The Texas BBQ Forum

One of our favorites.

Brined salmon filets for three days, cold smoked with cherry. And combined all ingredients to make the spread. Made a whole bunch this time for a party.

The brine:
For one filet about a foot long
4 Tbs kosher salt
8 Tbs Brown sugar
1 Tbs ground black pepper
A bunch of dill (don't skimp on dill)

The process:
Put about 1/3 of salt, sugar, and pepper in the bottom of a pan
Place the filet skin down on the mix
Put rest of mix on the meat side and cover with the chopped dill
Cover with clear wrap
Put another pan on top and put a bunch of weight on it
Place in the fridge for a day
Turn the filet over (meat down), put the weight on it and back into the fridge for two more days
Remove from brine and rinse well

It's actually ready to eat as gravlax but I like to cold smoke then remove the skin.

Ingredients for spread
6 boiled eggs
3/4 cup fine chopped red onion
3/4 cup capers
16 oz Philly cheese
Black pepper to taste

Looks sooooo good! Now that I have this masterbuilt electric, I can get some REALLY low temp smoking done for some salmon juuust like this!!

No doubt the taste will be awesome but I am always blown away by the detail, dedication and perfection that, you Sir, put into efforts like this - - - -

That smoked Salmon looks spectacular Egg
I got to try that someday.
Is that Farmed raised Atlantic Salmon
The color of the meat looks like it could be Sockeye also.
Bill

bondobill wrote:That smoked Salmon looks spectacular Egg
I got to try that someday.
Is that Farmed raised Atlantic Salmon
The color of the meat looks like it could be Sockeye also.
Bill

It's wild caught salmon. I prefer wild caught over farm raised.

Started another, but smaller, brine this morning.

egghead wrote:

bondobill wrote:That smoked Salmon looks spectacular Egg
I got to try that someday.
Is that Farmed raised Atlantic Salmon
The color of the meat looks like it could be Sockeye also.
Bill

It's wild caught salmon. I prefer wild caught over farm raised.

Started another, but smaller, brine this morning.

Probably Alaskan caught Sockeye. I see that's been available here for a while.
I bet you got to pay a pretty price for that in your parts. I saw fresh Sockeye at my grocer yesterday was either 12.99 or 13.99 a lb. Excellent choice !!!!
Your fillets after smoking look awesome, the texture of meat looks perfect.
Just wondering...do you air dry them before they get smoked

Bill

I cooked up a fillet of scokeye red, along with a couple of pieces of halibut saturday evening. Both wild caught in Alaska, the Seward area. And my buddy is back there now. So hopefully a frest batch coming back soon.

bondobill wrote:

egghead wrote:

bondobill wrote:That smoked Salmon looks spectacular Egg
I got to try that someday.
Is that Farmed raised Atlantic Salmon
The color of the meat looks like it could be Sockeye also.
Bill

It's wild caught salmon. I prefer wild caught over farm raised.

Started another, but smaller, brine this morning.

Probably Alaskan caught Sockeye. I see that's been available here for a while.
I bet you got to pay a pretty price for that in your parts. I saw fresh Sockeye at my grocer yesterday was either 12.99 or 13.99 a lb. Excellent choice !!!!
Your fillets after smoking look awesome, the texture of meat looks perfect.
Just wondering...do you air dry them before they get smoked

Bill

I don't air dry - should I?

I rinse under cold water real well. Then soak in some ice water back in the fridge for about an hour so it won't be too salty.

I can get the wild caught at Sam's for $12+/lb. our local grocer is about $1/lb more.

egghead wrote:
I don't air dry - should I?

Anything I cure for smoking, I always allow a period to air dry. Rinse it off and give it a few hours or longer if you got time to do so. Allows all the proteins that were drawn out to get together and mingle again. You'll feel the surface get tacky. This is good! Helps smoke stick. Bacon and hams i usually air dry for at least week after curing. Salmon may not require that long though. Lol!

egghead wrote:

bondobill wrote:

egghead wrote:

bondobill wrote:That smoked Salmon looks spectacular Egg
I got to try that someday.
Is that Farmed raised Atlantic Salmon
The color of the meat looks like it could be Sockeye also.
Bill

It's wild caught salmon. I prefer wild caught over farm raised.

Started another, but smaller, brine this morning.

Probably Alaskan caught Sockeye. I see that's been available here for a while.
I bet you got to pay a pretty price for that in your parts. I saw fresh Sockeye at my grocer yesterday was either 12.99 or 13.99 a lb. Excellent choice !!!!
Your fillets after smoking look awesome, the texture of meat looks perfect.
Just wondering...do you air dry them before they get smoked

Bill

I don't air dry - should I?

I rinse under cold water real well. Then soak in some ice water back in the fridge for about an hour so it won't be too salty.

I can get the wild caught at Sam's for $12+/lb. our local grocer is about $1/lb more.

Y'all pay less for Salmon then we do up here.
You may not need to air dry ....looks to me like you got it down pat my friend.
I always air dry the fillets before I smoke. But we have a lot cooler weather up here. I let them sit out all night in my shop before they go in the smoker. Air drying creates a sheen on the top of the fillets which helps during the smoking process to stop most of the oils and fat from bubbling out the top of the fillets during the smoking.
After you take them out of the cold water bath set the fillets on your kitchen counter....I would quess your home is AC'd. Pat dry with a paper towel. If you have a small fan direct the blowing air over the fillets. The air movement helps speed up the drying time. youll start to see a sheen forming on the fillets after a hour or two. After the sheen forms the fillets should have almost a sticky dry feel to them. At that point is when I put them in the smoker.

You are having awesome results with out air drying so you might want to take the approach of "don't fix it if it ain't broke"

Bill

New batch but dried like BB suggested

> Dried with fan for two hours and yes it developed a shiny sheen
> Cold smoked for two hours
> Gathered up stuff and put together spread

It's excellent. The primary difference is texture. The batch that was not dried turned out to have a smooth texture as it pretty much fell apart. The one that was dried was firm and came came out chunky. I like the chunky but if I was bringing as an appeteezer to a get together I would go for the smooth texture and bring a bunch of plain crackers

Those fillets are a work of art Egg Beautifull !!!
Looks like they are ready to eat before the smoke. Ive got to try your recipe and method

Bill

Once again, trying to claw my way through this screen to get to the goods.

Can you eat that kind of salmon once it's cured or does it need smoking?

BB - it is ready to eat after brine

Sailor - sure can eat after brine. I've eaten straight out of the brine several times. The smoke is a cold smoke just for smoke flavor.