Smoked Salmon Brine
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Smoked salmon brine is the key to perfectly moist, tender smoked fish. This recipe and video explain how to make and use salmon brine!
Looking for instructions on how to smoke salmon? You’ll find them in my post on how to smoke salmon. This post explains how to make the brine for smoked salmon.
On occasions like Christmas brunch or a New Year’s Eve party, nothing is quite as delicious as smoked salmon. The fish is fantastic with bagels and cream cheese, on a salad, or served as an appetizer with pumpernickel bread, quick pickled red onions, and crackers.
The problem is, smoked salmon is expensive to buy. The solution is to make it yourself and it isn’t difficult at all. It’s a mystery to me why there are so many people smoking without brining salmon first.
Sure, the brining process takes several hours, but skipping this step leads to the fish being dry and lacking flavor. Nobody enjoys that, so let me show you how simple it is to make and use a brine for smoking fish.
Some people refer to the process as curing, and the solution as a cure. Whatever you call it, this one imparts a lot of good flavor and helps in the preserving process.
Smoked salmon brine FAQ
If you want flavorful and moist smoked salmon, then brining is a necessity. Without it, the fish will be dry and lack flavor.
Allow at least 3 hours and up to 8 hours for the brining solution to soak into the fish. Keep in mind that whole salmon filets can be very thick, and you want the brine to work all the way through the flesh.
Unfortunately, yes. Smoked salmon brine has a hefty amount of salt in it; leaving the fish in the solution for longer than 8 hours will lead to an unbearably salty flavor. Also, the firm salmon flesh will begin to break down, which can lead to a mushy texture and mouthfeel.
Ingredient notes and substitutions
The typical fish brine has three elements – sugar, salt and water, and most recipes call for equal parts of sugar and salt.
I use a slightly different ratio; a quarter cup salt to one third cup sugar and four cups of liquid. The liquid can be just water, but for flavor, I include some soy sauce and dry white wine. Feel free to use low sodium soy sauce or adjust to less per your taste.
Video: making and using salmon brine
The brine is simple to make, and the actual process of brining the fish is really more about hands-off time than anything else.
To see the process from start to finish, watch the video in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Instructions
For this recipe, mix together the sugar, salt, soy sauce, water, wine, onion and garlic powders, pepper and Tabasco sauce in a bowl with a whisk to incorporate and thoroughly dissolve the sugar and salt.
After making the brine, it will be ready to use immediately. Otherwise, transfer it to a covered container and store it in a refrigerator for up to 5 days.
How to use smoked salmon brine
- Pour some of the brine in the bottom of 13×9-inch pan.
- Place the salmon filets in the pan and pour the remaining brine over the salmon to cover. Ensure that the fish is fully submerged in the brine.
- All that’s left at that point is to brine the fish for 8 hours and it will be ready to put on the smoker. After brining, you may refrigerate the brined salmon for up to two days before smoking, or you can immediately begin the process of making smoked salmon. The first step is drying it to create a pellicle.
What is a pellicle?
A pellicle seals moisture inside of the fish and creates a sticky surface for the smoke to adhere to.
To create a pellicle, place the brined salmon in front of a fan to dry and develop a shiny skin. This process takes about 4 hours, and it is vital to do so. Another option is to leave the fish uncovered on a baking sheet in the refrigerator. The cold, circulating air works great.
For instructions on smoking the fish, click here to see my recipe for smoked salmon.
This post, first published on Kevin Is Cooking Jan 5, 2014, was last updated with new content on Oct. 12, 2021.
Subscribe to my Newsletter, follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube for all my latest recipes and videos.
Smoked Salmon Brine + How-To Video
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup sugar or brown sugar
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 2 cups soy sauce
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes or freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp Tabasco sauce or hot sauce of choice
Instructions
- To a large bowl, add sugar, kosher salt, soy sauce, water, wine, onion and garlic powders, pepper and tabasco sauce. Use a whisk to incorporate and thoroughly dissolve the sugar and salt.
- Pour a little of the brine in the bottom of a 13×9-inch pan. Transfer salmon to the pan and pour remaining brine over the salmon to cover. Refrigerate for 8 hours.
- This brine is for 3 pounds of salmon as in my Smoked Salmon recipe.
Video
Notes
- Nutritional information shown is for a full batch of salmon brine. Only a small portion of the brine is actually absorbed into the fish and consumed. To see nutritional information for smoked salmon including the brine, see my post, how to smoke salmon.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Hey Kevin,
Your brine recipe is the bomb. I added a little more red pepper flakes to kick it up some. Smoked it in a Traeger BBQ. It came out just perfect.
Thanks for sharing
We think alike as I like to kick it up more too. I try to keep most recipes here for “everyones” palette and advise to experiment if you like it hotter. So glad you enjoyed this one. Have a wonderful holiday and thanks so much for coming back to let me know. Cheers!
I used this recipe today and I must have screwed up because others aren’t mentioning it, but it was barely edible, it was so so salty.
Sad to read that d, not quite sure what you could have done, but this is not salty if you followed the directions. I make this all the time and I even mention how I use less salt than your typical brine of equal sugar to salt. Maybe try this again with a small cut of salmon?
I had the same experience, but I did leave it in the brine too long. The biggest problem I had was that my electric smoker doesn’t start making smoke until about 170 so after 4.5 hours of no smoke, I turned it up to 190 and got smoke so I left it there for two hours and ended up with $50 worth of desiccated, unsmoked salmon that went in the trash.
Sorry to read of your smoker issues there Gary.
That’s the way electric smokers work Kevin. They element doesn’t heat up enough to start the wood smoking at the lower temperatures. I think the recipe is good but I would be wary about the lower temps if you have an electric smoker…100 degrees is not going to create smoke
Try the same recipe but at 200º for 3 hours. Turned out perfect
Get you an amaz-N-smoke maze…you can put pellets in it and you will get lots of smoke at 100 degrees or less…depends if your smoker is in hot sun or shade.
Thanks for sharing the recipe, it’s an old one was included with the little chief smoker in the 60s. I still use the little chief which holds 10# of salmon using this recipe.
A little tip, have the butcher cut your salmon into 3” pieces and nd put them in plastic bags up to 5# per bag pour in the brine refridgerate over right into the smoker In the morning. Wait for the pellicle in the smoker then turn on the heat. Saves a lot of clean up!
Interesting Robert, thanks for the info, I’ll give that a go. Although I must say a friend of mine and I made up this recipe up and tweaked it a bit over the years a couple years ago in my kitchen, don’t recall starting with a recipe per se, but who knows… Never heard of the Little Chief Smoker, but I’d be interested in checking it out. Thanks!
We made today while waiting for it to pellicle my dog got one of the pieces! Merry Christmas Zack! It’s resting now looks amazing cant wait.
Lucky Zack! Hope you enjoy this as much as I do, let em know Paula! Merry Christmas! 🙂
Yep…I had a little Chief.
I CANNOT WAIT TO TRY THIS! FOR THE HOLIDAYS. THANK YOU!
Excellent Bobbi! Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. You can always change the alder wood chips to whatever you prefer, but I feel that wood’s subtle smoke flavor works best. Cheers!
Hi Kevin, I used your smoked salmon recipe over the weekend. I was wondering if you used Kosher or table salt? I used Kosher since that’s what I use when I brine chickens before smoking. I didn’t have low sodium soy sauce, so I cut that down by half a cup. I tasted the brine, decided I wanted it a little sweeter, so added a 1/4 c of brown sugar. The flavor isn’t dominating like other brines, nor did it effect the color of the salmon much. I haven’t smoked my salmon at those temps before, what I did notice is the smoke flavor was lighter than I normally end up with. Overall, everyone that tried the salmon loved it, including myself. I have added your recipe to my file and threw the others out. LOL! Thanks for sharing!
I do indeed use kosher salt (will make sure to notate in the recipe). Try other woods too for the flavor change when smoking if you like, too. Happy to read you enjoyed it and mine is your new go to recipe!
Ok, here goes. This is my first smoked salmon. In fact , it’s the first thing I have ever smoked. Followed your recipe exactly. In the fridge in the brine right now. Tell ya later how it’s turns out.
This has a wonderful, subtle flavor and the texture is amazing. Thanks for giving this a try and taking the time to write and let me know Jerry!
Saved as a favorite, I love your website!
Thanks so much Broderie!
I didn’t read through all the comments so I’m sorry if you’ve already answered this, but how often are you changing your alder chips out? I’ve never smoked anything before and I plan on trying it out this weekend! Thank you so much for sharing your awesome tips, it looks absolutely fantastic!!
I just load it up the one time Donna. I don’t want it to have too much alder smoke, just a beautiful hint. Let me know how it turns out for you!
What should the internal temperature of the thickest salmon fillet be with this recipe? I see other threads where folks cook to 130 degrees F… I see other threads where 150 – 160 degrees F is recommended… other say when it flakes its done? I see that my smoked salmon flakes about 120 degrees. The last two times I’ve done this recipe I’ve gone to 135 degrees and it’s been good.
Actually I have never checked the internal temperature when smoking salmon. I just go my the temp and times I have written in the recipe instructions Gary and by feel. I would error with caution if your salmon is really thick and check it. If it is a little underdone then it’s better to smoke longer then to have on that is dried out from over smoking. Hope this helps and please let me know!
Made this for the first time yesterday. It turned out great ! This will definitely be our “go to ” recipe. : )
That’s awesome, thanks for the feedback! I just got a new smoker and plan on making a new batch myself this weekend. 😉