Brine for Smoking Salmon
Brine salmon overnight to smoke and can.
Equipment
- 1 Smoker
- 1 Pressure Canner
Ingredients
- 1 cup pickling salt (salt without iodine)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 Tbsps Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- 4 cups water
- 4 cups fruit juice (not orange) I have used apple, cranberry, and grape. My favorite is a combination of apple and cherry. The proportions don't really matter as long as you have a total of 4 cups of juice.
Instructions
- In the evening, mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl or container. (I use a small plastic tub, just be careful because it may leave a smell of fish in the tub if it is plastic.)
- Place your fresh or defrosted fish into the brine and let it soak overnight unrefrigerated. (Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap if you have any curious kitties in your house.)
- In the morning, rinse your fish in cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
- Place fish on the smoker racks and put it in the smoker with your wood chips according to the manufacturer's directions.
- Smoke fish for approximately two hours. (You can smoke longer if you want, but if you plan to can the fish, you don't want to dry it out. I only smoke it long enough to get the skin off easily.)
- Once smoked, remove the skin from the fish and pack the meat into prepared jars. (Jars and lids must be clean.)
- At this point, I add two to three slices of fresh jalapeno and garlic cloves into each jar. This is completely optional but it adds great flavor. Be sure to leave an inch headspace in the jars.
- Wipe your jar rims with a damp paper towel to remove any fish remnants or juice. This is very important because your lids may not seal properly if you don't. Put on the lids and rings and tighten slightly.
- Place jars inside your pressure canner and process according to your manufacturer's directions.
Notes
Please note that our smoker holds roughly four whole salmon that have been filleted. The brine recipe is very forgiving, and you can put more or less fish in the brine. Just be sure each piece is underneath the liquid. Also, each smoker and pressure canner is different, so consult your model's directions and follow them.