# Smoked Salmon(Hot appetizer style)



## gmc2003 (Jun 5, 2020)

Well my brother-in-law and his friends went fishing on Lake Champlain the other day, and caught about 8 nice salmon and 4 trout.  He was nice enough to give my wife and I a couple of the salmon - already cleaned. Since the weather was perfect and I needed a reason to fire up the kettle I thought why not.

First the salmon fillets:






Now the other one:





Into the brine for 2 hours.
Brine = 1 gal. water, 2 cups kosher salt, 1 cup dark brown sugar, juice from half a lemon, 1 tablespoon each of onion and garlic powder. Let the water reach room temp and mix in all the other ingredients until dissolved. Slice the fish in half, and place them into the brine solution. Put a plate on top of the fish to ensure they stay submerged. Cover the brine in plastic wrap and place it into the fridge for 2 hours.

The salmon reintroduced to water.





Plated and ready for the fridge.






After 2hrs remove fish from the fridge and place on a cooling rack. Pat dry with a paper towel and set the fish on the rack into the fridge to from a pellicle.







Fire up the Kettle, and let it settle in at 250*. I'm using the SNS and left over charcoal from the previous nights chicken for this cook.  Toss in a good size hunk of apple wood and a couple of hickory chips for - well just because. Sprinkle the salmon with a couple twists of ground pepper from the mill.







After a few hours the salmon get a nice tan and the meat is good and flakey.







One final shot because it was on the camera:







No plating this meal. The wife and I just picked at the fish while watching a movie. I froze four portions for later eats.

Thanks for taking a look. Oh by the way...I forgot to mention I smoked these with the skin on. Only one skin stuck to the grate and the fish flaked off the skin easily when done.

Chris


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## 2Mac (Jun 5, 2020)

I love smoking salmon almost as much as Ribs.
Nice work.


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## Smokin' in AZ (Jun 5, 2020)

Great job Chris, they look really good....and I don't even really like salmon.   

Big Like!

John


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## SmokinVOLfan (Jun 5, 2020)

Looks great Chris! Glad to see the kettle fired up again after the winter/spring hibernation. Hope the PBR's were flowing as well.


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## smokerjim (Jun 5, 2020)

looks delicous Chris, lot's of good eats there.


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## Bearcarver (Jun 5, 2020)

Nice Job, Chris!!
Love Me some Smoked Salmon & Trout !!
Like.

Bear


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## chopsaw (Jun 5, 2020)

looks great bud . Smoked salmon always looks so good , but I've never had it .


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## GaryHibbert (Jun 5, 2020)

Beautiful color on  the fish, Chris.  Nice job.
Gary


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## yankee2bbq (Jun 5, 2020)

That looks good. I saved the brine recipe. The family loves fresh caught rainbow trout. Going to try this one for sure!


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## Winterrider (Jun 5, 2020)

That salmon wouldn't last very long around here. Love it !work
 Nice work


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## 6GRILLZNTN (Jun 5, 2020)

Heck yea Chris!  That's some fine looking salmon.

Dave


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## Inscrutable (Jun 6, 2020)

Looks great. I don’t wet brine fish for fear of turning mushy ... how was the texture? Sounds like that was still good(?)
Might have something to do with being fresh caught(?)


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## gmc2003 (Jun 7, 2020)

2Mac said:


> I love smoking salmon almost as much as Ribs.
> Nice work.



Thanks 2Mac, Next to brook trout salmon is our favorite fish for eating. 




Smokin' in AZ said:


> Great job Chris, they look really good....and I don't even really like salmon.
> 
> Big Like!
> 
> John



I know what you mean John. I'm that way with mushrooms. I hate the things but some of the dishes I seen with them, almost makes me want to try them again. 

Thanks for the likes guys appreciate them.

Chris


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## gmc2003 (Jun 7, 2020)

SmokinVOLfan said:


> Looks great Chris! Glad to see the kettle fired up again after the winter/spring hibernation. Hope the PBR's were flowing as well.



Appreciate it John, It feels good to be grilling and smoking again. No PBRs this day. I paired the salmon up with a few ice cold Narragansetts.  



smokerjim said:


> looks delicous Chris, lot's of good eats there.



Thank you Jim for the like and kindly words. They did turn out good. I was going to make a dip with half of them, but by the time we finished eating there wasn't enough left over.

Chris


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## gmc2003 (Jun 7, 2020)

Bearcarver said:


> Nice Job, Chris!!
> Love Me some Smoked Salmon & Trout !!
> Like.
> 
> Bear



Thanks John, I think I read somewhere that Bears are partial to salmon. 



chopsaw said:


> looks great bud . Smoked salmon always looks so good , but I've never had it .



You need to remedy that Chop. Its a really simple dish that makes for some good eats. 

Appreciate the the likes also guys.

Chris


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## gmc2003 (Jun 7, 2020)

GaryHibbert said:


> Beautiful color on  the fish, Chris.  Nice job.
> Gary



Appreciate it Gary. They do take on a nice tan. 



yankee2bbq said:


> That looks good. I saved the brine recipe. The family loves fresh caught rainbow trout. Going to try this one for sure!



Give it a whirl Justin - it works for trout as well as salmon. 

Thanks for the nice words and likes guys appreciate them.
Chris


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## gmc2003 (Jun 7, 2020)

Winterrider said:


> That salmon wouldn't last very long around here. Love it !work
> Nice work



Thank you muchly Winter, for only two people here there wasn't much left.



5GRILLZNTN said:


> Heck yea Chris!  That's some fine looking salmon.
> 
> Dave



Thanks Dave really appreciate the kind words.

Chris


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## gmc2003 (Jun 7, 2020)

Inscrutable said:


> Looks great. I don’t wet brine fish for fear of turning mushy ... how was the texture? Sounds like that was still good(?)
> Might have something to do with being fresh caught(?)



Thanks Inscrutable, the brine works well for frozen or fresh fish. I haven't experienced any mushy textures yet(knock on wood), just remember that fattier fish can be brined longer then leaner fish.

Chris


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## gmc2003 (Jun 7, 2020)

kruizer
 and 

 Watson
 thanks for the like appreciate them

Chris


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## Bearcarver (Jun 7, 2020)

gmc2003 said:


> Thanks John, I think I read somewhere that Bears are partial to salmon.
> 
> Chris



Yup!!
Best Bear Bait known to Man!!

Bear


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