Article - How to smoke a salmon or steelhead

By
On
1/1/2010

This method of smoking fish comes courtesy of Larry Palmer. It is very simple and produces a fish that is not too sweet or too salty.

This brine recipe will work for 1-2 moderately sized fish or one large (20 - 30 lb) fish.

Take the fish and cut it into moderately sized pieces. Soak it in the following brine.

1/2 gallon warm water
1/3 cup salt
1/3 cup mollases
1 cup brown sugar
pepper for spice

soak fish in brine for 3-4 days
strain
put fish in towel and layer to soak up extra brine
put fish in smoker skin side down
smoke for 8-10 hours. The best kind of chips for fish is something mild. I have found that Alder or Apple are both pleasant.

This recipe works well for beef too! Add cracked pepper to the outside of the beef and smoke with hickory for a deeper flavor.