Smoked Salmon
Easy, flavorful smoked salmon made with pantry ingredients and your pellet smoker. Perfect for any season.
Equipment
- - Pellet smoker (Traeger or similar)
- - Rimmed baking sheet
- - Cooling rack
- - Thermometer
Ingredients
- **Dry Brine**
- - 4 cups brown sugar packed
- - 1 cup kosher salt
- **Seasoning**
- - 3 tsp garlic powder
- - 3 tsp onion powder
- - 3 tsp kosher salt
- - 3 tsp dried parsley
- **Fish**
- - 5 lbs salmon cut into 5 sections
Instructions
- Pat salmon dry with paper towel.
- Mix brown sugar and salt to make the dry brine.
- In a pan, layer half the brine, then salmon, then top with the rest. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Rinse brine off and pat dry.
- Place salmon uncovered in fridge for 2–3 hours until surface feels tacky.
- Mix seasoning and rub all over salmon.
- Preheat smoker to 180°F.
- Smoke salmon for ~2 hours until internal temp reaches 135–145°F.
- Cool for 1 hour, then serve or store in fridge.
Notes
- Dry brine helps draw out moisture and lock in smoke.
- Pellicle is essential — don’t skip drying phase.
- Adjust smoke time based on thickness of fillets.
- Pellicle is essential — don’t skip drying phase.
- Adjust smoke time based on thickness of fillets.