First time smoking salmon

[Lewy]

Ok, hoping to make candied salmon, wanted to keep it simple first time so did it like this.
Froze the fillets (pinks) for a couple of weeks then thawed and removed pinbones. Cut the fish into chunks, .
Did a dry brine 4kg demerera sugar 1kg kosher salt.
Brined 24 hrs. Rinsed off chunks and hung on racks for about 18hrs. Smoked 6 hrs in my Big Chief using apple and alder.
Fish is ok and tasty enough but way more salty than sweet, in fact a little bit too salty.

What can I do better next time?

Thanks guys

 

[JuandeOne]

Cut down on salt - more like 5-1 or use bigger pieces. The surface area on small pieces really sucks up the salt. Otherwise, everything else you did looks on par.

 

[scott craven]

Sounds like a huge amount of brine. How many pounds of fish ?
I wet brine mine in small batches 4-1 Demarrara to coarse salt for
2-3 days. Air dry for 12 hours and smoke for 3-4 hours at 140 degrees

 

[gone fishin]

What kind of salmon are you smoking?
Springs are best. Coho dry and pinks...well some say they smoke up ok.
If dried out candied salmon is what you are looking for, best to cut back on your salt and add maple syrup to your sugar brine. I feel 12 hours in the brink is enough. drain off the liquid, dry and smoke for about 12 hours. Length of time depends on the temperature. You will test several methods, time in the smoke house and temperature before getting it to your personal liking. Smoked salmon is all about personal preference.

 

[Lewy]

What kind of salmon are you smoking?
Springs are best. Coho dry and pinks...well some say they smoke up ok.
If dried out candied salmon is what you are looking for, best to cut back on your salt and add maple syrup to your sugar brine. I feel 12 hours in the brink is enough. drain off the liquid, dry and smoke for about 12 hours. Length of time depends on the temperature. You will test several methods, time in the smoke house and temperature before getting it to your personal liking. Smoked salmon is all about personal preference.

I can my springs, eat my coho smoke the pinks.

 

[Lewy]

Sounds like a huge amount of brine. How many pounds of fish ?
I wet brine mine in small batches 4-1 Demarrara to coarse salt for
2-3 days. Air dry for 12 hours and smoke for 3-4 hours at 140 degrees

About seven pinks, filleted. There was just enough dry brine to cover all the fish, I put it in layers. The pieces were maybe too thin in places?

 

[kingspring]

My ratio is 6 or 7 cups Demerara to one kosher salt
18 to 24 hr brine, swirl it around once in a
while once liquid forms

Rinse very well in cold water

Allow to dry till peliclal forms on surface

I still use a big chief, one pan alder, then finish with one and a bit of cherry, change after smoke is gone

Then I finish in oven on convection at 175 till done - your call on that.

I like some moisture in the finished product.
Always a wimnner and simple and not salty

 

[Viking]

I recently tried putting chille flakes in the brine. I really liked it!
4 cups brown sugar, 3/4 cup salt, 3 cloves garlic, 1 cup real maple syrup, 4 cups water, onion powder, chille flakes.
48 hr brine. 24 hr dry in fridge on racks. 10 to 12 hr smoke in little chief ( not very hot)
Experiment, see what you like. Some people add whine too

 

[Rain City]

About seven pinks, filleted. There was just enough dry brine to cover all the fish, I put it in layers. The pieces were maybe too thin in places?

Your salt has to be based on the volume of fish. The easiest way to do that is to dry brine, "salting" each layer of fish as you go. Then be generous with the sugar after that. Layer by layer. Look up Reeltime's recipe on here or YouTube.

 

[Ringo]

Your salt has to be based on the volume of fish. The easiest way to do that is to dry brine, "salting" each layer of fish as you go. Then be generous with the sugar after that. Layer by layer. Look up Reeltime's recipe on here or YouTube.

Reduce the salt to sugar ratio and make sure you give the brined fish a thorough rinse under cold water. Good tips in this video.

 

[Lewy]

Reduce the salt to sugar ratio and make sure you give the brined fish a thorough rinse under cold water. Good tips in this video.

yeah I guess I could have rinsed it off better, I just dipped it in a bucket of water. Oh well, next time, bigger chunks, less salt, rinse well.

 

[Rain City]

yeah I guess I could have rinsed it off better, I just dipped it in a bucket of water. Oh well, next time, bigger chunks, less salt, rinse well.

I don't rinse at all. Get the salt right and it's not necessary

 

[Lewy]

I don't rinse at all. Get the salt right and it's not necessary

the video guy didn't use much salt at all. Oh well, next time.

 

[JWS]

I only use a 4:1 sugar/salt ratio when doing bigger chunks of salmon. Small candy/jerky size I cut it down to 6:1

 

[Ringo]

I’ve found that the Indian salmon candy is a lot of work and it’s definitely not cheap either. I use good quality maple syrup in wet brine and baste the fish a couple of times. Because of that, I only use the oily fat chinooks for that recipe and it’s super popular in my house. Chunky springs are also a bit more forgiving on the taste balance. This is a batch that I did last week with a marble chinook. Pics of the fish chunks after the wet brine with a 6:1 ratio and maple syrup for 18 hrs and also the final product photo.




Try Reeltime’s recipe with a 6:1 ratio and see if you like it better. Smoking salmon is all about trying different things and finding the balance of taste that you like most.

 

[Lewy]

I only use a 4:1 sugar/salt ratio when doing bigger chunks of salmon. Small candy/jerky size I cut it down to 6:1

Thanks man, noted.

 

[chille51]

I have been doing 5:1 and 12-16 hours in the dry brine last couple times, as I don't like it too salty. That was with Chinook but I'm going to do a mixed batch of springs and Coho next weekend. Ratio and length of time in the brine are the levers I use to control how salty it gets. And rinse well.

 

[Samnjoe]

IMO wet brine is the way to go.
Dry brine is too inconsistent for me. Also for small fish like pinks 24 hours in the brine is too long. 8 to 12 max. I have a great liquid brine recipe. Just did 45 pounds of spring then used the same brine the next night for about 25 pounds of tuna bellies.

 

[scott craven]

IMO wet brine is the way to go.
Dry brine is too inconsistent for me.

I agree unless continually turning pieces, you won't get the same coverage
with a dry brine.

 

[scott craven]

On a side note, I find frozen fish are not as good smoked as fresh.
The frozen product has a softer flesh as compared to fresh smoked.