The saltiness depends on how you are using it. If you are making lox (cold smoked), you are using very thin slices tempered by cream cheese, bagels, tomatoes, etc. So the lox provides the salt. On it's own, it would be very salty. If you are hot smoking, then it brines for a shorter amount of time. But you would likely still be consuming with crackers, cucumbers, etc., so you have to keep that in mind. If you are tasting or eating your smoked salmon directly by itself, then it is going to taste salty. That is not usually how it is eaten, but if that is how you plan to eat it, then you should reduce the brine/cure time.
