# Grandpas Brine Recipie for Smoked Fish



## erain (Oct 6, 2008)

seeing all the posts on smoked salmon in the past week and havin inserted this recipie in a few i thought why not just post it by itself. this is my grandfathers brine recipie which he used for many years and passed down to me when he taught me how to smoke fish when i was a youngster. i have seen many brines but i still use this one. enjoy!!!

Grandpas fish brine

10 qts water
2 3/4 cups pickling salt
1 cup brown sugar
2 Tbls garlic salt

mix all ingreds in water till dissolved, put fish in a crock, or glass bowl and make enough brine to cover fish. large fish soak 24 to 48 hours. small pieces 12 to 24 hours. rinse well with fresh water and dry with towel. place on racks with fan blowing on it and allow pellicle to form. 2-3 hours.
i like to rub a little brown sugar on meat side of fish. i generally do fillets,halves with spine on oneside, or chunks butterflied. smoke until thickest parts just begin to flake and all will be done. i smoke at lower temps til color is where i like it and then bump up heat to 250ish till it just starts to flake.


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## grothe (Oct 6, 2008)

Thanks Erain...thinkin of trying salmon this weekend. Let ya know how I do.


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## cowgirl (Oct 6, 2008)

I have this saved to my favorites...looks like a winner E, Thanks!


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## pitrow (Oct 6, 2008)

very similar to the brine I use, except I do mine dry. Just brown sugar, salt and crushed garlic. Over the years of trying many fancy brines, I have found that the most simple is the best. No need to overpower the fine taste of the salmon. Just a little bit of sugar and garlic to help bring out the taste and you're good to go!


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## gobbledot (Oct 6, 2008)

cowgirl is ther a way to save these good recipes in favorites in here on the SMF or do you save them to a file outside SMF? I save alot of these too but i have a folder outside here and didnt know if there was a place in SMF to save them. Thanks..


I am going to try this brine. My dad just returned from Alaske with about 200lbs of silver filets so I am going to try to sneak a few... thanks erain. One more quick question. What is pellicle and what does it do (color)? This is just another stupid East TN hillbilly question.. Thanks all..


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## pitrow (Oct 6, 2008)

It's kind of a sticky/tacky film that forms on the surface as it's air drying. It helps hold in flavor and juices, and makes the smoke flavor stick better. At least that's my understanding of it.


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## gobbledot (Oct 6, 2008)

Thanks, I didnt have any idea what it done.


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## joneser (Oct 6, 2008)

Gobble, I think she was talking about bookmarking them in her browser. Most browsers use Ctrl+D to save them in your bookmarks/favorites...
This way you can have them at your fingertips without searching the forums. Hope that's what she was talking about....that's the way I read it. :D

I'm going to have to try Grampas brine next time I do fish....Thanks E!


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## richtee (Oct 6, 2008)

The pellicle is coagulated dried proteins on the surface of the meat made more pronounced by the osmosis action of the brine/cure. And it does essentially what he said. Helps hold the smoke flavors and also helps retain moisture inside the meat. Once the proteins have coagulated, they are only partially water soluable, trapping some moisture within the cut. Also they are not fat soluable, allowing the major portions of the oils to not be oxidized by sitting in the warm oxygen atmosphere of the smoker.


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## erain (Oct 6, 2008)

thks RichT,pitrow, picture hammer striking nail squarely!!!(hit tha nail on the head)


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## cowgirl (Oct 6, 2008)

Thank you Joneser! That is exactly what I was talking about.


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## solar (Oct 6, 2008)

Thanks for sharing that recipe, I'm making a copy.  I like the salt to water ratio, to many brines seem to make Salmon way to salty.


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## dreegle1 (Dec 27, 2011)

Thank You :D Underway....


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