Smoked Salmon

Total Time: 20 hrs Preparation Time: 8 hrs Cook Time: 12 hrs

Ingredients

• 1 quart water
• 1/2 cup non-iodized salt
• 1/2 cup sugar ( or brown)
• 2 lbs boneless salmon fillets

Recipe

• 1 fill a nonmetallic container with 2 cups warm water. add salt and sugar and mix untill desolved. add rest of water ( cold ). this may be doubled if you need more brine.
• 2 cut the fillets into equal size chunks or strips.
• 3 immerse prepared fish completely in the brine solution.
• 4 brine 1 inch thick pieces 8-12 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. pieces to 1/2 inch thick about 4 hours. stir solution occasionally. you may also use zip-lock bags for this step.
• 5 remove fish from brine, rinse and blot dry with papertowels. place fish on racks and let dry for about 1 hour. you will notice a tacky glaze on the surface of the fish. it is now ready to place in the smoker.
• 6 start smoker before adding fish so you have it going when you put it inches.
• 7 1 inch thick fillets will take 8-12 hours to smoke, using 3 panfuls of smoking chips ( alder chips are best for fish). fillets to 1/2 inch will take 5-8 hours, using 2 panfuls of chips.