Found a good deal on Salmon filets. Should have bought more:
View attachment 109773
The brine was 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, 1/2 cup terbinado, and two heaping Tbs of Hawaiian sea salt to a quart of water:
View attachment 109774
The un-trimmed filet. Hence the low price:
View attachment 109775
The cleaned-up filet. Skinned it, trimmed it, and removed the pin bones and cut out as much of the blood line as I could on the skin side:
View attachment 109776
Cut into portions:
View attachment 109777
Into the brine and covered with a plate to keep the portions submerged. Placed in fridge overnight. Brine time was about 20 hours:
View attachment 109778
Placed brined filets on paper towels over old Bullsheet pages to dry for 3 hours in the open air. Made sure there were no flies in the house before leaving for a few hours. This step is important as it allows for a pellicle to form on the fish.
View attachment 109779
Into the Big Chief electric smoker. I've had this thing at least 25 years and only needed to order a new pan once. This smoker is my dedicated fish smoker as I don't want fish oils or any such seasoning in my other pits. It's worked great over the years. I have no idea what temp. this thing runs at. I know the flavor wood does generate additional heat at is burns down. Today, we went through a pan and a half of apple wood chips and the outside temp was 70:
View attachment 109780
The finished product after 3 hours in the smoker minus the belly pieces lost to the chef while checking for doneness.:grin: I decided to glaze and thought to myself "why not use the brine?" So, I reduced 2 cups of the leftover brine down to a syrup. Never tried this before but the syrup actually was tasty. Sweet, salty and a little fishy. It probably would have been too salty if more salt had been used for the brine. Bring to a low boil and skim a few times to remove foam and flotsam. Be careful as it boils over easily.:clap2:
View attachment 109781
Bagged two for the freezer and one for later in the week minus all the snacking this day:redface:
View attachment 109782
Thanks for checking out my post.
View attachment 109773
The brine was 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, 1/2 cup terbinado, and two heaping Tbs of Hawaiian sea salt to a quart of water:
View attachment 109774
The un-trimmed filet. Hence the low price:
View attachment 109775
The cleaned-up filet. Skinned it, trimmed it, and removed the pin bones and cut out as much of the blood line as I could on the skin side:
View attachment 109776
Cut into portions:
View attachment 109777
Into the brine and covered with a plate to keep the portions submerged. Placed in fridge overnight. Brine time was about 20 hours:
View attachment 109778
Placed brined filets on paper towels over old Bullsheet pages to dry for 3 hours in the open air. Made sure there were no flies in the house before leaving for a few hours. This step is important as it allows for a pellicle to form on the fish.
View attachment 109779
Into the Big Chief electric smoker. I've had this thing at least 25 years and only needed to order a new pan once. This smoker is my dedicated fish smoker as I don't want fish oils or any such seasoning in my other pits. It's worked great over the years. I have no idea what temp. this thing runs at. I know the flavor wood does generate additional heat at is burns down. Today, we went through a pan and a half of apple wood chips and the outside temp was 70:
View attachment 109780
The finished product after 3 hours in the smoker minus the belly pieces lost to the chef while checking for doneness.:grin: I decided to glaze and thought to myself "why not use the brine?" So, I reduced 2 cups of the leftover brine down to a syrup. Never tried this before but the syrup actually was tasty. Sweet, salty and a little fishy. It probably would have been too salty if more salt had been used for the brine. Bring to a low boil and skim a few times to remove foam and flotsam. Be careful as it boils over easily.:clap2:
View attachment 109781
Bagged two for the freezer and one for later in the week minus all the snacking this day:redface:
View attachment 109782
Thanks for checking out my post.
Last edited: