SMOKED SALMON

This is a basic recipe to follow and there are many options you may want to add:

Honey, Hot Sauce, Magic Dust, Whiskey, Maple, Teriyaki.

Smoked Salmon

Seasoned rub of dill, brown sugar, kosher salt, and black pepper flavors king salmon smoked on alder wood. Optional mop sauce included. Plan ahead to refrigerate overnight.

Pacific king salmon butterflied tail section (or use coho or silver salmon)

Alder wood for smoking

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Rub:

1/4 cup dill, dried

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons fresh-ground black pepper

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Optional Mop:

Remaining rub

1 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup oil (canola or corn)

Preparation

The night before you plan to barbecue, combine dill, brown sugar, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Open the salmon flat and massage it well with about 2/3 of the rub, reserving the rest of the mixture. Fold the salmon back into its original shape, place it in a plastic bag, and refrigerate it overnight.

Prepare the smoker for barbecuing, bringing the temperature to 180 to 200 degrees F.

Remove the salmon from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes

If you plan to baste the fish, stir the remaining rub together with cider vinegar and oil in a small saucepan and warm the mixture over low heat.

Transfer the salmon to the smoker skin side down, placing the fish as far from the fire as possible. Cook for 50 to 60 minutes, mopping it after 10 and 30 minutes in a wood-burning pit, or as appropriate for your style of smoker. The salmon should flake easily when done. Have a large spatula and a platter ready when taking the salmon off the smoker, because it can fall apart easily. Serve hot or chilled.

BBQ Tips:

Alder remains the best wood for smoking Pacific salmon. Alder chips are fairly common across the country, but you may have more difficulty finding the wood in chunks or logs. Fruit woods are the best substitute, particularly when mixed with smaller pieces of alder.

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MAGIC DUST RUB AND BRISKET MOP

MAGIC DUST/RUB for BRBQ or Smoking and Mopping Sauce

Ingredients for My Magic Dust Dry Rub:   

·         1/2 cup Paprika

·         1/4 cup Kosher Salt

·         1/4 cup Sugar Brown

·         2 Tbls Mustard Powder

·         1/4 cup Chile powder

·         1/4 cup Ground Cumin

·         1 Tbls  Black Pepper

·         1/4 cup Granulated Garlic

·         1 Tbls Cayenne

·         2 Tbls Onion Powder

·         2 tsp All Spice Powder 

Combine ingredients in a container and mix thoroughly. Keep on the shelf for BRBQ, Smoking or a General House Seasoning.

Rub Paste

1/4 Cup Brown Mustard

2 Tbls Molasses

To begin, mix up the Rub Paste,  and rub it onto the meat with your hands. Sprinkle generously with magic dust and spread it around into the Paste Rub pretty liberally all over the meat. Cover the meat loosely and refrigerate  for a few hours at least, overnight would be super.  The Rub Paste will help your Dry Rub stick to the meat and develop a great flavor.

This is generally a first step in flavoring the meat.  You may also be adding other methods of flavor and moisturizing like using a Mop Recipe (recipe follows) during the cooking or a Glaze for finishing off.

Brisket Mopping Sauce

This recipe starts out with one 12 ounce bottle of beer. You can substitute 3/4 cup of wine, apple juice or apple cider for the beer, but it needs to be combined with an equal amount of water.

12 oz beer

 2 tablespoons  up to ½ cup as desired , Malt vinegar or Red Vinegar

 2 tsp  Magic Dust (any paprika, chili powder style rub of your choice )

2 crushed cloves of garlic

1/2 medium onion processed to fine

2 Serrano or Jalapeno Peppers or only  1 Habanero (processed with no seeds )

 1/4 – 1/3 cup of light vegetable oil  -  this gets added later, right before this basting liquid is used.

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Mix this up at least a couple of hours ahead of time so the flavors have a chance to blend. An overnight rest in the refrigerator is even better. It takes time for the onion and garlic to flavor the liquid. 

ush the brisket mopping sauce< onto the meat every hour or so after the first four hours of smoking. For a big brisket, make up two recipes of the sauce.

Did you know that brisket mopping sauce is not a type of barbecue sauce? It's a basting liquid, made thin, flavorful, and without a lot of sugar or tomato that could burn, ruining your brisket. You can adjust the ingredients a little to get the flavor just the way you like. I've substituted chopped Jalapeno/Serrano peppers for half of the chopped onion...and it was good!

The following recipe is a little on the spicy side, so you might want to cut back on the cayenne pepper if you're feeding a gaggle of young'uns. The alcohol in the beer or wine will evaporate off quickly, but if you're concerned, you can substitute apple juice or cider.

Theory Behind Brisket Mopping Sauce

The acidic vinegar in the mopping sauce has a tenderizing effect, and it also pushes the other flavors deeper into the meat. The beer and wine add flavor and moisture, while the oil coats the surface of the brisket, helping to seal in the moisture. That's brisket mopping sauce for ya!