Hot Smoked Salmon

Directions

• Run your fingers over the flesh of the fish and make sure all the pin bones are gone. If not, drape the fish over the edge of a bowl so the bones stick out, and yank them with tweezers or needle-nose pliers.
• Chose your brining container carefully. It needs to be food grade, large enough to hold the meat and the brine with the meat submerged, and it cannot be made of aluminum, copper, or cast iron.
• You can make the brine days in advance and keep it chilled if you wish. Start by adding 1/2 cup hot water to a one cup measuring cup. Then pour in salt, any salt, until the water line reaches 3/4 cup.
• If you are using a pan, submerge the fish skin side up in the brine and refrigerate. Make sure the meat part is thoroughly submerged. If you need to, hold it under with a plate with a weight on top.
• If you brine in a zipper bag, periodically grab the bag and squish things around and flip the meat so the brine can get in from all sides. Place the bag in a pan to catch leaks.
• The length of brining will vary depending on how thick the filets are. Brine 2" thick filets for about 2 hours in the fridge, 1" filets for 1 hour.
• Cut pieces of paper bag or plain white paper about the same size as each hunk of fish and place the fish on the paper, skin side down.
• Set up the grill in a 2-zone configuration or get the smoker started, and get the indirect zone up to about 225°F. Put the fish in and add the wood.
• Start spot checking the meat temps after about 30 minutes. Remove the meat when it is at about 140°F internal. No more than 150°F. Total cooking time will be about 60 minutes depending on the actual temperature of your oven and the thickness of the meat.
• Remove the fillets once grilled and let them cool for about 15 minutes, until you can handle them. Then peel off the paper and the skins should come right off with it.

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