Good Eats: How to Properly Smoke Your Own Salmon

There is nothing better than being able to cook delicious meals from the comfort of your home. We have found four great smoked salmon recipes that are easy and will have you properly cooking your salmon in a smoker. For all these smoked salmon recipes, you will need either an electric smoker or a pellet grill/smoker. You will also need wood chips to aid in the creation of each of these recipes. If you are looking for a pure, clean flavor that’ll perfectly complement your salmon and the recipe you chose, Traeger Grills suggests you use Alder BBQ wood pellets. We hope you enjoy these recipes!

Simple Hot Smoked Salmon

If you love smoked salmon but don’t have endless hours to prep and cook, this is the recipe for you. With quick, easy, and to the point instructions, this recipe takes a total of 2 hours and 10 minutes to complete. This recipe was found on Saltpepperskillet.com and serves eight.

Ingredients

• 2-4 lb. Salom Fillet (pin bones removed)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon Kosher salt (diamond brand preferred)
• 2 cups of Alder or Applewood chips (soak in water for charcoal)

Instructions

1. Create the dry brine by mixing the sugar and salt in a small bowl.
2. Place the salmon filet skin down on a wire rack on top of a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle brine mixture over the entire filet to coat.
3. Place in refrigerator uncovered for 1 hour to 2 hours before smoking.
4. Set up your smoker for indirect cooking with a water bath and preheat according to the manufacturer’s instructions to 225 degrees.
5. While the smoker heats up, dry off any excess moisture from the salmon with paper towels.
6. When the smoker starts smoking and reaches 225 degrees, place the salmon skin down on a sheet of foil and transfer to the smoker.
7. The salmon is finished smoking when the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees. Begin checking for doneness after 30 minutes using a probe thermometer.
8. Remove from the smoker and rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Garlic Dill Smoked Salmon

The fresh garlic and dill flavors make this smoked salmon recipe a great addition to your next charcuterie tray or appetizer. This delicious recipe yields a whopping twelve servings and can be found on the Or Whatever You Do blog online.

Ingredients

• 2 large salmon filets

Brine

• 4 cups of water
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup kosher salt

Seasoning

• 3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Instructions

1. Make sure if you are using frozen fish that it is thawed thoroughly before brining. Remove pin bones with tweezers.
2. Combine brine ingredients until the sugar is dissolved, and place into a large Ziplock baggie or large covered container. Place your cleaned, thawed salmon into the brine, and refrigerate for 16 hours.
3. Remove the salmon from the liquid, rinse, and pat dry with paper towels. Let sit out on a rack in the fridge, uncovered, for 2-4 hours for the pellicle to form.
4. Season the salmon with the garlic and dill.
5. Turn your smoker to smoke to get the fire started, and place salmon on a cooking rack that has been sprayed liberally with cooking spray.
6. Place the rack on the smoker and close the lid.
7. Smoke for 4 hours. Make sure the smoker does not get above 180 degrees or fall below 130 degrees.
8. Remove from grill and serve warm with crackers, or let it cool to room temp and then wrap tightly and keep in the fridge for up to a week.

Maple Orange Glaze Smoked Salmon

This recipe has a prep time of 5 minutes, a cook time of 3 hours, and a total time of 23 hours and 5 minutes. Even though the total time might seem daunting, this smoked salmon recipe is worth every minute. The maple orange glaze makes for a delectable smokey taste that is a crowd-pleaser. We found this recipe on heygrillhey.com and it yields eight servings.

Ingredients

• 2-3 pound salmon fillet (cut into individual portions)

Curing Liquid

• 4 cups of cold water
• 1 cup maple syrup
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup kosher salt
• Zest of 1 orange

Maple Orange Glaze

• ½ cup maple syrup
• ¼ cup of orange juice

Instructions

1. In a glass baking dish, combine all the ingredients for the curing liquid and stir until the salt is dissolved. Gently submerge your salmon portions in the curing liquid, cover, and refrigerate for 8-12 hours. If your salmon fillets are thin, 8 hours should be enough. Thicker fillets will take 12 hours.
2. Remove the salmon from the curing liquid and transfer it to a cooling rack positioned over a cookie sheet. Place salmon in the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight to develop a pellicle.
3. In a small bowl, combine the maple syrup and orange juice and set aside.
4. Preheat your smoker to 165-170 degrees. Place the salmon on the grates skin down and smoke for 3-4 hours, or until the internal temperature of salmon reaches 145 degrees. Brush your salmon with the maple/orange juice glaze every hour while smoking.
5. Salmon can be served either warm or cold. Just flake the salmon and eat.

The Perfect Smoked Salmon

Justine, the author of the Typical Mom blog, presents this healthy, scrumptious smoked salmon recipe that will please the whole family. It is an easy recipe for individuals who have never smoked fish before, takes a total of about 2 hours to make, and serves six.

Ingredients

• 1 salmon fillet
• ½ cup of brown sugar
• ½ tsp paprika
• ¼ cup of sugar
• 2 tbsp of salt
• 1 tbsp of garlic powder
• 1 tsp chili powder

Instructions

1. Combine rub ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
2. Massage rub into the top and skin side of salmon fillet.
3. Add chips to the smoker by filling the container/drawer ¾ full.
4. Preheat your smoker to 225 degrees, lay fillet flat on a rack once it reaches this temperature for approximately 2 hours. Check at 1.5 hours to ensure all is going well.
5. Salt and pepper to taste at the end if you want more seasoning.
6. Enjoy!

We hope you enjoyed these smoked salmon recipes and that you now know how to smoke your salmon properly for optimal taste. If you have any smoked salmon recipes you would like to share with us, give us a shout at [email protected].

Happy cooking, friends!