Brine Chum Salmon?

[GEARHEAD]

1 part soy sauce
2 part water
brown sugar and white sugar
salt

this is my basic go to for everything, i use a crock pot to brine in.  get it all mixed together, let it all disolve, may take an hour or so. i just eyeball my amounts adding for flavor. cover, throw in the fridge for 8-16 hours, then lightly rince, place on papertowels to dry abit and throw in the smoker.

one tip......, zero skin! all that slime will ruin the flavor. fillet it all off, cut into strips taken from belly and back strap, i throw the middle away.

[FC]

I skin all of mine too.

[lokidog]

1 part soy sauce
2 part water
brown sugar and white sugar
salt

this is my basic go to for everything, i use a crock pot to brine in.  get it all mixed together, let it all disolve, may take an hour or so. i just eyeball my amounts adding for flavor. cover, throw in the fridge for 8-16 hours, then lightly rince, place on papertowels to dry abit and throw in the smoker.

one tip......, zero skin! all that slime will ruin the flavor. fillet it all off, cut into strips taken from belly and back strap, i throw the middle away.

Pretty close to mine, though I didn't skin them (I do scale my salmon which I think removes a lot of the slime) as it helps them not stick so much to the rack IMO.  depending on how fast I want to get to smoking, I will vary the proportions of water and soy.  Overnight, I do equal parts, for a shorter brine time, I use less water and more soy.  I will sometimes put black pepper in the brine and maybe some precut garlic and juice.  Usually, I will sprinkle onion and garlic powder on them after removing from brine waiting for them to glaze a little.

[Cap.Silver]

I like to use Scott's seasoned brine mix for fish from Sportco or Sportsmans warehouse .I might have to change it because it is getting expensive ,but I just don't like the brown sugar aftertaste on fish .It is just me .....

[Ripper]

Equal parts fine sea salt and brown sugar. 1cup each depending on how much fish you have. Add 1 tblspn of whatever seasoning you like, garlic, onion, chilli pwdr. Mix it all together, rub liberally on your fish and let it sit in ziplock bags in the fridge for 8 hrs. Oh yea, I cut my fish into pieces. Take out rinse off and let dry. I like to smoke with a mix of apple and hickory. Leave in smoker for 6-8 hours depending on thickness and amount of fish. Run 3 pans of chips, 1 every 2 hrs. This is the simplest recipe that I know and the most consistent. I experimented with all kinds of stuff over the years and this is hands down the best I can come up with. Enjoy

[Encore 280]

DO NOT USE ROCK SALT  Use Morton's Pickeling Salt or a non iodized salt. I use the recipe I got from Salmon University, they have good recipes in there. 4-1 dark brown sugar to salt. Go to www.salmonuniversity.com and look for smoked salmon recipes in the left column. Good luck.

[coriantonk]

Thanks for all of the replies,  I have been a Salmon smoking fool for the last several weekends.  The most important part is that the first batch came out alright, but each bathc after got better and better as I changed things and learned what I was doing.  My last batch was really good.  All told I have about 20+ pounds of smoked Salmon in the freezer now.  Thanks again for all your input.

[Encore 280]

I'm taking a bunch outta the freezer this morning and "The Warden's" gonna do up a batch for the holidays. She kinda took over the fish smokin job after she learned it from me, she does a great job. Dry brine in the fridge over nite then rinse in the morning and air dry for about 3-4hrs then in the smoker. Two pans of alder or apple chips then it's just cookin the rest of the time. I stick with the traditional alder or fruit wood. Never tried any of that mesquite stuff, nothin Norwegian bout that. Have fun.