While I’m certainly no Bobby Flay, I have to admit that there’s a certain primal joy in taking the time to really cook a meal on the grill or a smoker. And while I still don’t own a Green Egg or a Traeger like some of my friends, I find that I can usually fare pretty well with my Genesis Silver grill or a basic $40 charcoal smoker from Home Depot.

That being said, one of the consistently successful things that I enjoy making is smoked salmon.

Of course, last night, it took me an inordinate amount of time to dig through the massive pile of papers (i.e. the recipe ‘dump’) to find my brine formula, so I thought I would put it in the blog just in case it gets lost in the rubble.

Side note: I really need to get us organized and get these recipes stored electronically.

Salmon Brine

• 3 cups water
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• 1 teaspoon mustard powder

To prepare, I usually get a 3-4lb salmon and soak it in the brine for 24-48 hours, meat side down (so it soaks in). I also cut the salmon in half and place the fish and brine in a plastic bag to reduce the ‘mess’.

About an hour before smoking, remove the salmon from the brine and pat it with a paper towel to ‘dry’ it. The salmon usually needs around 2 hours on the smoker to cook all the way through.

I’ve smoked with both hickory and mesquite wood chips and both work well.