Salmon Lessons

The stovetop smoker has been making a regular appearance on this blog, hasn't it? Its latest adventure has been to smoke a slab of skinless salmon. While the results were pretty decent - smoky at the very least - there's a lot I could have done to make it better. 

1. I probably should have started out with a piece of skin-on salmon, just because the stuff from Neopol still has the skin. And if it's good enough for them, it should be good enough for me. Might have helped it stay moist, dunno. (Neopol's smoked salmon, while pricey, is outrageously good.)

2. I probably should have brined it in a mixture of salt, pepper, and brown sugar. And water, duh. I did rub on some sugar/pepper/salt before smoking, but the flavor didn't permeate the meat at all.

3. I probably should have cooked it for a shorter amount of time. I looked at various recipes that gave times from 15-40 minutes and settled on 30. The heat was very low, and the meat was on a rack within the smoker, but it was still a bit overcooked and dry. I have a hard time getting salmon to cook properly, so it may well have been me. 

Still - it was really very easy. Brining it can't make it that much more difficult, can it? 

Has anyone else tried smoking fish on the stovetop? Would love to hear from you.

Posted on Minxeats.com.