Know the Key Steps for Cooking Excellent Barbeque Salmon? This Guide Tells You How!

Why barbeque salmon? We smoked barbeque meat fanatics need to think about cholesterol every now and then. That's why barbeque salmon, with it's Omega 3 fatty acids, is a great alternative. Salmon, smoked to perfection, also happens to be delicious. Salmon in a smoker

The Key Steps for Barbeque Salmon

Use a light brine.
Dry the fish thoroughly after brining.
Using a mild flavored wood for smoking.

It's also important to use good quality fish when deciding to barbeque salmon. Frozen is okay. We've found that the warehouse stores like Costco and Sams carry very high quality salmon that's perfect for smoking. There is nothing worse than mushy, poor quality fish.

I want to point out this technique is "hot smoking" as opposed to "cold smoking". Hot smoking cooks the fish while it is being smoked. Cold smoking is the technique (at lower tempertures of about 150 degrees) more identified with Northwest Indian tribes and it characterizes more preservation than cooking.

Follow these steps to cook a perfect smoked barbeque salmon:

The first thing the new cook should do is to brine the fish. Use a simple fish brining recipe and let stay in the brine for for no more than 2 hours. If stays longer you're going to have saltier fish
Take the fish out of the brine and wash off thoroughly.
Pat dry and spread the fish out on a drying rack. Let the fish air dry for 6 to 8 hours.
Prepare your smoker with charcoal and stabilize the temperature in the range 210 to 220 degrees. Use a mild, fruity wood for smoking salmon. Apple, Alder, or Cherry wood are all good choices. Don't forget to soak the wood at least one hour before placing on hot coals.
Use foil or a fish grill grate to place the salmon in the smoker. Be sure to use a little spray cooking oil like Pam to prevent the fish from sticking.
It doesn't take long to hot smoke and cook fish. Cooking time works out to about 2 hours per pound. Monitor the internal temperature (a remote temperature probe comes in handy for this). When the internal temperature of the fish reaches 165 degrees the fish is done.

If you smoked too much salmon (it does happen sometime) click here for a great breakfast recipe using the leftovers.

Sometimes your wife has a better idea than you do for using the smoked salmon click here for a delicious salmon main dish.

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