Mark's Smoked Salmon is an Epic Retreat favorite by most of our guests who come to our Sitka, Alaska Epic Retreat. Over the last few years, we've enjoyed hosting pastors and ministry leaders for an adventure like no other fishing for salmon and other species of fish. This recipe is a great reminder of the time spent on the water together, while diving into deep conversations about God's love and grace. We hope you'll enjoy this recipe and remember your time on the water with us.
The recipe shared here accounts for about 4-6 coho filets. If you have bigger King filets or smaller pink salmon filets just adjust the amount of brine you make.
Prep the Fish: Thaw, Debone, and Cut into Pieces
If your salmon fillets are frozen, take them out of the freezer and let them thaw. Then, start to prepare them for the brine process by removing as many bones as you can. If you rub your hand across the fillet you should feel some small bones barely sticking out. A pair of needle nose pliers or tweezers works great to pull each one out. Gently place one hand on the fillet to hold it down while using the pliers or tweezers to pull each bone out.
Cut the salmon filets into smaller pieces. I typically like pieces that are approximately 2 inches by 3 or 4 inches.
Prepare the “wet brine”. This amount of brine would work for a two fish (4 fillets). If you are doing more, then double the recipe.
Brine Ingredients:
2/3 cup salt
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp liquid smoke
1 tsp Johnny’s seasoning salt
1/3rd cup Molasses
10 cups of warm water
Mark's Secrets:
It is very helpful to have all ingredients ready to go for the brine and to have the fish fillet's thawed, deboned, and cut to the size you desire before mixing in the brine.
Brining Instructions:
Mix the Brine. Add the brining ingredients into a large bowl. Make sure the salt and brown sugar completely dissolve prior to adding the salmon
Place the Salmon in Brine. Place the salmon pieces in the brine, making sure that the meat side of the salmon is in contact with the brine. I like to brine during the day so that the pieces can sit in the refrigerator over night after brining.
I typically brine coho for about 9 hours and thicker kings for around 12 hours. I usually like to gently rotate the fish about 1/2 way through the brining process just to make sure I get an even brine on the meat. .
Rinse and Drying. Once you pull the salmon out of the brine gently rinse off each piece of meat in cold water. Place the meat on a drying rack and gently use a paper towel to remove excess water.
Smoking Instructions:
Place Salmon Pieces on Smoking Racks: I like to put similar thickness of pieces on the same rack because the thin pieces will finish before the thick ones. Put the rack with thicker pieces closest to the heat source in your smoker.
Add Flavor: Sprinkle lemon pepper on each piece of meat (I prefer lemon pepper that is more chunky, rather than fine).
Let the Pellicle Form: Let the salmon “air dry” for at least 8 to 10 hours in a cool place until the meat gets “tacky." Some ways to do this is to place the rack in a refrigerator or in a cool room with a fan running (blowing cool air over the fish). This is VERY important!
What's A Pellicle? A pellicle is a tacky, shiny layer of proteins or cellulose that forms on the surface of meat or fish before smoking, which helps improve the quality of the final product. A pellicle forms when the surface moisture of cured fish dries, causing a layer of dissolved proteins to develop into a sticky gel. This can happen naturally during the salt curing process, or you can help it form by air-drying the fish before smoking.
A pellicle helps smoke adhere to the fish, which enhances the flavor and color of the final product. It also helps the fish retain moisture, so without a pellicle, the salmon would become very dry.
Smoke the Fish: Place in a smoker. I like to “cold smoke” for 6 hours on as low of a temperature as possible.
Then increase your smoker temp to approximately 140 to 200 degrees until the fish is done (this may depend on the sort of smoker you're using - refer to your specific brand of smoker for tips and suggestions).
I like my salmon to still have a little moisture in the meat. You can tell that it is done by the color of the meat, and when you can separate the flakes with a fork.
Package & Enjoy: Let stand in the refrigerator for a couple hours before vacuum packing or putting in ziplock bags. After a few hours, enjoy with some crackers and cream cheese.
Enjoy!
Mark
P.S. Please let us know if you've made this recipe!
Post a picture or video of your version of Mark's Smoked Salmon on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtags #refreshedrecipes and #refreshedsoul .
If you haven’t seen Susan’s smoked salmon spread recipe yet check it out… It’s the bomb!!!
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