Cold Smoked Sockeye Salmon Recipe
Transform fresh sockeye salmon into a flavourful and delicate appetizer with this easy-to-follow recipe. With just salt, sugar, and a bit of patience, you can cold smoke your way to a deliciously moist and tender smoked salmon perfect for serving on small pancakes or as a dip with sour cream and capers.
Ingredients
1.8 Kg (4 lb) fresh sockeye salmon (approximate)
Meat cure:
450 G (1 lb) salt
125 G (4 oz) white sugar
Preparation
Fillet two salmon so you have four fillets. Cut into sizes to fit on Bradley Smoker racks.
Leaving the skin on, sprinkle a coat of meat cure on the flesh side of salmon.
The cure should be heavier on the thicker portion of the salmon, thinner as you get closer to the tail.
Save your extra meat cure for another day.
Stack the salmon in a deep tray flesh to flesh and store in a cool covered place for 24 hours.
Remove and rinse with cold water any access meat cure.
Pat dry and allow the salmon to dry further in a cold, well-ventilated place. You may need a fan to blow cool air over the fish and the fish should be dry and tacky to the touch. This process may take another 24 hours to accomplish.
Smoking Method:
Using Alder flavor bisquettes, place salmon in the Bradley Smoker with the damper wide open and start the smoking process, watching that temperature does not rise much over 50°C (100°F). The smoking time may very from 4 to 8 hours depending on taste. This recipe and all cold smoking process recipes are best done in Winter when the temperature is cold and the air is dry.
To Serve:
Serve your cold smoke salmon as appetizer on a small pancake with cream cheese and capers, or blend with sour cream for a dip.