King Salmon Smoke

[ND PHOTOGUY]

    Did a King Salmon smoke this morning from my trip up to Alaska this past July. It was a fairly small amount of fish, but I kind of like doing it like that...smaller amounts as I need it.
    My brine consisted of four parts dark brown sugar to one part kosher salt. I place ed the salmon in a ceramic dish and covered the pieces completely with the mixture. It is then covered with plastic wrap and placed in the refrigerator overnight. It's amazing, it all goes into the fridge dry, but comes out looking like it's sitting in brown liquid tar. Well, it's then rinsed off in cold water and set at room temp for 90 minutes to form its pellicle. Into the smoker with 2.4oz of apple at 190 degrees for approximately 2 hours bringing it up to an internal temp of 155 degrees. It's then glazed with some pure maple syrup and ready to go! I did a little taste test (as I normally do) and it was excellent! This series of photos follows this King Salmom from the waters of the Nushagak River in Alaska to my kitchen counter. On to the next smoke...

 

[swthorpe]

Wow!  Great job, Ken!  I am planning to try salmon soon and your process looks like the perfect plan. 

 

[Grampy]

Ken, I do not care for the taste of salmon but that is a nice catch!

 

[NDKoze]

Looks awesome Ken!

 

[Pork Belly]

Very Nice!

 

[DivotMaker]

Beautiful fish, Ken!!  Nice job! 8)

 

[ND PHOTOGUY]

Thanks for the nice comments everyone. I've learned so much from all the forum members in a short period of time. I'm having a blast so far!

 

[DivotMaker]

Posts like this are what we live for, Ken!  Sure glad to have you in the family!   Keep it coming!

 

[SconnieQ]

Ken, that is exactly the same way I do my salmon. Same brine ingredients/proportions, timing, drying and smoking temp. The only thing I experiment with is the internal temperature. My favorite is to pull it at about 135. Still really moist and fatty at 135. Last time I smoked it to 145, which seems to be a common temp on this forum and elsewhere. A little more firm than 135, but still delicious. You are fortunate to have salmon from Alaska. King is by far the best. I used to order Yukon River King Salmon from FishEx (Alaska seafood company), but it has gotten way too expensive. Often around $50/lb...when you can get it.

 

[ND PHOTOGUY]

    Kari, I can't take credit for the brine, or the whole process for that. I came across this particular process while doing a YouTube search last year. I came across several different brines that I tried, but this was the one that really caught my taste buds attention. 
    Yes, these King Salmon have an amazing taste. They literally melt in your mouth. I've been very fortunate to be able to travel up there these past two years. Season limit on Kings is four fish, but at their size, I end up coming home with about 50lbs of fillets. More than enough to keep my Model#1 and Weber grill busy for the coming year! 
    PS: by the way, our guide Brent (pictured in the photo behind me) is a middle school teacher/coach from Wisconsin who's been guiding up in Alaska during the summers for the past fifteen years.

 

[SconnieQ]

Cool that Brent is a fellow Sconnie. I think I ended up with that brown sugar to salt ratio from youtube videos also. I've tried dry brines with various other spices and herbs added, but truthfully, I like the plain brown sugar and salt one the best. I just want the clean flavor of salmon. I probably watched an insane amount of youtube videos on the topics of both hot-smoked and cold-smoked Salmon (Lox). I have made Lox on a few occasions, and it has been really successful using the cold smoke plate from SI (easiest to do in the winter though when outdoor temps are low). I enjoy both styles. My next project is smoking whole trout, which I have not researched yet, but is on the list.

 

[swthorpe]

I have two salmon steaks that will be prepped tonight for the smoker tomorrow...following Ken's recipe.  My wife is not a big fish eater, so I hope this all works out!

 

[ND PHOTOGUY]

Hey Steve, please let me know how it turns out. I feel confident that you are going to be pleased. Make sure you give the fillets a good cold water rinse after taking them out of the brine. Oh, and it's fine to take them out of the smoker at an internal temp of 145 degrees if you'd like. It ends up being whatever your personal preference dictates.

 

[swthorpe]

Thanks Ken, will do.  I took them out of the brine this morning...lots of moisture in the dish!  They are sitting out now forming the pellicle.    I will have them on the smoker later this afternoon.  Did you add and seasoning to the salmon...salt/pepper, etc before smoking?  I am also going with a bout 2oz of apple.  Looking forward to the results!

 

[ND PHOTOGUY]

Steve, I typically add some coarse ground pepper while the pellicle is forming. I didn't add pepper to this last smoke, but I almost always do so.

 

[swthorpe]

Salmon steaks turned out great!  Smoked for 2 hours at 185F until reaching an IT of 150F.  I did drizzle lemon juice on the salmon and applied a light coating of Jeff Phillips rub.  My wife and I really liked the way these turned out...great taste!

 

[gregbooras]

Steve the steaks looked like they turned out great!

Greg

 

[Pork Belly]

Those look great! A tip on Salmon steaks for when you want to look fancy. Trim the skin off one side of the belly tuck it into the body cavity, wrap the other belly section around and tie with butchers twine. It will form a nearly perfect circle, you may need to trim a bit of belly meat. The steak will be held solid and cook evenly this way, it also looks great on the plate.