# First smoked salmon



## nomadd917 (Jul 3, 2017)

The wife wanted me to try some smoked salmon. Apparently she can only eat so much red meat. So went to Costco and bought 2 wild sockeye salmon fillets. I cut them into individual serving sizes.













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Decided to brine overnight in the fridge. Found a brine recipe online that consisted of salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, water, and a pinch of garlic powder.













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I'll be smoking the salmon in the morning using alder chips. Not sure what temperature to set the smoker at, how long to smoke it, or what IT needs to be for best results. I'm still researching these things.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Will post pics of the finished product tomorrow.


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## cmayna (Jul 3, 2017)

Though I use a dry brine for my Salmon,  I typically start the smoker at 125* for 1st hour,  bump to 135* for 2nd hour, bump to 145 to 3rd hour or until an IT of 140 is met.


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## nomadd917 (Jul 4, 2017)

Gave the salmon an ice bath at about 3 am and again at 4 am. I was worried about salmon being too salty. Then at 5 am set the salmon on my smoker racks to dry with a fan for a couple hours. Finished product tastes great. 

I got my AMNPS working great on this cook and ended up using my perfect mix cookinpellets. Had nice smoke during the entire cook by making some minor adjustments I read about here on the forum. Maybe I'll do the mailbox mod to use on longer cooks. 

Started at 125* and increased temperature every 30 minutes by 5* until IT of thickest piece was 140*.  Took about 3.5 hours to cook.













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Any critiques or pointers on doing this better?

Thanks!

Rob


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## dirtsailor2003 (Jul 4, 2017)

Like cmanya I dry brine (4:1 Brown sugar-Kosher salt) my salmon 6-8 hours. Rinse brine off then I season with whatever seasoning I want. Air dry to form a pellicle then smoke. I use the same step method for pit temp.


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