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Jul 26, 2021
2,176
8,943
Metro-Detroit
One of my favorite breakfasts (and I'm not a breakfast person) is a bagel with cream cheese topped with gravlax or smoked salmon, seasoned tomatoes, sweet/vidalia onion sliced thinly, and capers. The flavor combination is amazing and I could eat it regularly when I typically don't repeat many meals in a month if it can be helped. I hope you enjoyed the meal.

Any tips on smoking a salmon (aside from lighting the tail first)? I've got a smaller smoker that I play with (corn, steak, and bologna were suprisingly good) and am wanting to try salmon.
 

wolflarsen

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 29, 2018
842
2,341
Any tips on smoking a salmon (aside from lighting the tail first)? I've got a smaller smoker that I play with (corn, steak, and bologna were suprisingly good) and am wanting to try salmon.

Smoke fish at cooler temps than beef/pork/chicken. Around 160 F works great for salmon. You can get fancy with brines or dry rubs if you want to but a simple dark brown sugar and kosher salt mix in a 4:1 or 5:1 ratio is delicious. Cover fish fillets with sugar/salt mix. Refrigerate overnight. The dry sugar/salt mix should be mostly turned into liquid by morning. Do not rinse with water, just brush off any clumps of sugar/salt. Smoke over alder, cherry, or hickory. Catch another salmon and repeat.
 
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Jul 26, 2021
2,176
8,943
Metro-Detroit
Smoke fish at cooler temps than beef/pork/chicken. Around 160 F works great for salmon. You can get fancy with brines or dry rubs if you want to but a simple dark brown sugar and kosher salt mix in a 4:1 or 5:1 ratio is delicious. Cover fish fillets with sugar/salt mix. Refrigerate overnight. The dry sugar/salt mix should be mostly turned into liquid by morning. Do not rinse with water, just brush off any clumps of sugar/salt. Smoke over alder, cherry, or hickory. Catch another salmon and repeat.
Heard, thank you.

I've been debating trying to smoke salmon for the holidays. This helps.
 

troutface

Lifer
Oct 26, 2012
2,328
11,362
Colorado
Smoke fish at cooler temps than beef/pork/chicken. Around 160 F works great for salmon. You can get fancy with brines or dry rubs if you want to but a simple dark brown sugar and kosher salt mix in a 4:1 or 5:1 ratio is delicious. Cover fish fillets with sugar/salt mix. Refrigerate overnight. The dry sugar/salt mix should be mostly turned into liquid by morning. Do not rinse with water, just brush off any clumps of sugar/salt. Smoke over alder, cherry, or hickory. Catch another salmon and repeat.
Since I'm smoking whole fish rather than fillets, I prefer a simple brine. I use a ratio of 1 cup kosher salt to 1 gallon water and brine for 24 hours. I try to keep the temps low (170 or so) to give the smoke time to penetrate the skin before the flesh gets overdone. I'll mix in a bit of cherry with the alder, but found straight cherry to be too sweet on fish.
 
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LotusEater

Lifer
Apr 16, 2021
4,083
55,925
Kansas City Missouri
Took Friday off to visit one of my favorite high country lakes and was rewarded with some fat rainbows and cutthroats. Kept a couple cutts and smoked them over alder yesterday. Alder smoke and fish are a magic pairing. Some sweet onion, capers and a nice white wine make a simple, but wonderful meal.
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When I read a post like this I think
I’m probably doing something wrong in this life.
You on the other hand seem to be doing something very right! :)
 

hawky454

Lifer
Feb 11, 2016
5,338
10,220
Austin, TX
Beautiful Fall colors, reminds me of home. I grew up in Flagstaff with the Pine and Aspen trees, I have very fond memories there and one day I'd like to move back. The fish looks amazing too, man you've got it good!

I apologize if I missed it, where is that lake?
 
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