Smoked Salmon Brine - Wet vs Dry

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

What's your preferred brine method for smoked salmon? Been messing with both and haven't decided which I like best.

 

[BravoNovember]

Dry brine for me. But I’ve also left it for too long and had terrible results.

 

[92xj]

Soak in yoshidas for a day or two, pull out, place in smoker and top with brown sugar and coarse black pepper. Smoke to your likings

 

[PNWGATOR]

This is the gold standard from what I’ve learned to date:

smoking_salmon - Prince of Wales Sportfishing

Smoked Salmon – An Easy and Delicious Recipe by Rob Endsley/Prince of Wales Sportfishing Smoking salmon can be as easy or difficult as you make it. By using high quality fish, however, you can produce a very high quality smoked fish product using even the most basic recipe and ingredients...

princeofwalessportfishing.com

PS The recipe on his site for smoked salmon dip is fantastic!

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

Dry brine for me. But I’ve also left it for too long and had terrible results.

What's your ideal brine time? Just put some steelhead in a dry brine with a 4/1 brown sugar to salt ratio.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

I couldn't answer as I do about 50-50 both. If I'm lazy, wet. Motivated, dry. My brine time is just overnight.

 

[Corvus Corax]

4:1 brown sugar to kosher salt. ~12hrs then rinse it off and pat dry with paper towels.

 

[TheRepeatOffender]

I always go dry with the usual 4:1 brown sugar and salt. Add some pepper and you're good to go. However, I've been starting to lower the amount of salt as I've had a few batches that seem very salty. Depending on how long I keep it in the brine, it usually pulls enough liquid out of the fish that it is a semi-wet brine anyway. I've brined for as little as 4 hours with decent results but I typically go overnight. Keep in mind this is generally store-bought salmon so it results with fresh fish could be different. This is low-key my favorite thing to smoke on my smoker. Just try to keep the heat as low as possible.

 

[BravoNovember]

What's your ideal brine time? Just put some steelhead in a dry brine with a 4/1 brown sugar to salt ratio.

Around 12 hours or so. I went almost 48 once and was hardly edible

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

I'll be looking at 20 hours for this batch. My buddy who gave me this steelhead has had good luck with a post-cure soak for an hour to help with saltiness. Going to try that.

 

[william schmaltz]

Dry for cold smoke
Wet for warm smoke

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

Dry for cold smoke
Wet for warm smoke

Haven't heard that take before, what's your theory on that?

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Dry.

 

[Antares]

Wet.

Fill a 5 gal bucket half full of cold water. Add one box Kosher salt (3 lbs) and one bag light brown sugar (2 lbs). Add fish. Brine for ~1 hr. Remove from brine. Don't rinse. Dry until tacky before smoking.

This is what I do with fish that's already been cut into jar size pieces for canning after smoking. Like anything, you can get as deep into as you want, but the above is a good place to start.

 

[huck]

Mortons brown sugar quick cure for me. Rub thin layer on before bed, wipe it off with a paper towel the next morning and your good to go. Smaller fish dont need much.

 

[michihunt]

Dry for me. Pretty much equal parts brown sugar and kosher salt. 4-6hrs and rinse and dry for quite a while.. Make sure to baste with maple syrup during smoking.


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[GSPHUNTER]

Dry mix. Two large filets, I cup kosher salt, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup dark brown sugar. fresh ground black Pepper. Mix all. lay out aluminum foil then plastic wrap on that. sprinkle layer of Brine mix flat on plastic wrap, about 1/3 on mix. place salmon skin Side down then cover with 1/3 of mix, place second fillet flesh side down on top of other fillet. spread remaining brine mix on top of second fillet. Fold plastic wrap and foil around fish. Place fish on cookie sheet and place weight on top of that, I use bricks. put oil frig. for 12 hours, then turn over and then another 12 hours. Longer if you like, turning every 12 hours. I also place fish on wire rack on cookie sheet, juice will run out. Remove fish from wrap and rinse well with cool water, pat dry with pepper towels then place in cool location and let fish dry until a tacky pellicle has formed on surface, very important.I use a fan to speed up process. Set smoker at 160 regs. and smoke until fish is 155-160 regs. I use Alder wood just because it has a mild flavor and does not over power the fish and adds nice smoked flavor.

 

[Adamsfj]

https://www.smokehouseproducts.com/blogs/recipes/50067203-original-smoked-salmon-recipe

I have used this recipe for 10 year now and seems to be a hit with family and friends

 

[kbar]

I’ve always done dry, maybe I need to give wet a try

 

[Kobuk]

I seem to get more consistent results when I wet brine. I started to use the Kummock's brine about 10 years ago and haven't changed. Different for cold smoking. When I smoke fish I like to do a large batch and this works great. I use low sodium soy sauce, don't add a glaze but I do add fresh ground black pepper while drying. I've tried a few different mods and this is what I go with. It's all personal preference. I prep my fish, mix the brine and put it together inside a large garbage bag. Then I can tie it off after I push all of the air out of it and place it into a cooler and cover it with a bunch of ice. That way it won't dilute. I brine overnight then dry and smoke the next day. I will also mix the fish around in the cooler several times to keep things more even. I just massage through the bag, if that makes sense.