I love smoked salmon and do it from the beginning of summer through mid December. I have tried a number of way to prep the salmon but keep coming back to this old stand by.

(This works best with fresh, not frozen salmon but use what you have.)
I take rock salt, pickling salt, or kosher salt, and brown sugar. Use a non-metallic container and start by laying down a healthy dose of salt, then the fish, skin side down. Next a layer of salt then brown sugar and repeat until you lay your last layer. (The amount of salt you use depends on the coarseness of the salt. I don't bury the fish in salt but a light covering.) I tend to throw more brown sugar on just to make sure. As soon as your done you will notice the fish starting to juice, this will form a brine. and by the time you are ready to remove the fish, the container will be full of juice.
Cover the container with cling wrap and set on your counter or in the garage for a minimum of 12 hours, I go more like 18 or so depending on the thickness of the fillets. If your house or garage is to hot you can place in the fridge. When your time is up, remove from the container and rise well under cool running water to remove all excess salt and sugar. Pat dry with paper towels and place on cooling racks for a couple of hours. This allows the pectin to form. Then throw it on your smoker with alder wood and you'll have Northwest smoked salmon. I have done hundreds of pounds of salmon this way and everyone I know likes it, some people might find it to salty but they tend to not rise it well enough before smoking. If you have any questions drop me a note.

Hope this helps

Matthew Jones

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Chris Allingham,

I'm planning on doing smoked salmon a couple times for the holidays - when you say salt, fish skin side down, salt, brown sugar - repeat I take that to mean you're doing more than one fillet, yes?

No liquid at all in this brine?

How long do you smoke and at what temp? Any water in the pan?

Thanks! Been looking for "THE" smoked salmon recipe!

Briann,

Sorry I didn't see your post until tonight. Here is an easier way to do it.
4 cups dark brown sugar
1 cup non-iodized salt (canning & pickling or kosher salt)
10-15 cloves of garlic

This web site has pretty specific directions for smoking the salmon using this receipt. I let mine brine for 18 plus hours not usually less. The longer you let the pectin form the better it hold the smoke in my opinion. If you use the mixture above you can't go wrong, even if you leave out the garlic.

http://www.salmonuniversity.com/rs_htss01_index.html

I smoke at about 160F for 6 hours or so. This really depends on the thickness of fillet. I trim mine so they are all about the same thickness. This help since "bellies" will cook in about 3 hours and the thicker fillets take sixish. I don't use water in the pan. These times are for Silvers (coho), medium chum (Keta, Dog salmon), and under 30 pound kings. Big kings take longer to smoke. I only use alder wood for salmon. I always do more than one fillet, last smoke was 40 pounds of fillets cut into chunks. There are several ways to increase capacity of the smoker. I like to use long wood skewers and hang as much fish off the racks as possible the lay additional fish as it fits. This would be the perfect place to use additional racks.

If you have more questions let me know.

Tight Lines,

Matthew Jones

This looks like the Thanksgiving Day appetizer to me. Thanks!