Smoked Sockeye Salmon Recipe
People ask me all the time what my favorite way to eat salmon is, and smoking it is definitely up there. Smoked salmon makes a great app for dinner parties, as an addition to scrambled eggs in the morning, topped on salad, or even alone as a trail snack on winter ski tours. Below is my favorite recipe for smoking your own Slipstream Sockeye salmon at home.
This recipe calls for two sockeye fillets, however I always recommend doubling or tripling this recipe because firing up the smoker is a bit of a process and I go through the smoked salmon so fast!
What you’ll need:
Apple or cherry wood pellets for your smoker
Two sockeye salmon fillets
1/3 cup Kosher salt
1 cup brown sugar
Maple syrup
Black pepper
Instructions:
1. Rinse your salmon fillets in cold water, pat dry, cut into four pieces and place them in a lidded container (I use a glass Pyrex with the lid, it is perfect for brining your fish and storing the final smoked product.) Mix together your bring ingredients: the salt and brown sugar. Cover your fish with the brine mixture. You can stack two fillets on top of each other, just be sure to stack them with skin on the outside and the flesh side touching.
2. I recommend brining your fish for 24 hours, flipping your fillets over and spooning the brink mixture over the salmon every 4 hours or so. However, you can brine for as little as 12 hours if that is all you have time for or up to 36 hours. Length of time in the brine will affect how salty your smoked salmon is and give it that beautiful caramelized quality.
3. After your 24 hours in the brine, remove the fish, draining off the brine mixture (some people rinse the salmon however I like to leave the brine coating on for a sweet and salty affect, but play around and find what you like!) Let the fish dry for around 3 hours in a cold airy place. In the winter I let the fish dry outside, but you could also let it dry in a cool room with a fan. This step really helps the salmon develop that gorgeous shiny skin when it smokes.
4. Now, it is time to put your fish in the smoker. Although this is a hot smoked recipe, it is absolutely key to keep your smoker at a low temperature. Otherwise you will get what is called albumin (like a white film) on the meat, which is actually a liquid protein leaving the fish caused by too much heat, and it really dries out a fillet (in all ways of cooking salmon, not just smoking!) I start with my smoker at 140 to 150 degrees for an hour and a half and then raise the temperature to around 175 degrees for two hours. After this point, your salmon will be sufficiently smoked, however I prefer to smoke my salmon for up to around 6 hours for a more “candied” approach as it makes a great trail snack or charcuterie board addition.
5. As your fish smokes, baste it with maple syrup and grind black pepper on it every hour. This will also serve to brush away any albumin that builds up during the smoking process.
6. Your smoked salmon should keep for about 10 days in the fridge, or up to three weeks if it is vacuum sealed. You can also vacuum seal your extra smoked salmon and freeze it for later!
Enjoy, and don’t be afraid to play around with this recipe to tweak it for your personal preferences and your smoker!
