# 1st time smoked salmon



## Nitty (Aug 3, 2022)

I kept it very basic.  Rubbed with salt and brown sugar.  Refrigerated for an hour.  soaked up the moisture with a paper towel.  Smoked at 225 for about 1 1/2 hr.  I was worried it was going to be too salty and it was.  I was able to eat it and liked it but less salt would have been better.  The recipe I followed said 2-4 lb fish but didn't give a range for the salt/sugar so when I only had 2 lb fish I should have backed down the salt/sugar and didn't.  I did enjoy it, just a little salty.  With the leftovers I made a butter/garlic pasta to try and mask the salt a bit which helped and it was really good.  Also, I only have hickory pellets at the moment so that's what I used.  I've personally never had anything off my pellet smoker that I felt was too strong so the hickory on fish worked for me.  I use pit boss pellets in the hopper and a tube with 100% hickory in the box.  1st pic is a fresh filet and one with the salt/sugar applied.  2nd pic is after refrigerating and soaking up the moisture.  3rd pic is right off the smoker.


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## gmc2003 (Aug 3, 2022)

Looks good, I use a wet brine for hot smoking and a dry brine for cold. If you think it's going to be to salty before you smoke the salmon. Then you can always give it a cold water soak for an hour or two.

Point for sure
Chris


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## cmayna (Aug 3, 2022)

Nitty,
Looks good from here. What was the ratio of salt vs brown sugar?  I use a 4/1 ratio of dark brown sugar / non iodized salt, but I smoke at a lower temp (125 to 160).


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## Nitty (Aug 3, 2022)

gmc2003 said:


> Looks good, I use a wet brine for hot smoking and a dry brine for cold. If you think it's going to be to salty before you smoke the salmon. Then you can always give it a cold water soak for an hour or two.
> 
> Point for sure
> Chris



Good to know.



cmayna said:


> Nitty,
> Looks good from here. What was the ratio of salt vs brown sugar?  I use a 4/1 ratio of dark brown sugar / non iodized salt, but I smoke at a lower temp.



It was 1 tbsp salt and 2 tbsp brown sugar.  And it was called for on 2-4 lbs of fish which I only had 2 lb so I guess I should have cut it back.


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## cmayna (Aug 3, 2022)

Yup,  no harm in experimenting.  Just make notes so when you do it again, you can go back to see what you did.


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## millerbuilds (Aug 3, 2022)

I have had that issue in the past, If I am hot smoking, I will either wet brine or not brine at all and use a very small amount of salt in my rub.  If I wet brine, I do not add any salt to the rub.

- Jason


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