Smoked Salmon Brine - Wet vs Dry

[lamarclark09]

I always do the dry one. But I think I should go for the wet one this time.

 

[HortoHunts]

I go with overnight wet brine..I get better results. I'll mix it up and add some teriyaki to it sometimes. I've done dry brine but have had it come out too salty before. If I do a dry brine it will only be for about 6hrs or so now. I've found that its cures too much and draws a lot of moisture out if I do it overnight. Makes for a dryer end product in my experience.

 

[FranklinBluth]

Broadly speaking, a brine is done by placing meat in salt water, a cure is done by placing meat in salt without extra liquid.

Brining is best for meats like chicken that tend to dry out in the cooking process. A thick pork chop is another good candidate for brining prior to hitting the grill. But for salmon, curing gives me the best end product consistently.

The reason salmon is so good smoked is that it has enough natural oils/fats in the meat to stand up to the curing/smoking process and still retain good flavor and texture. Keep your heat low and be patient while smoking it. If you're just starting out, try curing the salmon first - if somehow you are ending up with salmon that is too dry then go ahead and brine it.

My really basic procedure at the cabin in salmon season: take a fresh caught filet and put it in a ziploc with a 50/50 brown sugar and kosher salt mixture with peppercorns. Put enough in the ziploc to totally cover the filet. Depending on the thickness of the filet, it may be a couple hours or overnight, but you'll know the salmon is ready once the meat starts to feel firm to the touch. Rinse the filet off and get all the salt off of it. At this point air dry the filet (add seasoning if you wish) until it's tacky to the touch. Once it's tacky I throw it on the offset and start the temp around 180 degrees. Gradually bring the offset temperature up until the salmon internal is 140 degrees.

You can add teriyaki, maple syrup, etc to this process if you want a different end product than just a basic smoked salmon filet.

I have definitely gotten salmon that was too salty from brining and curing - that's a function of your kitchen procedure and not the recipe.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Broadly speaking, a brine is done by placing meat in salt water, a cure is done by placing meat in salt without extra liquid.

Brining is best for meats like chicken that tend to dry out in the cooking process. A thick pork chop is another good candidate for brining prior to hitting the grill. But for salmon, curing gives me the best end product consistently.

The reason salmon is so good smoked is that it has enough natural oils/fats in the meat to stand up to the curing/smoking process and still retain good flavor and texture. Keep your heat low and be patient while smoking it. If you're just starting out, try curing the salmon first - if somehow you are ending up with salmon that is too dry then go ahead and brine it.

My really basic procedure at the cabin in salmon season: take a fresh caught filet and put it in a ziploc with a 50/50 brown sugar and kosher salt mixture with peppercorns. Put enough in the ziploc to totally cover the filet. Depending on the thickness of the filet, it may be a couple hours or overnight, but you'll know the salmon is ready once the meat starts to feel firm to the touch. Rinse the filet off and get all the salt off of it. At this point air dry the filet (add seasoning if you wish) until it's tacky to the touch. Once it's tacky I throw it on the offset and start the temp around 180 degrees. Gradually bring the offset temperature up until the salmon internal is 140 degrees.

You can add teriyaki, maple syrup, etc to this process if you want a different end product than just a basic smoked salmon filet.

I have definitely gotten salmon that was too salty from brining and curing - that's a function of your kitchen procedure and not the recipe.

I always brine , chicken, turkey and pork. Adds moisture to white meat on turkey and chicken as well as on the pork. All of which can tend to be a little dry.

 

[william schmaltz]

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

When I eat cold smoke, I want it to be firm and dryish. I just feel like dry brine does a better job on pulling moisture out and gives me what I'm looking for. I hit it with kosher salt, dill, and pepper and then wrap it tight with plastic wrap and stack it between a couple 9x13 for 36-48 hours. Then hit it with a cold smoke for a couple hours.

 

[william schmaltz]

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

I let my hot smoke sit under a fan overnight to form a nice pellicle so it doesn't "bleed" the white protein during the smoke. So when I've tried to do it with a dry brine, it got too dry after that and a smoke. I do a rather simple kosher salt/brown sugar mixed with water brine for about 8-12 hours, let it sit under the fan overnight, and hit it with the hot smoke for 6ish hours the next day.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

Did a 4:1 brown sugar to kosher salt wet brine with about 6 qts of water and then an unknown quantity of ice dumped in for 16 hours. Rinsed, seasoned and let the pellicle form for 2 hours. Smoked at 140 for 3 hours then upped to 175 then 200 to finish it to 140 over the next couple of hours. Pike Place Seafood seasoning on some, black pepper on the others. Finished some with local honey, some with maple syrup.

By far the best end result from my half dozen or so attempts. Probably don't need as much brown sugar in the brine, will probably do 3:1 in the future.

 

[Kobuk]

Question for those that make the nova lox. It's smoked salmon time and I want to also try making some nova lox. I tried a buddies and said he used dill but I couldn't taste it. I see that some recipes use dill, pepper and whatnot. My question is what spices seem to come through best? I might just go salt and brown sugar this first batch and try to get the process down. Any tips would be appreciated.

 

[crows_nest]

I have only done dry brine and it always turned out great. Will try wet next time.


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[lawnsausage]

Its that time of year again! Making room in freezer for this summer and falls alaska trips! We head to Petersburg and Yakutat each year and fish like maniacs. I grew up near Petersburg and love going back with family, friends, showing the amazing places we used to go as kids. Yakutat is just something else. Going on year 21 out of the last 28 years hitting that place in September. We usually come home with 150-300lbs of salmon plus another 100lbs of whitefish (Halibut, Ling, Rock).

When i smoke salmon, I like to wet brine, but both work well. I however tend to do bulk operations and wet just works better loading up big tubs. My wet brine is as follows:

2.5 gallons water
1 gallon Tamari Soy Sauce
4 cups Brown Sugar
1 cup Sea Salt
1/2 cup garlic powder
1/4 cup white pepper
1 spice jar of Cayenne pepper

Mix in a 22qt tub

Load up with about ~45 lbs of salmon cut into reasonable sized chunks. I usually run about 90lbs of salmon at a time, two of these big tubs.

Soak overnight, then pull out next morning and lay out on drying pans, put back in fridge to develop pellicle. Take out trays a few times during that 12-18hr drying period to drain liquid. With about 4 hours left, top fish with brown sugar dusting, and any other flavors. I love using various types of hot sauces. Favorite sauces are Spicy Ninja brand organic stuff from Hawaii. They have some really good flavors and spice levels.

After the drying is complete, smoke in my Bradley 6 rack smoker for about 6-8 hours. Depends on thickness of cuts, as well as outdoor temps. This makes such a huge difference whether its 40 degrees out or 85 degrees out. I like to smoke to internal temps of 135-145. Wife likes her salmon a bit dryer, I like it more on the moist side. Also rotate racks in the smoker to make sure it all cooks evenly. I use Alder and Cherry mostly. I have tried other things, but Alder and Cherry are our favorites.

Pics of the process from this weekend so far. Smoking will start this eve!

 

[lawnsausage]

Its that time of year again! Making room in freezer for this summer and falls alaska trips! We head to Petersburg and Yakutat each year and fish like maniacs. I grew up near Petersburg and love going back with family, friends, showing the amazing places we used to go as kids. Yakutat is just something else. Going on year 21 out of the last 28 years hitting that place in September. We usually come home with 150-300lbs of salmon plus another 100lbs of whitefish (Halibut, Ling, Rock).

When i smoke salmon, I like to wet brine, but both work well. I however tend to do bulk operations and wet just works better loading up big tubs. My wet brine is as follows:

2.5 gallons water
1 gallon Tamari Soy Sauce
4 cups Brown Sugar
1 cup Sea Salt
1/2 cup garlic powder
1/4 cup white pepper
1 spice jar of Cayenne pepper

Mix in a 22qt tub

Load up with about ~45 lbs of salmon cut into reasonable sized chunks. I usually run about 90lbs of salmon at a time, two of these big tubs.

Soak overnight, then pull out next morning and lay out on drying pans, put back in fridge to develop pellicle. Take out trays a few times during that 12-18hr drying period to drain liquid. With about 4 hours left, top fish with brown sugar dusting, and any other flavors. I love using various types of hot sauces. Favorite sauces are Spicy Ninja brand organic stuff from Hawaii. They have some really good flavors and spice levels.

After the drying is complete, smoke in my Bradley 6 rack smoker for about 6-8 hours. Depends on thickness of cuts, as well as outdoor temps. This makes such a huge difference whether its 40 degrees out or 85 degrees out. I like to smoke to internal temps of 135-145. Wife likes her salmon a bit dryer, I like it more on the moist side. Also rotate racks in the smoker to make sure it all cooks evenly. I use Alder and Cherry mostly. I have tried other things, but Alder and Cherry are our favorites.

Pics of the process from this weekend so far. Smoking will start this eve!

Edit: The water and Tamari soy sauce numbers above are typos. Shoudl be
1.25 gallons water
1/2 gallon Tamari Soy Sauce

I accidentally put the total liquids for two tubs, but the spices/sugar are correct for one tub. Ratio is 2.5:1

 

[jaydoc24]

For a dry brine, coat the salmon with a mixture of salt, sugar, and any desired spices. Let it sit in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. This method helps to draw out moisture and enhance the flavor.