Rob's Smoked Salmon

Brine it, smoke it, freeze it. Eat it like jerky, or use it in place of ham in scalloped potatoes, corn chowder, etc.

What you'll need:

fresh or frozen salmon

sharp knife

cutting board

pliers
gallon ziploc or large bowl 

measuring cups and spoons

smoker (we use a Big Chief)
alder and apple wood chips
freshly ground pepper
brown sugar (in addition to the brine measurement)

brine ingredients (listed below)

Brine:

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup sea salt

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

4 cups cold water

1 cup pineapple juice

4 Tbsp soy sauce

4 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce

pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

Filet. Discard head and backbone, leaving the pin bones in and skin on.  Sandwich 2 filets together, skin side out. Vacuum bag and freeze to smoke later, or continue processing. (It's easier to pull the pin bones after freezing.)

Thaw. Pull out pin bones with pliers. Cut into 2" wide, head to tail long strips. Mix dry brine ingredients together in a ziploc bag or large bowl. Add liquid brine ingredients and whisk until well combined. Add the fish. Weight down with a plate and cover with plastic wrap, or seal bag. Brine for 8 hours in the refrigerator...do not over brine! Brine 8-9 hours, no longer. 

Remove from brine and rinse a few seconds under cold running water. Lay fish on smoker racks, skin side down. Don't leave space between pieces. They'll shrink in the smoker. Sprinkle with dark brown sugar and fresh ground pepper.  Medium on the sugar, light on the pepper. Set in front of a fan to air dry 4 hours or more.  

Move racks of fish to the smoker. Smoke using a total of 1 1/2 pans of alder & apple chips, mixed equal parts, for 5 hours. 

Move racks out of smoker, directly into the oven. Set smoker racks on oven racks without a pan. Cook at 170 degrees for 1 hour. Cool completely. Put in a ziploc bag in the fridge for 24 hours to cure. Ready to eat or freeze. 

TO CAN:
Add a 1/4" slice of fresh jalapeno to each jar. Pack fish into pint jars.

Process in a pressure canner for 100 minutes at 10 lbs with a weighted gauge (0-1000 ft) or 15 lbs over 1000ft. 

_______________________________________________________________________________

How much does this fish cost? 

18 fish (2025):

Time = 45 hours

Money = $199 ($11.06 per fish)

Preparation: 20

Repair net - 1 hour

Pack gear - 1 hour

Buy & pack food - 30 minutes & $20

Arrange car/work schedules - 15 minutes

Fishing:  24 hours 141.2

fishing license = $20

402 miles round trip to fish - 16 gallons of gas @ $3.70 = $59.20 (in 2025)

8 hours drive time round trip

$12 ice cream halfway there & back - 30 minutes round trip

13.5 hours of fishing & pre cleaning (2025)

$50 camping + parking fee

unpack & clean gear - 2 hours

Processing for smoked & frozen:

A batch is approximately 6 fish

20 minutes per fish to scale, filet, & debone (18 fish in 2025 = 6 hours)

30 minutes & $3.00 dump fees for carcasses 

brine supplies cost = $5 (estimate) per batch = $15

brine prep - 20 minutes per batch = 60 minutes total

drying prep - 45 minutes per batch = 2 hours 15 minutes total

smoking - wood chips = $5 per season

smoking prep - 30 minutes per batch, includes changing out chips = 1 1/2 hours

oven finish prep - 20 minutes per batch = 60 minutes

final finishing - 60 minutes per batch = 3 hours

vacuum seal supplies = $15 per season

vacuum seal time - 60 minutes per batch = 3 hours