Simple Smoked Trout/Salmon Brining Suggestions?
- Thread starter Old406Kid
- Start date
My uncle who lived in Oysterville, Washington used a very simple brine that I adopted. People always comment that my smoked fish is never too salty. In the morning you are going to smoke the fish, fill a large bowl of cold water. Gently drop a raw egg in the shell into the water. Add Kosher salt (he used non-iodized pickling and canning salt) and stir until the egg barely floats. I transfer the water to other bowls that accommodate the amount of fish that I am going to smoke. Save the egg for later. Put the filets into the brine and leave for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on thickness. For most steelhead or salmon, I use longer times. Remove the fish from the brine and place on paper towels covering cookie sheets. DO NOT RINSE. Allow to sit until a pelicile forms on the fish. Sometimes I sprinkle a little brown sugar on them (my cousin says that is blasphemy) or a small amount of garlic salt and pepper. Put on as much as you would want to eat. Put fish into the smoker. I use a Big Chief smoker with one pan of Traeger pellets but someday I need to build one of his smokers. My uncle always said that the critical part was to now cook the egg for breakfast…
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I use this guys super simple recipe, and it comes our really fricking good every time. As he mentions, developing the pelicile is key. I do mine under my fan on my patio for 4 hours before smoking. Unless of course it's above 60 or below 32...then I do it in the fridge which I then try and do overnight and smoke in the morning. He likes birch syrup, but that has been tough for me to find in Yakima, so I just use pure maple.
honest-food.net
How to Smoke Salmon - Smoked Salmon Recipe | Hank Shaw
Step by step instructions on how to smoke salmon at home. This is a hot smoked salmon recipe. Use king, silver, sockeye, pink, chum or Atlantic salmon.
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Pink Nighty
Life of the Party
Here to second @James St. Clair .... the most important part of smoking any brined meat is a proper rinse and drying cycle. Fans help, but time is the ultimate path. 24 hours with drainage underneath it. Its about flavor concentration and texture and you won't be disappointed
Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm assuming that BS and KS would be brown sugar and kosher salt.
Paige
Wishing I was fishing the Sauk
Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm assuming that BS and KS would be brown sugar and kosher salt.
You are correct
Thanks, that sounds super easy.
Paige
Wishing I was fishing the Sauk
Note the beautiful, red color, which is why I prefer dark brown sugar.
If you like it a little less sweet, try coconut sugar. It pulls the moisture out more quickly too, so the brining time required is lessened.
or water to something you're trying to take water out of? I mean I understand osmosis (in principle) but why reduce the osmotic pressure?Why would you add liquid smoke to something your going to smoke, make no sense to me
JACKspASS
Life of the Party
Why would you add liquid smoke to something your going to smoke, make no sense to me
I like my chums with liquid hickory, just a personal preference....don't hate
