Apple Cider-Cured Smoked Salmon
Serves: 4
Amie Torphy
1 January 1970
Based on User reviews:
55
Spice
55
Sweetness
46
Sourness
41
mins
Prep time (avg)
5
Difficulty
Ingredients:
1 cup
Brown Sugar1 cup
Salt4 cups
Apple Cider1 tsp
Fennel Seed1 tsp
Allspice (whole)1 tsp
Black Peppercorn1
Bay Leaf1 tsp
Red Pepper FlakeDirections:
1
To make the brine: In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, salt, and apple juice and bring to a boil
2
Add the remaining brine ingredients, remove from the heat, and cool
3
This brine can be made 2 to 3 days in advance and kept in the refrigerator
4
Submerge the salmon fillets in the liquid brine for at least 6 hours or overnight, refrigerated
5
Remove the salmon from the brine and place, uncovered, on a wire rack set in a sheet pan
6
Refrigerate the fillets for at least 6 hours, or overnight, to dry them out
7
(A dry fillet will take on smoke quicker than a moist fillet) To smoke the salmon: In an outdoor grill, make a small fire using mesquite charcoal or briquettes
8
Once the fire has burned down to a hot bed of coals, after about 1 hour, place the soaked wood on the coals
9
Position the grate 8 to 12 inches above the smoking wood and place the salmon fillets on the grate
10
Cover the grill and shut any open-air vents
11
After 5 minutes, check the heat of the grill; large fillets will be cooked and smoked through in approximately 30 minutes if the heat is low, about 300 to 350 degrees F, while a hotter fire will cook the fillets in 15 to 20 minutes
12
Serve the salmon hot off the grill