How to Dry Brine Salmon and Trout for Smoking

Dry brining is one of the easiest and simplest methods for preparing salmon and trout for smoking.
The recipe I use relies on a simple 3:1 ratio of brown sugar to salt. Additional spices and herbs can be added to enhance the flavor including: dill weed, mustard, garlic, onion, black and cayenne pepper, ginger, and whatever else you enjoy with salmon or trout. This recipe also works with whitefish and tuna too.
Be sure to check out my smoking tutorial using the Luhr-Jensen Big Chief Smoker. amzn.to/2nZXpw3
Thanks for watching!

[@debbiep99]

Perfectly explained!

[@dontroock1843]

Really great video. Really helpful!! Excellent!!

[@donm1547]

Tip, forget the wooden spoon and use a stainlees wire whip for a quicker and more thorough mix.

[@captainron9136]

I used this Brine method to smoke a 25 lb white spring I caught last week. It turned out nice in my Bradley smoker. I didn’t have any Mustard. I just used Salt, Brown sugar Garlic , Black pepper, Dill and Lemon zest. Three hours at 170 in the Bradley Thanks for posting

[@karennorthrop2293]

Thanks. You've become my kokanee guru. I appreciate your fishing tips; along those lines, let me share that I just returned from Curlew Lake where I was catching 14" to 17" early spawners off a dock around midnight at 10" depth, still -fishing with a piece of worm and peg corn soaked in anise oil. Gary Northrop

[@PaulKentros]

Cool video! I just bought a big chief smoker and caught a couple kings I’m ready to roll 👍

[@machinegreen1911]

Looks good

[@a420man2]

Was so looking forward to eating some lol

[@chriswebster9632]

Good video. Very similar to the way I brine fish to smoke.You fish rather heavily so Curious if you have made a video on how you prepare whole Trout or Kokanee for freezing. Do you always fillet for freezing? I tend to see my fish quality compromised after vacuum packing mostly whole trout. Cheers

[@chillipphi]

A coworker gave me some king he smoked with maple syrup. That was so good

[@frostop65]

Have you used this brine for canning smoked salmon, if so how long did you brine?? Shorter time??

[@lukebronstein9617]

How sweet tasting is this brine? I like my smoked salmon more savoury

[@kennethcaine3402]

I'm from the south so salmon is pretty pricey so people around here smoke mullet and years ago everyone would brine the fish in salt water around 24 hours, wash the fish to remove the salt lay them out and pat them dry letting them lay out for about an hour and pepper them with black pepper and put them on the smoker with the temperature less than 160 degrees F and smoke them with pecan wood about 10 hours and they were great. Thanks for sharing, as for as I'm concerned you could leave the brown sugar out of the brine it does nothing for curing the meat it just adds sugar ands flavor but to me like you were smoking a candy bar. I was joking most of the time, I did enjoy the video smoking fish and other meats are so good. Thanks so much.

[@spiltmilt]

Sugar desiccates and cures meat in much the same manner as salt does. Some folks prefer saltier smoked fish and some prefer sweeter

[@kennethcaine3402]

@@spiltmilt thanks for explaining that,

[@fritzj8]

Have you ever tried adding liquid smoke to the dry brine, and then going straight to the oven instead of smoking them first?

[@spiltmilt]

I've not but I know people do.

[@amymitchell3090]

After the brine, Is it safe food wise to let it dry at room temp rather than in the fridge?

[@spiltmilt]

Yes

[@waynehughes8616]

I would like to try this recipe. But curious, after Salmon soak's in a 3:1 salt to sugar brine ratio for 24 hours, is finished smoked salmon on salty side? Also, after a 2 pan of chips smoke time and a 10-15 min oven cook time, is fish moist?

[@spiltmilt]

I would say slightly on the saltier side for sure. You can shorten the brining period or rinse the fillets if you want reduce the saltiness. As for your concerns about drying the fish out I've never had that issue.

[@spiltmilt]

I've tried rinsing them in the past and it certainly does reduce the saltiness but you also lose a lot of the flavor and the pellicle formation isn't nearly as good resulting in a poorer quality smoke in my opinion.

[@Hello-fv3lm]

ui

[@wrigzor]

@@spiltmilt would a 4:1 or 5:1 solve this? Also, is the ratio by weight or volume?

[@williamkrejca4641]

@@wrigzor I use a ratio of 8/1 brown sugar to salt, comes out fine, less salty.

[@karennorthrop2293]

Do you eat smoked kokanee without removing the pin bones? Thanks.

[@spiltmilt]

Yes

[@b.t.3780]

What's a good way to keep the fish from being so salty tasting after brining? I am on a low salt diet?

[@spiltmilt]

U can flip the salt sugar ratio however you want. Less salt just makes it sweeter

[@NOSrommel]

What temperature does the big chief get if i may ask?

[@spiltmilt]

140-180 depending on external temps

[@ConstantlyRepeatingMyself]

Does the fish have to be an oily type of fish? I'm in Texas and we catch a lot of flounder, redfish and trout, none of which are oily.

[@anthonyheckard8041]

It will work with trout. They are considered an oily fish.

[@williamkrejca4641]

I smoke crappie, just less smoking time.

[@ShenpaiWasTaken]

When you freeze your fish do you need to wrap it/seal it?

[@spiltmilt]

I do unless just quickly freezing and thawing for smoking.

[@abransilva4375]

Do you rinse the fillets off with water once you remove them from the dry brine or do they go straight to a rack from the dry brine to start drying?

[@spiltmilt]

Generally straight to the rack

[@abransilva4375]

If I was going to add a jalapeño jelly or maple syrup or honey at what point would I add it? Do you add it right after the pellicle has formed? Or do you smoke it for a while then add? Thank you for your help!

[@johno8819]

I want to do trout filets they are filleted with skin on on side do I leave them on if so will the scales come off and ruin the brine

[@spiltmilt]

Descale them before they go in the brine

[@GuyBaillargeon-hz2ih]

At the end of the process, you look like you wash the filet, with what water or....

[@jonwhiteley5651]

can you use coarse kosher salt?

[@spiltmilt]

yes

[@jonwhiteley5651]

@@spiltmilt 👍 thank you for such a quick reply. I was hoping so because they are already sitting in the refrigerator. Lol I watch all your videos you’re real inspiration so again I say thank you.🙏 tight lines my friend.

[@sofakingnutz5693]

Did you say when to add soy sauce?

[@spiltmilt]

You can add it during the main mixing process although I tend not to use it anymore.

[@darrellryan2337]

You don't rinse it at all?

[@spiltmilt]

No I don't rinse but I am careful wipe each fillet by hand to remove any large quantities of salt after it comes out of the brine.

[@NUTSO1967]

Good video, but you need to clean your fridge 😉

[@spiltmilt]

Already done

[@David35445]

You know you can eat that fish right out of the brine? I'd rinse it first in fresh cold water, it is actually very good.

[@ronaldhemmings2476]

The salmom was salty , why ?

[@spiltmilt]

Did you clean the brine away before smoking?

[@ptr1537]

Most dry brining procures call for rinsing the fish lightly after removing from brine and prior to drying on rack. This does not. Pros and cons please.

[@johnrohlfs9607]

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[@seanbrennan3824]

wash that brine off! way to salty if not!

[@stevedionne2252]

Looks good