This was the first time I’ve ever smoked a salmon; it was such a raging success that my mother demanded it be added to our Thanksgiving spread.
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We put on the biggest gourmet spread at Thanksgiving, so this is quite the request from my mom as the menu doesn't get tweaked often.
There’s no question I got my love of food and feeding my people from my mother. She’s a freaking SAINT. So, when she was over the moon excited with how this salmon turned out, I was totally pleased with myself.
I had been talking for a couple weeks about this Smoked Salmon brine recipe my husband’s friend had given me, so the pressure was on to perform. Thanks for this, Mark! He gave Jacob his smoked pork butt recipe years ago and it’s a crowd favorite.
The pork takes a little bit more TLC than this smoked salmon, and for that reason you must try this out if you have a smoker!
I smoked this seven-and-a-half-pound salmon on our Traeger Grill at 220 for an hour and a half.
Being the airhead that I am, I forgot to bring our meat thermometer from home to the lake so I wasn’t totally sure if it had cooked to a 145-150 internal temp, but the salmon looked done and was firm to the touch on the sides and in the center.
I turned the smoker off and let it set on the grill for another 15 minutes before taking it off and wrapping it tightly in foil until it was time to eat.
It’s easy to put under-cooked salmon back on the grill, but overcooked salmon is a rubbery failure. Try really hard not to overcook your salmon! Again, you want your salmon to be 145 on the thick side. Salmon is really tricky, I'd definitely use a thermometer if possible.
The key to this salmon is the brine that it bathes in for 24 hours before cooked. I actually only had time for it to set for about 15 hours and it was still outstanding. Just beware, your kitchen might smell a little (a lot) like onions when you get the brine out of the fridge, but honestly I love onions so??
I know a lot of people are wanting this recipe so I will cut my blabbering there and get right to the recipe. Please let me know if you try this out… I want to see pics! Or just invite me over for a plate.
Smoked Salmon
Brine:
7-8 lb salmon fillet, with skin on
½ gallon water
½ cup salt
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
¼ cup lemon pepper
1 package dry crab and shrimp seasoning mix (Zatarain's or other brands)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 cloves garlic, crushed
4 lemons, sliced
2 oranges, sliced
1 lime, sliced
1 large yellow onion, sliced
Directions:
1. Mix all dry ingredients and herbs in a bowl and combine well. Pour on the bottom of a deep baking dish or something big enough to fit your salmon fillet.
2. I used my deepest All-Clad pan and put the salmon flesh side down in the brine so it was sitting directly on all the herbs before I poured the water in. You can mix them all together if you want… This was just easier for me at the time.
3. Add in your sliced fruits and onion. You can give the fruit a little bit of a squeeze when you’re adding them for more flavor.
4. Set your smoker to 220 and smoke for 1.5-2 hours. Put the skin side down on grill. Start checking at one hour with a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the salmon for a 145-150 internal temp.
5. Put on a salad, on a bagel, reserve some for smoked salmon dip. Get creative because you just smoked a badass salmon and your family is about to be impressed.
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