SmokeAmerican

Hot-smoked salmon

A dry brine, a pellicle, and a gentle fruitwood fire. The fillet should flake, not dry into jerky.

Made it?

1 hr 30 min · 30 min hands-on · pull 145°F · rest 10 min

Ingredients

2 lb on the fire · ~1.7 lb to the table · 3 plates at 8 oz

1
Mix salt, sugar, pepper, and zest. Pack over the flesh side. Refrigerate 4–6 hours (thinner tail needs less).
2
Rinse quickly, pat dry, and rest on a rack in the fridge 2–4 hours until the surface is tacky. That pellicle is what smoke sticks to.
3
Smoke at 175–180°F with alder or apple until 140–145°F in the thickest part, 1.5–2.5 hours. Do not rush the fire hotter or the albumin will weep in sheets.
4
Rest 10 minutes. Serve warm, or chill for bagels the next day.

King / Atlantic fillet → Steelhead or arctic char. Same brine, slightly less time. Trout is thinner — watch the tail.
Alder → Apple or maple. Never mesquite. Hickory only if you like smoked ham with fish.
Brown sugar brine → Maple sugar or a lighter salt-only cure. Cut the sugar if you are serving it warm as a main, not as bagel salmon.

Cold-smoke style (hot cooker)
You want silkier texture. Brine, pellicle, then 165–175°F until 135°F. Longer, gentler, more smoke.
Cedar-plank grill
No smoker. Soak a plank, high grill, 12–15 minutes to 125°F. Different flavor, still fish.
Pepper-honey glaze
A warm main, not lox. Brush honey and cracked pepper in the last 15 minutes at 180°F.

On the plate

With this dish, try making grilled asparagus.
When the meat comes off to rest. Thick spears, oil, salt. Hot grate 2–3 minutes, roll, another minute. Lemon. Pencil spears go in a hot skillet, not on the bars.
10 min
With this dish, try making vinegar slaw.
Anytime. Better after an hour in the fridge. Cabbage, carrot, cider vinegar, a pinch of sugar, salt, pepper. No mayo if the meat is already rich.
20 min
With this dish, try making cucumber-onion salad.
Anytime. Better after 20 minutes in the vinegar. Thin cucumber, thin onion, vinegar, a pinch of sugar, salt.
15 min