Maple sugar in hot smoked salmon cure?

[Omnivore]

Hi all,

I've been making a ton of smoked salmon lately and usually pack the fillets or strips in a dry cure of 1 part salt and 3 parts brown sugar. Once it's on the smoker I usually baste the fish a couple times with maple syrup. The maple pairs so well with the smoke, fat, and salt of the salmon. The downside has been that I have to open the MES a couple times during the relatively short cook, and also that the end product is a little more sticky and wet than I'd prefer for a snack on-the-go. Not a huge deal but at this point I can't consider it the "perfect" recipe. Fast forward to Cmayna's post on Salmon Nuggets (which looked sooo delicious) and I started cubing the salmon into little bites and vac-packing for the husbands lunches - which he LOVES. Since these little chunks of salmon are kind of a PITA to brush with maple, I was thinking I could replace the brown sugar in the cure with maple sugar. If the flavor is there, it would solve having to open the MES numerous times, the sticky maple texture, and no time spent basting tiny pieces of fish.

So I guess my questions are: Is maple sugar interchangeable with brown sugar? Can I save a few bucks and make my own maple sugar? If I skip the sugar, can the raw salmon absorb actual maple syrup in the cure?

 

[bradger]

i think substituting sugar for the syrup would not be a problem, since brown sugar contains molasses.
I often use brown sugar in my dry rubs.

 

[Millwright98]

Yup... I'll use pure maple syrup instead of the brown sugar ( in a wet brine) .. sometimes I'll use both.... never an issue..I wouldn't hesitate to use maple sugar in a dry brine instead of brown.. you can also try basting the fillets once you have let them dry and the pellicle form, and letting them air dry a little bit longer before smoking... add a sprinkle of fresh cracked black pepper....then into the smoker....I've never found repeated bastings added to more flavor, just a more sticky finish...If you sprinkled the fillets with maple sugar while smoking it will probably candy up better!
Maple sugar is expensive! you can make your own, but it takes hours of careful time on the stove with low heat and continued stirring, and the yield will be a fraction of the syrup you start with.

Best of luck! Cheers.