wild salmon. Frozen is actually easier because some of the moisture is lost during the freezing and thawing process. If the fish is not already in fillets (visit our page on How to Fillet Fish) do it now and then cut fillets into even sized pieces (2 x 4 inch is ideal). Now you need to create your brine mixture of salt and brown sugar. If you like specific spices – go ahead and add them to the mixture at this stage. I suggest mixing the brine 2:1 salt to brown sugar but if you like a sweeter finished product adjust the the sugar content to your taste. For a full mixture of 5 gallons of water you will need to mix 14 cups of salt and 7 cups of brown sugar. This is enough brine for 20 lbs. of wild salmon or halibut. You must mix enough brine to completely immerse your fish in the solution. I suggest using a white, 5 gallon bucket for brining. Place the bucket into refrigeration and leave for two hours. Now you need to remove your fish from the brine and rinse it quickly under cold running water. Place brined portions onto your greased (we suggest a vegetable oil spray) smoking rack. Be sure to keep adequate space around each piece to allow the smoke to filter around the fish from all sides. Next place racked fish into refrigeration for a minimum of 12 hours, this allows the fish to cure. After you have cured the fish you are ready to smoke it. Start out as cool as you can and gradually increase your temperature to an internal temperature of 150 degrees (F) for 30 minutes. Remove rack from smoker and allow your finished product to cool. Your fish is now ready to be vacuum sealed or consumed. Remember that if you choose to vacuum seal your products that you MUST keep it frozen or refrigerated until you are ready to use it. Be sure to sanitize your smoking equipment after use.

Test your brine:

One way to tell if you have used enough salt is to float an egg in the mixture. If it floats then you have enough salt (about 80%).