Smoked salmon for the Superbowl: results


 
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Eric Simon

TVWBB Fan
Howdy, y'all! My Superbowl BBQ has begun with the smoking of 3.25 lbs. of wild Alaskan salmon. This will be used with a cheese platter and as part of our AM brunch (into a frittata, along with parmesian cheese, asparagus, and our eggs).

We bought the salmon in two large fillets from our local supermarket. The surface meat was a little beat up from transit, but the meat has a nice color:

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I brined them for 75 minutes in salt/sugar:

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I pat them dry and then let them air dry for 60 minutes, then added some surface rub:

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I used about one chimney worth of Kingsford, along with 1 oak chunk and 5 cherry chunks. I ran the smoker at 240 (courtesy of the Stoker):

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I didn't turn/baste at all, and didn't even open the smoker until about 3:15 had passed:

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Some of the thinner parts were a bit overdone (that is, too dried out) but the flavor across all of it was great. At the center, the pieces were tender, had a nice color, and a good flaky texture:

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All in all, I'm pleased. But next time, I would probably go a little lighter on the rub, and I would cut the pieces by thickness. Then I would pull the pieces off the smoker at different times, depending on the thickness.

Thanks for reading!
 
Looks pretty good to me.

Yes, trim ahead so that you get fairly even thickness - or simply trim after smoking and use the more-done trimmings to make salmon spread or salmon salad. (That's what I often do.)
 
Live and learn. You're always your own worst critic, eh? Stuff looks awesome from where I'm sitting.

Hey Kevin, have you successfully cold smoked salmon on the WSM?
 
Yes, I have. I am not a fan of cold-smoked salmon but have clients who love it. I do it for them and they have been very pleased.
 
Eric - that's a beautiful thing. Nice work. I can almost taste it from here. Simple salt brine?
 
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