Smoked Salmon

You can either use fresh caught salmon or store bought salmon. Rinse fillets under cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. You can either keep them whole or cut into serving sizes. I find that cutting into serving sizes is easier to package later on. Mix 3 cups of brown sugar to 1 cup of kosher salt in a separate bowl. In a large plastic container, put a layer of the sugar/salt mixture on the bottom. Take salmon and place skin side down on the mixture. Take sugar/salt mixture and cover the tops of the salmon fillets. You can stack more fillets on top of each other and cover with the sugar/salt mixture. Cover the container with a layer of plastic wrap and a lid and put in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight. The sugar and salt will turn into a dark liquid and the salmon should turn a darker color. Take the fillets and rinse all the remaining sugar and salt off with cold water and pat dry them with a paper towel. Place the fillets on a rack skin side down and let them air dry for 2 hours. I use the racks from the smoker and place them on top of my stove. Make sure to spray the racks with non stick cooking spray. This will prevent the fish from sticking to the racks. After letting them air dry for 2 hours, they should be sticky to the touch. This will allow the smoke to bind to the fish. Set your smoker to 170 degrees using a fruit wood. I use cherry. Put the fish in the smoker and every hour brush on some maple syrup. Don't use the cheap stuff. You don't need much, just enough to cover the top of the fish. After 2 hours the fish should be done. You can check this by taking a piece off the fillet and it shouldn't be translucent.