And of course I'm smoking them. First run was way salty...that was a wet brine and I must have mixed up the ingredients in the recipe...think I reversed the amount of sugar to salt.
Well I did my second batch last night and we have a winner! Used a dry brine from the Salmon University website. 1 cup salt, 4 cups dark brown sugar, and 10 teaspoons garlic powder. That's it. Let the brine sit on the fish at room temp for 4 hours, rinse the fillets just enough to get any clumps of brine off. Pat dry with paper towel and let them sit for another 4 hours and you'll see a glaze form over the fish. Then they are ready to smoke!
I don't use a traditional smoker. I have a drum type smoker/grill and I use lump charcoal made of hickory wood. For the first hour the temp is around 300 to 350, then it drops gradually to about 175-200. Last night they took about 4 hours and they came out phenomenal.
Here's the finished product. My wife and friends are very happy with me these days...LOL
I also baked a couple for my wife at 400 degrees for 25 minutes with maple syrup over the top of them. She loved those the most.
I think next I'll learn to can and make patties.
New to cooking salmon
Re: New to cooking salmon
For fillets, it is real easy to bake them in the oven or even on the grill. Just season a little with your favorites, let the fillet sit at room temps for about 30 minutes and put them in at 325 for about 15 minutes, a tad longer for thicker fillets. They are done as soon as the meat is no longer translucent, it goes quick so you need to be on top of it. The more you cook fish, the better at being able to judge how long to leave it in the oven/grill you will get. The trick is not over cooking it, you can always put it back in if it isn't done completely. If you steak cut salmon about an inch and a half to two inches thick, they grill up real nice. Similar principle, season, let sit at room temp for 30 minutes to an hour and grill until the meat can be separated from the backbone.