This is How I get PERFECT Smoked Salmon EVERY Time

when smoked salmon is homemade and on right there's nothing out there that's better it's a very easy process of smoking the fish at really low temperatures to infuse as much of that smoke flavor as possible and believe me there's no fish out there better for this than salmon now my biggest issue with it is it always seems to be dried out and overcooked so I'm going to share with you a few techniques to ensure it's tender Juicy and Delicious sound good let's cook now there are a few different types of smoked salmon out there the most obvious ones being cold and hot so I'm going to show you a hot smoked salmon this is also known as a kippered salmon it's a U.S style chunk filet it's been brined and hot smoked there are also two different types of brines out there a dry Brine and a wet brine now my first procedure to make sure it's super moist I believe a wet brine is going to be the better option to get us there so we're going to start off with three cups of cold water add it to a medium sized pot next up I'm going to add three quarter cup of packed light brown sugar a third cup of coarse sea salt now I have one orange and one lemon that I want to get the zest off and the best way and the quickest way I know how to do this is to actually use a peeler don't go too deep just get the zest the white part is bitter I'm going over to a burner I'm cranking the heat down to high I want to bring it to a boil now comey's there are a few other things you could add to this brine if you want like red yellow or sweet onion maybe some garlic some bay leaves for me I just think the simpler the better there's no need to mask the flavor of the salmon we want to enhance it so every bite is salmon first that's how we do it once it is boiling we need to have a closer look so I'm just going to use a spoon and stir some things around I want to ensure the sugar and salt are dissolved completely into the liquid now at this point I'm going to add in four cups of ice this is going to quickly chill the mixture so I can pour it over the cold salmon and it's going to dilute some of the sweetness and saltiness it is Dr chef greasy time and I've got a four and a half pound wild caught salmon you know I'll always advocate for using wild caught when it comes to Seafood I believe the flavor is so much better plus it's coming right from its natural habitat however if you can't get a hold of this because of availability or even from a financial standpoint don't worry get what you can it's still going to be delicious now another procedure to ensure it's really tender and juicy is making sure we have big pieces so I've got a whole side here however we do need to trim it up kind of like my smoked brisket video we're going to have some loss so the tail end and the belly end need to come off so what we're going to do is just slice this tail end right here and look you've got a really nice salmon fillet here that's perfect for two people so you know what I'm just gonna store it for another day use it up in another salmon recipe no problem now for the belly all right so what we're gonna do is trim just right along here you'll notice there are some bones probably coming up we want to be on the other side of that and I'm telling you right now the biggest secret to any fish is the belly fat fat equals flavor I can't say it enough put a little oil salt and pepper or butter salt and pepper on this throw it on the grill oh my gosh you're gonna be in heaven you're not gonna want a different cut of fish ever again I'm telling you right now this is gold all right saving that for a later date or honestly you could smoke this really really quick we're not going to do that though and on the back side we've got a little bit of the bone coming in here from the back we're just going to trim it out curve your knife a little bit and again just follow the salmon and I'm using a six inch boning knife that's non-flexible really important to use a sharp knife when doing this then I'm going to take those extra few pieces pop them in the refrigerator or the freezer for a later recipe for salmon so we're using a wet brine a big side of salmon to ensure as much moisture is locked in as possible now there's one more thing we can do leave the skin on okay that's gonna create like a barrier so there's no liquor quarter moisture that can escape from the bottom of the salmon while we're smoking it the skin is going to help keep it all in there seal all that goodness in there be sure not to skin your salmon okay let's brine this I'm going to add this to a casserole dish make sure it's non-reactive so that means use ceramic stainless steel plastic or glass I'm pouring the brine right over top but I'm quickly noticing that the top of the salmon is hanging out a little bit I don't like that I want it to be submerged so here's what I'm thinking let's give it a flip and put its skin side up since it's going to float I know the bottom part isn't going to touch that pan and it's still going to be brined this is perfect because we want to make sure all that deliciousness is penetrating our salmon super important here next I'm just going to cover the top in plastic it's going in the refrigerator make a little room if you need it for 12 hours or overnight and I know I say overnight a lot so let me clarify that means if I start brining this morning this afternoon or tonight in the morning tomorrow I'm going to wake up and I'm going to start cooking that does not mean I start brining this morning and then I start cooking tomorrow night I mean you're talking like 36 hours that's too long do not go any more than 24 hours it will be way too salty so go hang out tonight come back we'll start cooking it's early 8 A.M and it is smoking day pulling the salmon right out of the refrigerator looks great gonna remove the plastic wrap all right here's what we need to do here a couple more procedures let's remove the salmon from the liquid just going to give it a quick little flip here transferring it over to a sheet Tray Line with parchment paper if you have a platter plate whatever totally fine now I'm going over this thing I want to quickly rinse off some of that brine in some cold water if you leave the brine on there it can tend to be a little bit too salty so this is really important and it only takes a second and also so be sure to do both sides of that Sam once it is quickly rinsed I'm going to put it on a sheet tray with a rack all right super important let's now bring it over to the countertop have a few more things we need to do and this next step may just seem like an afterthought but it's incredibly crucial to the success of this sample what we want to do is Pat it dry very well for about a minute or so no need to go too crazy be gentle when dabbing it and what we're trying to do here is create something called the pellicle okay this is incredibly important it creates this little layer and it seals in everything but the layer is a little bit sticky which means the smoke is really going to stick to it which is awesome that's what gives it all that flavor and that beautiful color but after we dab it we're going to let it sit for about two hours I know it seems like a little bit but I promise you this is so important do not skip this just giving it a few more blats here and again letting it sit for two hours to dry but with 30 minutes left in that two hour drying time let's load up our Hopper start up our smoker cranking the heat down to 150 degrees Fahrenheit this is why pellet smokers are so awesome once it's heated up and after that two hour total drying time period what we're going to do is put on our salmon but while my Firebox is down in this area and it's super hot coming out of here want to keep the salmon away from it so we're going up top I want to make sure it gets smoke and it doesn't overcook quickly but we're gonna do is lube up the top with plenty of neutral flavored oil I want to make sure my salmon does not stick speaking of salmon let's grab that taking it out putting it right down on where I oiled up the grates now what we're going to do is plug in the thermometer the goal is to get it to a 140 degrees Fahrenheit internally so put it right in the center in the thickest part of the salmon and one of my favorite things about pellet smokers is that the environment inside is loaded with moisture so there's no reason to ever put a water pan in there love that now we've probably got about two to two and a half hours of smoking time because we want to get it to about 140 degrees Fahrenheit internally which means we are done but do not go far after about an hour we're going to come back and make an awesome glaze for this salmon so it's been about an hour of smoking time I've got a small size sauce pot I'm going to add in a half cup of packed light brown sugar next a half stick of unsalted butter one tablespoon of soy sauce a little bit of saltiness there and then remember the zested lemon and orange just going to cut those in half I want to squeeze all the goodness out of there all that juice I always use my other hand to catch any seeds so I don't have to fish those out of there later all right perfect going over to the burner I'm putting this over medium heat we want to do much like the brine is bring it to a boil and make sure the brown sugar is completely dissolved in the mixture and I highly recommend tasting this it's crazy delicious I'm heading over to my smoker I can see the Salmon's already at 101 degrees Fahrenheit internally it's really starting to look good that pellicle so key here what I'm going to do now is grab some heaping brush loads full of that glaze and start to glaze it all over now the goal here is to base this with that glaze every 30 minutes until it's finished cooking remember trying to get to 140 degrees Fahrenheit internally so do not go far so now I've glazed it after one hour after 90 minutes and then I've come back and I've glazed it again after the two hour smoking period it's really starting to adhere and stick to the salmon smells awesome so here's what I'm thinking it's been two hours Let's Crank that heat up to 200 degrees that's all I think I'll need to get that little extra Brown that I'm looking for Plus at that temperature it shouldn't take too much longer to get to 140 degrees internally next if you start to see a couple little white substances creep through the top of the salmon that's known as albumin it's totally normal and totally fine now if your salmon is completely covered in it that's not good that means your salmon is risked being overcooked and really dried out so what you can do is pick up the salmon and move it as far away from the heat Source like that main fire as possible that should help you out big time all right let's see if we can get this browned up and even as at that 200 degrees Fahrenheit temperature we're still going to come back and glaze every 30 minutes so crucial for the flavor and for the color of the salmon to be right where I want it all right we're rounding third base it hit 140 degrees Fahrenheit internally it looks so good honestly it looks like candy it's got like a glass over top it's beautiful let's remove that thermometer BB very careful because our salmon is going to be a little bit warm so definitely use some gloves or a huge spatula transfer it over to a sheet tray along with parchment paper or a plant or whatever you have the goal here is to let this salmon rest for about 10 to 15 minutes come up to temperature so we can try it out so it took two hours at 150 degrees and one hour at 200 degrees to come out perfectly in those four procedures of the wet brine whole piece of salmon skin on and cooking at low temperatures of 150 degrees it is moist it is tender it is delicious and it will always go back to these fundamental classic cooking techniques that will always elevate your everyday cooking all right plate up is super simple let me show you how incredibly simple I'm just going to add on a little bit more glaze right before serving it up it's still going to be plenty warm even after that 10 to 15 minute resting period and the flavors in this are just so so good I have a feeling you're gonna love this one now you can serve it warm as is or you can cool it down wrap it up eat it cold keep it in the refrigerator for seven to ten days or it freezes amazingly well for up to six months now if you love smoked food then you are going to love the Smoky deliciousness in my smoked pork shoulder I've got an awesome recipe video see you on there foreign

Channel: Chef Billy Parisi

Views: 171,512

Keywords: smoked salmon recipe, how to make smoked salmon, best smoked salmon, smoked salmon, how to smoke salmon, smoked salmon recipe ideas, yoder smoker, yoder smoker pellet grill, slow smoked salmon, maple salmon, chef billy parisi, chef billy, billy parisi

Id: UEwQSBl2PbA

Length: 12min 1sec (721 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 28 2022