Hot Smoked Salmon

Hot Smoked Salmon

by calum
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Hot Smoked Salmon

This recipe has evolved over a couple of years.  And I am still gently adapting and changing it.
Recipe Type Fish

Ingredients

  • 2 Salmon Fillets
  • 500 g PDV Salt
  • 100 g Brown Sugar
  • 2 tbsp Vodka I just seal some from my teenagers

Instructions

Salting the Salmon

  • Make two vacuum sealer bags each long enough to hold a full salmon fillet
  • Combine the salt, sugar and vodka … I use a stand mixer to do this.  Divide the mixture in half.  One Portion for each fillet.
  • Lay the bag out flat and sprinkle about 1/4 of the portion in the bag in a salmon fillet sort of shape.
  • Place the fillet skin-side down on the salt.  If you move it around a bit it makes sure all the skin gets salted.
  • Spread the remaining 3/4 of the portion over the top of the fillet.  Use your hands to make sure all the fillet has salt on it.  the salt should be thicker over the thickest part of the fillet.
  • Vacuum seal the bag.
  • Repeat for the second fillet. 
  • Leave for 2 hours to cure in your curing fridge (you do have one … right!)

Resting

  • After two hours remove from the fridge; rinse both fillets under cold running water and then pat dry.
  • Return to the curing fridge to dry overnight

Cold Smoking

  • Cold smoke the salmon fillets for 4 hours.
    You can pop the fillets back into the curing fridge until you are ready to hot smoke them

Hot Smoking

  • Cut the fillets into portions, so three or four portions from each fillet.
  • Fire up your Green Egg with charcoal, once it is going add oak blocks.  Get it stable at around 250 C with the setting plate in place. Put the normal grill in place on the Green Egg.
  • Get a second grill slightly smaller and lay the fillet pieces on this, I do six portions at a time.  Insert a temperature probe in each portion.
    I use a second grill for safety reasons, you have a very hot fire and fish oils … things can get out of hand and eyebrows can be lost.  The second grill means you can remove all the fish in a second 
  • Cook the portions until the internal temperature is 61 C … the timing of this will be slightly different for each portion.