Smoked Salmon Cure too Salty

[acnewman55]

I've been smoking salmon for just a year now. 

My salmon comes out too salty every time.

My cure is basically 2 parts canning salt, 1 part brown sugar, 1 part granulated white sugar.

I cut my salmon up into 2-2.5 oz chunks.

I usually cure it overnight and mix it up a few times to circulate the granules of salt and sugar that accumulate at the bottom of the container or bag.  The meat is quite firm after this.

I then rinse the salmon well and place it on cooling racks under a fan to dry it out and form a pellicle before smoking.

Recently, I tried soaking the salmon in water after rinsing it.  I let it soak for 30 minutes once, and then 6 hours the next batch.  The discarded soaking water definitely has salt content to it, but the saltiness of the fish isn't reduced as much as I'd like.

So how do I reduce the saltiness?  Should I adjust my cure recipe to be more sugar-heavy and reduce the salt?  Or should I reduce my curing time to reduce the opportunity for the salt to penetrate the salmon?

Thanks!

[NRA4LIFE]

I would say cut the salt in half.  1 to 1 salt to sugar is way too salty I've found.  Just my take on it, but I'm on a low salt diet too and I do like a slight hint of sweetness in my smoked salmon.  Simply a personal taste thing.

[jackelope]

I would say cut the salt in half.  1 to 1 salt to sugar is way too salty I've found.  Just my take on it, but I'm on a low salt diet too and I do like a slight hint of sweetness in my smoked salmon.  Simply a personal taste thing.

I agree. I always use less salt than the recipe calls for.

[Old Dog]

How much water do you put your mix in?  I use 1 cup non iodized salt and 1 cup white sugar in 2 quarts of unchlorinated water.   Soak 12 hours, rinse, and air dry for an hour.  I've never had any complaints.   

[acnewman55]

I don't add water.  It's a dry-cure recipe, not a brine.

[LastLookTaxidermy]

I have reduced my dry rubs and brines down to a 1:4 ratio of salt to sugar. And sometimes even then it gets too salty. Some fish absorb the salt faster than others. And dont forget the most important part, after brining it, allow the fish to dry a few hours so the pedicle forms! Makes a huge difference.

[Alchase]

I use 1 part salt, 3 parts brown sugar, pint of pure maple syrup, 1 tbsp onion powder,  tbsp garlic powder, tbsp Black pepper, 2-4 tbsp Cayenne,   in a gallon of water. Brine overnight, rinse, pat dry before going in the smoker.

For squaw candy - just use brown sugar completely covering the fish overnight.

Adjust any recipe to your own taste.

[j_h_nimrod]

1 cup canning/pickling salt to 2 pounds brown sugar.  (~1:3-4 ratio) layer n cure overnight. Rinse n dry the way you have been.

[WSU]

I use 1 part salt to 3 or 4 parts dark brown sugar.  It's a dry brine and you can add whatever else you want.  Brine overnight and make sure to stir your salmon around in the liquid that is created to ensure all pieced are brined evenly. 

[acnewman55]

Thanks for the input everyone.

Sounds like the consensus is to either continue the dry-cure with a reduced salt ration or switch to a liquid brine.

I'm going to try both methods on my next batch and see what I like best.

Good thing I have all this Lake Wenatchee sockeye to test it on! 

[j_h_nimrod]

Make sure you use a fairly consistent amount of fish in each batch, varying amounts of fish will effect saltiness as well. If you have large amounts of precipitated salt and sugar in the remaining liquid you can add more fish or less cure.

[elkaholic123]

Thanks for the input everyone.

Sounds like the consensus is to either continue the dry-cure with a reduced salt ration or switch to a liquid brine.

I'm going to try both methods on my next batch and see what I like best.

Good thing I have all this Lake Wenatchee sockeye to test it on! 

There is a very good recipe on salmonunivercity.com
http://salmonuniversity.com/archives/582

[lokidog]

I don't add any salt, although I brine not rub.  Half and half water/soy, 1/4-1/3 cup brown sugar for each cup of liquid, and spices.  IMO, rubs are for things like jerky or smoked red meat that you want to pull some moisture out of.  I don't want dry fish.

[acnewman55]

I don't add any salt, although I brine not rub.  Half and half water/soy, 1/4-1/3 cup brown sugar for each cup of liquid, and spices.  IMO, rubs are for things like jerky or smoked red meat that you want to pull some moisture out of.  I don't want dry fish.

That's interesting.

I've never had a problem with producing smoked fish at the moisture level I prefer.  You need to pull some moisture out of it in order to achieve the longevity in shelf-life.  A brine generally is used to add moisture to meat, like a turkey before a long roast that would otherwise dry it out... 

I guess this is just a preference thing.

I don't want to add moisture to the fish - wouldn't the result have a very short shelf life (equivalent of baked fish) and prevent the pellicle from forming to hold the smoke?

I adjusted my recipe to reduce the ratio of salt and the result was much closer to what I'm looking for.  Still need to put in some work to dial it in but that was the solution I was looking for! (pun intended).

[Griiz]

Keep cutting the salt until it is how you like it. I can't stand salty salmon and cut the salt from a cup to a few tablespoons in my recipe.

[2MANY]

3 brown sugar to 1 salt.
Meat to meat and skin to skin.

[lokidog]

I don't add any salt, although I brine not rub.  Half and half water/soy, 1/4-1/3 cup brown sugar for each cup of liquid, and spices.  IMO, rubs are for things like jerky or smoked red meat that you want to pull some moisture out of.  I don't want dry fish.

That's interesting.

I've never had a problem with producing smoked fish at the moisture level I prefer.  You need to pull some moisture out of it in order to achieve the longevity in shelf-life.  A brine generally is used to add moisture to meat, like a turkey before a long roast that would otherwise dry it out... 

I guess this is just a preference thing.

I don't want to add moisture to the fish - wouldn't the result have a very short shelf life (equivalent of baked fish) and prevent the pellicle from forming to hold the smoke?

I adjusted my recipe to reduce the ratio of salt and the result was much closer to what I'm looking for.  Still need to put in some work to dial it in but that was the solution I was looking for! (pun intended).

Actually, any brine that is saltier than the meat will pull moisture out, that's chemistry.  It might not pull as much moisture out as a rub, since the salt concentration is much higher in the rub, but it still pulls moisture out while putting salt and flavor in. As far as the pellicle goes, it forms one just fine and I just leave in the smoker until it is as dry as I want it.  I don't like "wet" smoked salmon and the fridge "shelf life" seems just fine... at least two weeks  before it gets moldy (this just reminded me I pulled some out of the freezer two weeks or so ago, yep just fine, yum). If you want to make salmon jerky that will keep outside of a fridge or freezer that's a different story.

[wildweeds]

1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup table salt, 1 gallon water, soak 12 hours. Light rinse,dry,hang smoke. I cut my fish in strips like pepperoni and hang it in the house to smoke.

[h20hunter]

Looks good!

Like others have said...3 to 1 and you are good to go.

[wildweeds]

I hang mine overnight on a rack with a fan drying it, after I blot off the lions share of the water from rinsing. My method is stolen directly from Bristol Bay natives, my dad spent 20 plus summers up there.

[sockeye66]

1/2 cup white sugar, 1/2 cup table salt, 1 gallon water, soak 12 hours. Light rinse,dry,hang smoke. I cut my fish in strips like pepperoni and hang it in the house to smoke.

looks like the squaw candy we make up north. how long do you smoke it? looks really good

[wildweeds]

Sockeye, it takes a long time to smoke, the strips in the picture was 12 hours, I did some river silvers this morning they were thinner, done in 8. I go slow and no hotter than 125 degrees, the majority of the time the house is 115,as it cooks the house temp climbs, I ramp up to 150 for an hour at the end. And I have a freind from the bay up there ,and she says it's just the way her native momma/aunts made it. I have it dialed in, but it wasn't always that way,plenty of uh oh    batches went to the cream cheese spread.

[sockeye66]

have helped on many batches, sometimes doing as many as 90 kings at once. usually 6 or 7 people involved.all day project just to get prepared to go in the smoker. the people i know usually take a week to 10 days at least. all cold smoke. have to get together someday and talk about the good ol' days

[finnman]

I brine mine in a water mix. 3/4 cup kosher salt, 1 cup brown sugar, 2 quarts water, 1 tablespoon hickory smoke. Mix till all ingredients are dissolved, then pour over the salmon pieces, usually cut into cubes about 1 1/2 inches square. Soak for 24 hours. Place on smoker at 130 degrees for 2 hours, remove, let cool, then peel skin, place in canning jars, then can in pressure canner.
The best!!!!