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Alder Wood Hot Smoked Salmon

Smoked salmon is one of my absolute favorite foods, but it is god damn expensive for good quality. Now that I own a smoker, I can make smoked salmon for a fraction of the price. But what type of salmon do you want to smoke? Farm raised Norwegian Salmon is my favorite. It is rich and fatty and ideal for smoking. If you want to try something similar to Norwegian salmon but a little bit fancier, I would recommend using king salmon. Sockeye, coho, and keta salmon can also be smoked, but they have less fat content and tend to be a little dryer. That’s really up to what you are looking for.

I purchased a whole side of salmon and cut it into 4-6 oz fillets. They will take less time to smoke this way instead of leaving the fillets whole. They got put into a basic brine of sea salt and brown sugar for 4 hours. After that, pat them dry with paper towels. They will need to dry out more in the refrigerator for another hour. If you want to have a specific flavor to the salmon other than plain, season them now. I seasoned half with gochugaru pepper and the other with minced garlic and cracked black pepper.

Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Once smoking, throw in the salmon and turn down to 225 degrees. Using a probe thermometer to monitor the internal temperature, smoke until the fillets reach 150 degrees. This will take about 90 minutes. Pull the salmon from the smoker and let cool for 15 minutes before serving. The salmon will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week; 6 months in the freezer.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Brining Time4 hours hrs

Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Snack

Keyword: appetizer, electric smoker, fish, main course, snack

Author: Alex

Equipment

• Electric Smoker
• Probe Thermometer

Ingredients

• 3-4 lbs farm raised salmon fillet cut into 4-6 oz fillets

Brine

• 1/2 gallon water
• 1/2 cup sea salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Gochugaru Smoked Salmon

• gochugaru pepper flakes

Garlic Pepper Smoked Salmon

• 1 head garlic minced
• cracked black pepper

Wood Chips

• alder wood chips

Instructions

• Mix the brine ingredients together.
  
• Place the salmon fillets in a gallon sized storage bag with the brine. Brine the salmon for 4 hours.
  
• After brining, pat the salmon dry with paper towels. To make gochugaru smoked salmon, season the fillets with gochugaru pepper. To make garlic pepper smoked salmon, spread a layer of minced garlic over the salmon fillets. Season with cracked black pepper. Let the salmon dry out more on a rack, in the refrigerator for an hour.
  
• Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Once hot and smoking, place the salmon in the smoker. Turn the smoker down to 225 degrees. Using a probe thermometer to monitor the internal temperature, smoke until the salmon reaches 150 degrees. This will take around 90 minutes.
  

Tips For Smoking Salmon

• Farm raised salmon works best for smoking.
• Cut a whole fillet into 4-6 oz portions to allow for faster smoking time.
• Brine salmon fillets for 4 hours, max.
• Pat dry fillets with paper towels. If adding additional seasoning, do so now. Allow to dry out more on a rack in the refrigerator for an hour.
• Alder wood, cedar, applewood, cherrywood, hickory, and peach wood are all great for smoking salmon.
• Maintain a smoking temp between 200-225 degrees.
• Using a probe thermometer to monitor the internal temperature, smoke until the salmon reaches 150 degrees. 
• Let rest for 15 minutes before serving.