Smoked Salmon Part I

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This week, Captain Steve (of the fishing vessel Ava Jane in Bristol Bay) recently took us on a tour around his personal smokehouse, explaining how he prefers to prepare this quintessential salmon recipe. He covers everything from the types of wood used for smoking to the ingredients in his personal favorite brine.

Whether you're looking for inspiration for the upcoming holidays or are just plain curious about how smoked salmon is made, this DIY recipe video will inspire all sorts of ways to enjoy your wild caught salmon.

DIRECTIONS:

Captain Steve's Smoked Salmon Recipe

1) Thaw 3 fillets of wild Alaskan salmon 

2) Fill a tub or large bowl with room temperature or cool water

3) Add salt, brown sugar and sugar to the tub of water, stirring to fully combine

4) On a cutting board, portion each thawed fillet into thirds, then slice each third into 1/2" to 3/4" wide strips (make sure you have a sharp knife for this step!
You can find Captain Steve's personal favorite here).

5) Place strips in brine and let sit for 45 minutes. Be sure each strip is pulled apart so that each piece is fully covered in the brine.

6) After done soaking, drain the brine solution from the tub and rinse salmon strips with fresh water to keep the fish from becoming too salty 

7) Spray rack from smokehouse with olive oil and place strips lengthwise, skin down on the rack 

8) Place rack with salmon directly above smoldering fire inside the smokehouse and let smoke for roughly 4 hours, checking in the fire a couple times throughout

9) Once roughly 4 hours in, be sure to add larger chunks of dry wood to increase smokehouse temperature to around 135 degrees (F). 

10) Salmon will be done smoking around 8 hours!

Have your own personal Smoked Salmon recipe you'd like to share with us? Post a photo on Instagram or Facebook and tag us with your preferred method! 

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