Traeger Smoked Salmon (Wet Brine or Dry Brine)

Traeger Smoked Salmon (Wet Brine or Dry Brine)

The best Traeger smoked salmon! Easy pellet grill smoked salmon with Pit Boss or Traeger, wet brine and dry brine salmon recipes included!

Course Appetizer, charcuterie, dinner

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1 30

Brine and dry salmon (minimum time) 6

Total Time 7 40

Servings people

Calories 273kcal

Author Aubrey

Cost $22

Equipment

Traeger Smoker/Pellet Grill (Other smoker/pellet grills: PitBoss, Masterbuilt, Big Green Egg, Camp Chef, Z Grills, Weber, Bradley, Horizon, etc.)
Baking Sheet with Wire Rack
Basting Brush
Glass Baking Dish (or gallon plastic bag)
Meat Thermometer

Ingredients

Smoked Salmon

2 lbs salmon filet (skin on) (whole filet or cut 4 – 8 oz filets, wild caught or farm raised)
1 bag wood pellets (alder, hickory, apple, cherry, mesquite)

Smoked Salmon Brine

½ cup honey
¼ cup white sugar or brown sugar
¼ cup kosher salt
2 cup water

Smoked Salmon Basting Mixture

3 tablespoon honey or brown sugar (fully dissolved)
1 tablespoon water

Instructions

Smoked Salmon Brine and Basting Mixture

Combine honey, sugar (or brown sugar), salt and water. Mix until thoroughly combined. Tip: Shaking everything vigorously in a jar works well.
Prepare your honey (or brown sugar)/water mixture (3:1 ratio) and set aside in small bowl. This will be used to baste your salmon mix-way through the smoking process.
In a gallon size food safe bag, place salmon filets and pour smoked salmon brine over the top. Note: You can also place the salmon and brine in a bowl or dish but the salmon must be fully submerged (cover with plastic wrap).
Allow salmon to brine for 4-8 hours.
Remove salmon from brine and dry with paper towels.
Place salmon on wire rack over baking sheet and place in refrigerator. Allow salmon to dry for approximately 2-4 hours. This will allow the salmon to form a pellicle (thick dry skin) which allows the smoke flavor to better permeate the salmon.

Traeger Smoked Salmon Smoker/Pellet Grill Instructions

Preheat smoker to 180°F.
Turn on Traeger super smoke mode, if available on your smoker model.
Place salmon on smoker/pellet grill and smoke for 1.5-2 hours (time will vary, see notes) until the internal temperature reaches 145°F. Use meat thermometer to measure.
Every 30 minutes, baste with salmon basting mixture.

Notes

Notes on Smoked Salmon Temperature and Time:

The length of time to smoke salmon depends on a number of different factors including smoking temperature, wet vs. dry cure/brine, size and thickness of the salmon filet, skin-on vs. skin-off, amount of fat in the filet (wild vs. farmed salmon), temperature of the salmon at start (ie: room temperature vs. refrigerated) and the type and brand of smoker (charcoal, electric, pellet, etc.).

For most smoked salmon recipes, because of the variability of smoking salmon to an exact time, it is better to cook to the ideal temperature.

The rule of thumb overall on how long to cook salmon is the make sure that your internal salmon temperature reaches 145 degrees F. Ideally, I recommend using a thermometer that measures the internal temperature of the fish as well as the internal temperature of the smoker. That will allow you to more closely monitor those variables. So, if you smoker is getting hot too quickly, you can throttle the temperature down to allow a long enough cook time to allow the smoke to fully permeate.

Smoked Salmon Dry Brine/Dry Cure: ½ cup kosher salt, ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup white sugar, weigh down and cure 4-6 hours. Rinse thoroughly and allow to dry and form pellicle (4-6 hours or overnight).

Smoked Salmon Wet Brine (Optional Additions and Substitutions): Maple syrup instead of honey. Can also add lemon or orange zest and minced garlic.

Candied Smoked Salmon: Generally candied smoked salmon will be smoked for a longer time period and basted with honey or brown sugar more frequently for the candied exterior.

Storage: Store tightly wrapped in the refrigerator. Smoked salmon should be eaten within 5-7 days after making.

Freezing Smoked Salmon: Wrap tightly or vacuum seal (preferable) prior to freezing. Frozen smoked salmon should be slowly defrosted overnight in the refrigerator prior to eating.

Smoked Salmon Cooking Temperature: FDA recommendation for cooking salmon is an internal temperature of 145° F (63° C) ideally measuring the temperature with a food thermometer. The fish should be cooked until opaque (milky white) and flakes with a fork.

Nutrition