Cold Smoked Salmon Brine Food

COLD SMOKED SALMON RECIPE

Steps:

• The brine is a little different from one recipe to another.
• You can make the fish taste more salty or sweet depending on your preference.
• Add all of the ingredients together and bring to a boil.
• After boiling, allow it to simmer for five minutes.
• To make sure you have the right balance of salt, try balancing a boiled egg until it floats.
• If the egg sinks, add ¼ of a cup of salt and then refrigerate.
• The brine is ready once it reaches 40 degrees.
• Place the fish in the brine and cover it.
• Allow it to sit in the refrigerator between 6 and 12 hours.
• If you like, you can let it sit for 24 hours.
• Once the salmon has been brined, rinse it with fresh, cold water to remove extra salt.
• Next, mix brown sugar and salt to create the cure.
• Spread ⅓ of the cure mixture all over a glass pan and place the salmon on top.
• Place the remaining cure all over the top and sides of the salmon, covering it completely.
• Generously add the cure to both sides of the uncut filet.
• Leave the skin on during salting.
• After salt curing, the meat is rinsed, dried, and refrigerated.
• Refrigeration helps the pellicle form which aids the smoke sticking to the meat.
• After refrigeration, the skin is removed to better allow the smoke to penetrate the fish.
• Remove the chewy brown flesh by carefully cutting it off with a knife.
• This part of the fish can become rancid during the curing and smoking process.
• Allow the fish to cure between 48 and 72 hours.
• Place about one pound of weight on top of the fish while curing.
• Once it's cured, rinse the filet and soak it for about a half hour.
• Then allow the fish to drain for another half hour.
• Let the fish dry on a rack with the skin side down in the refrigerator for about four hours.
• The fish should be slightly sticky to the touch.
• Add the fish to your cold smoker and remove it in about 10 hours.
• The fish should feel slightly leathery and have a bronze-like color.

BRINE FOR SMOKED SALMON

Steps:

• Pour the water into a large bowl or small bucket. If you must use a pot, use one that does not contain aluminum. Stir in the kosher salt, white sugar, brown sugar, lemon pepper, parsley and seasoning mix. Add the garlic, hot pepper sauce, lemons, oranges, lime and onion.
• Soak your salmon in this brine in the refrigerator for 12 to 36 hours. Smoke using your desired method (see Cook's Note).

BRINE FOR SMOKED SALMON

Steps:

• Place sugar in water and stir until incorporated. Add other ingredients and stir until mixed well. Place a 1 lb piece of fresh salmon into a baking dish (that just fits the fish) and pour the brine over top. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. Disregard brine and smoke the fish as per the recommendations of your smoker.

COLD SMOKED AND GRILLED SALMON

Steps:

• Whisk together all ingredients.
• Thaw corn kernels, if using, and drain. Dice all ingredients to size of corn kernels.
• Process all ingredients except panko and egg whites. Place into large bowl, then fold in panko, then slowly fold in egg whites in 2 separate actions. Make sure to fold and not stir or whip.
• Cilantro Citrus Sauce: 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped 1/2 lime, zest 1/2 lemon, zest 1/2 orange, zest 1 orange, juiced 1 lime, juiced 1 tablespoon shallots 1/2 tablespoon garlic 1/2 cup white wine 4 tablespoons butter Salt and pepper, to taste
• Mix cilantro, zests, juices, shallots and garlic. Saute cilantro mixture, deglaze with wine, reduce. Add butter adjust with salt and pepper.
• 4 (8-ounce) salmon fillets
• Day One: Marinate 4 (8-ounce) boneless, skinless salmon fillets overnight in smoked salmon brine.
• Day Two: Remove salmon filets from brine. Rinse lightly in cold water, pat dry. Put fillets in smoker. Cold smoke fish in smoker over indirect heat to avoid cooking until smoke flavor is evident (1 to 2 hours). Be sure fish remains cool to the touch. This process will put flavor into the fish without cooking the flesh. Do not smoke fish too hot as it will still be put on the grill to finish the cooking process. Reserve fish in refrigerator until ready to grill. Prepare summer corn salsa refrigerate until served. Prepare Chile Dumpling batter and refrigerate.
• Preparation: Preheat BBQ grill to hot fire. Warm corn salsa to room temperature. Set-up steamer on stovetop, bring water to a simmer. Prepare cilantro citrus sauce and keep in warm location. Scoop 12 (2-ounce) portions of dumpling mix into steamer. Cover and cook 8 to 10 minutes.
• While dumplings are steaming place salmon on grill to desired doneness (5 minutes per side per inch of thickness).
• Final Assembly: Place 3 dumplings on each plate. Spoon corn salsa between dumplings. Place grilled salmon atop dumplings. Drizzle salmon and plate with citrus sauce.

SMOKED SALMON

Steps:

• In a bowl, mix together salt, sugar, brown sugar and peppercorns. Spread extra-wide aluminum foil a little longer than the length of the fish and top with an equally long layer of plastic wrap. Sprinkle 1/3 of the rub onto the plastic. Lay 1 side of the fish skin down onto the rub. Sprinkle 1/3 of the rub onto the flesh of the salmon. Place second side of salmon, flesh down onto the first side. Use the remaining rub to cover the skin on the top piece. Fold plastic over to cover then close edges of foil together and crimp tightly around the fish. Place wrapped fish onto a plank or sheet pan and top with another plank or pan. Weigh with a heavy phone book or a brick or two and refrigerate for 12 hours. Flip the fish over and refrigerate another 12 hours. Some juice will leak out during the process so make sure there's a place for the runoff to gather. Unwrap fish and rinse off the cure with cold water. Pat salmon with paper towels then place in a cool, dry place (not the refrigerator) until the surface of the fish is dry and matte-like, 1 to 3 hours depending on humidity. A fan may be used to speed the process. Smoke fish (see Note) over smoldering hardwood chips or sawdust, keeping the temperature inside the smoker between 150 degrees F and 160 degrees F until the thickest part of the fish registers 150 degrees. Serve immediately or cool to room temperature, wrap tightly and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Cook's Note: Trout, mackerel, and bluefish also smoke well.

SAVORY SALMON BRINE FOR SMOKING

Steps:

• Prepare fish, tie strips together, etc.
• Combine all ingredients and let stand one hour.
• Marinate fish in brine for 12-24 hours, stirring or agitating every 2 hours or so. Usually go for 24 hours.
• Remove fish from brine and rinse brine off thoroughly in cold, running water.
• Let fish air dry for at least 1 hour, until the flesh gets a "tacky" surface on it.
• Place fish in smoker (do not use a barbecue). Distribute fish over racks evenly to make sure there is plenty of space between pieces.
• Fill chip pan with a 50/50 mix of alder and apple chips. A pan of chips usually takes 1 hour to burn out. Replace chips as they burn out for the first 5 hours, then every 4-6 hours for the rest of the smoking time.
• A salmon fillet will take between 8-24 hours to smoke depending on the size of the fillet and the desired amount of doneness. A 10-lb. salmon will yield 2 3.5-pound fillets that will take at least 12 hours to smoke for a soft texture. We smoke this salmon for a minimum of 24 hours to get a hard, smoked texture. (Depending on the weather, this could take 3-5 days.).

DRY-BRINED SMOKED SALMON

Steps:

• Mix 1 cup brown sugar and kosher salt together in a small bowl.
• Spread a thin layer of the brown sugar mixture in the bottom of a 9-inch baking pan. Arrange 2 to 3 salmon fillets on top; cover with some of the brown sugar mixture. Repeat layers until all the salmon fillets are coated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate, 8 hours to overnight.
• Preheat a smoker to 195 degrees F (91 degrees C) according to manufacturer's instructions.
• Rinse brown sugar mixture off salmon fillets. Brush fillets lightly with honey and sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar on top.
• Pour cola-flavored beverage into the smoker's water pan; add water to within 1 inch of the top. Place half of the wood chips around the perimeter of the hot charcoal. Place salmon on the cooking racks.
• Cook salmon, adding more wood chips if needed, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reads 145 degrees F (63 degrees C), about 2 hours. Cool before serving, at least 15 minutes.