How to Cure and Smoke Salmon | Mad Scientist BBQ 

This is inspiring. A university level instructor/chef being a willing participant in a RU-vid tutorial that blends bbq with culinary expertise and shares it with others is admirable and much appreciated. Now you're really delving into the theory and science of bbq.

Can you get this instructor on more often? He's good!

Absolutely love the fact a university level CHEF agreed to educate us "shade tree" cooks.. ❤️ hats off to the channel!

Hey Jeremy! If you ever want to come to Alaska and catch them fresh let me know! Might even be able to hook you up with some moose or caribou while you're here too! I've learned a lot from all your videos and it'd be nice to be able to give something back

You alluded to the differences for cold-smoking, it would be interesting to see a more in-depth video about cold-smoking salmon.

Chef Bell needs his own channel.

one of the BEST party dips ever is one eight ounce cream cheese mixed with the same amount of flaked smoked Alaskan salmon......can add a drop of Worchester sauce if you want.

For anyone trying this recipe, I would recommend against the 1:1 brown sugar and kosher salt. Followed this recipe exactly how they explained time wise for curing and smoking as well as soaking the salmon in cold water to leech out any excess salt, and it came out EXTREMELY salty. I would recommend 4:1 or 5:1 brown sugar:kosher salt respectively. Also, make sure you have good cuts of salmon and are watching thinner/thicker cuts as they finish at different times in the smoking process!

Jeremy, you never cease to amaze me. I didn’t expect to enjoy this presentation to nearly this degree. Outstanding.

Having only smoked briskets and pork butts, this is the best explained video of how to do salmon. Thank you for having Chef Bell explain and present!

I love these videos with both of you ! Great work !!!

I use the same 50/50 mix of kosher salt and light brown sugar. I score the fish down to the skin into 1" strips. Once the cure is done, I let it dry overnight before smoking as low as my smoker will go, using cherry or Applewood. This is similar to the way we did it when living in Alaska many years ago. So good.

Love your videos, I’ve learned SO MUCH!

This is a phenomenal video. Thank you and thanks to Chef Bell, you’re both fantastic teachers. You also make a good team.

What a great segment so informative thank you Jeremy

This is one of my family’s favorite things that I do. So easy. Smoked salmon is good for any meal. And salads! Cool to see the break down from the chef

Love this. Great video. Thanks for posting

Brilliant level of instruction and information from the expert. Smoked salmon is something I've considered doing for a while and this was just what I needed. Thank you both !

Excellent and informative. Thanks for the tips!

Loved the beet curing method. Cured and smoked plenty of salmon but have never heard of this method; will definitely try this one next time.

Such a great show. Thank you, guys.

Hey bro, thanks for the clip. I have hot smoked salmon a few times before and always wondered why it would weep and not take on smoke flavour properly. Super informative and answered a lot of my questions. As usual, love your work. Cheers from Australia 👍

Love this video. One of your best. Can't wait to try this.

Brilliant video! Thanks Guys!

This was amazing!! Thank you!!!

Looks delicious. I will try it. Thank you for the information. It’s a great video once again thank you.

Great collaboration guys. Thanks very much

Just wonderful. Thank you!!!

thank you sir; been wanting to see you do this awhile ago, glad you got to it.

Awesome video, can't wait to try this.

This is crazy interesting. Done so well done and with the science behind the technique. Bravo!

This is a great tutorial!!

I love these videos. This is like watching my sensei with his sensei. Just kidding. But it actually someone who I admire hanging with someone he admires. Thanks for the content Jeremy. Your the best.

Thank you both so much for the video. I am going to try the beet version on the Traeger.

Looking forward to trying this thank you

Super educational video! This video is a keeper to review again!

Great video Jeremy! Love salmon too. So good and good for you.

Thank you Jeremy and Chef Bell. ✌️

Finally, a smoked salmon video!!! :D Thank You Thank You!

A great video again mate, just in time for me as I'm researching cold and smoked salmon, perfect info backed with lots of science, keep up the good work.

Great video Jeremy, thanks man!

Beautiful plating

Great Video guys and thanks for your tips chef. Love your channel mate. Regards Falcon from Sydney AU

Great video! Thanks

Thank you, I’ve Smoked quite a bit of salmon, all wet brine and hot smoke. I can’t wait to try both of theses cures and cold smoke!

This is amazing! I was a little appreciative about this kinda video I am now ashamed to admit but the knowledge still comes out 100 percent I love the different ideas from a teacher amazing!

You guys did very well together!!

This instructor is AWESOME!

OMG i just watched a video of this guy making the perfect ribeye I love that you are both collaborating!

Great helpful video!

Dude this is the best smoked salmon vid right now, thank you!

Great video! Thank you

Wow beautiful explanation bravo 👍

Great video!

Enjoyed the vid. Thanks

Yuuuum I wish I can try , I love everything smoke , thank you for sharing this video 👍👍👍

WSM's are great for cold smoking... bottom heat source, ice water in the pan above, then cheese or fish... you can smoke at crazy low temps.... great vid per usual.

I love chef collabs. This is no different. 11/10

Thank you Jeremy!

Amazing video!

Excellent Video Jeremy - I enjoy all of your videos. Can you provide the ratios need to make the beet brine? Many Thank!

great video, nice collab.

Mad Scientist...You nailed it...Cooking is math, chemical reactions, and timing...you are a step above "Culinary".

Man I've been wanting to cold smoke salmon and watched some videos that made it look more complicated than it should. Thanks Jeremy🤗

I love hot smoked salmon on my pellet smoker. Nice video. I add a 2 tbsp of course ground pepper to my salt/brown sugar dry brine mix.

Chef Bell is the man!!!

Now that I've actually watched the whole video... This is redonkulously helpful to have these steps and tips and info and precautions in a video by such a great channel. Thanks so much... I'm going to try this one day now that I've got a better understanding of the how and why..

Thank you for asking the questions, and helping him to explain to us, that which is obvious to him, but not to a novice.

hello Jeremy tks for the instructions. Will be glad to know the operational te temperatures as the cooking time. Many tks

I've smoked a lot of salmon, but I've never buried it in that much cure and left it for a couple days like that, totally crazy to me, but I'm not doubting the chef as he knows his stuff, just something new to me. Same with drying in the fridge for a couple days after the cure, something I've heard before. I also add other adjuncts to the cure to impart other tastes, things like ginger, and clove are different and produce a great product. I'll have to see about this when I pull my yearly salmon out of the local river this fall.

Hey All I have a small pellet grill I bought on special because they are clearing out floor space for Christmas and got a great deal at Wally's world. But I added the side smoker box to it for cold smoking and I did salmon last weekend but not a long slow smoke due to time problems and last minute changes. I was really surprised on how well it did with the cold smoke box did on the flavor. I put a salmon fillet and a bunch of frozen shrimp for a few hours and the side smoker box really did a great job but just did the smoke flavor then moved to the hot side to finish it all off . And now way too long of a post but keep up the great videos

Have you ever done a full video on cold smoking? I would enjoy watching one if you have the ability of doing so.

ive been smoking salmon now for a couple years.... its sooo good and easy.

Nice to watch a master teaching the next master !

My mom loves salmon. I'll have to try this!

Love smoked salmon from my time in Western Washington. This brings back memories of visiting smokehouses on the waterfront. And is Randy about to make an appearance?

Hey Jeremy I really like your videos. I have a pellet smoker and was wondering, since a true offset smoker give better smoke flavor to meats than a pellet grill. Do you think adding a smoke tube would help? I would love to see a video of a comparison of an true offset smoker and a pellet grill that has an added smoke tube to see if it makes any difference. I didn’t see any video from you on this. Wasn’t sure if you had any suggestions to improve smoke flavor with a pellet grill. Thanks

I love these school videos. This chef added the presentation aspect which I think is helpful. What I tend to do is smoke the meat, take it inside, and hand it to my wife because I don't know what to do with it in terms of sides, garnishes, etc. If it was just me practically everything would be a sandwich, lol.

Thumb up to Chef Bell.

Finally some real BBQ ;-) Makes me want to enroll in culinary school.

great vid!!! I'd train under that chef anytime , OUTSTANDING CHEF.

Interesting comment about having a dry product vs. wet product for smoke to adhere to. I always thought that a bit of moisture on our briskets/ribs/shoulders helped with smoke.

Awesome. Now I would like to see you do a smoked surf and turf with brisket and salmon, and try them together in one bite. I'm thinking a maple bourbon salmon and your brisket wrapped with smoked wagyu tallow.

Hey Jeremy. There was a lot of discussion here about drying the meat vs leaving it wet. While I think it makes sense to dry meat to achieve the Maillard reaction (browning/searing meat for anyone who doesn't know), I'm not so sure about smoking meat and smoke flavor. In-fact, an article from Meathead regarding smoke rings suggests moisture on the outside of the meat helps with smoke flavor. Would be really interested to see your take on this.

Smoked salmon hot or cold my favorite food I love beets fixed in any way I will prepare this receipt very well done thanks

Awesome Video. I missed the cold smoking process, did you do that in the same smoker?

Eh! I’m Canadian so my go to recipe for hot smoked salmon is mix 50/50 salt and maple sugar instead of the brown sugar. And during my smoke, i just ad maple syrup that i brush on mid cook. Kids ask fo more every time.

Nice! Just happen to be smoking Salmon today!

nice stash!

Never knew I had a University named after me. 🙂 Great information, will have to try this out.

I got about 17 minutes into the video thinking about how I could get this done, then remembered I'm allergic to fish... Great video hahahah

I make a dip/spread from my smoked salmon and it's so good, just a block of softened cream cheese, half cup sour cream, minced scallion or chives or shallots, flaked smoked salmon and cracked black pepper and a little salt to taste and lemon zest maybe. And it's good to go

I make this all the time and people go crazy for it. Brining it for 4h to overnight already gives a great result!

If I remember right, the basic brine for smoked fish is 1 quart water to 1c sugar and 1c salt. Nice to see a change to brown sugar, deeper color on the fish.

Awesome video!!! Something that never shows up on my favorite bbq channels so thank you Jeremy. I'm from the west coast of Canada and I ruined many beautiful Coho salmon with so many complex brine recipes that simply didn't work 😑....then my fishing buddy's neighbor, an old timer, told us to stop wrecking our fish and how to use Demerera Brown Sugar and course kosher salt. Wonderful....btw, you'll know if you've rinsed off your cured fish enough if you rub the flesh with your finger and lick your finger...if it tastes salty, rinse some more. 👍❤🙏

I was under the impression that there were both hydrophilic and hydroscopic particles in the smoke and that they both impart flavor. Isn't that why we spritz?

You know you are on the right channel when there's a whole segment on clean burning

Can you make video about bbq rubs?

Have you ever done a video on smoked beef knuckle? If I remember correctly, it's a leaner cut of beef... so maybe good for some smoked steak sandwiches?

I can't believe how different my smoked salmon recipe is compared to this. However, I really love the taste of my salmon. On the bellies of the salmon, I cut the bellies off before I fillet them. Down to the rib tips and back past the vent. Those I cook hot in bacon grease with a lot of spice on the meat side. A couple minutes is all it takes to cook them. Absolutely the best part of the salmon. My recipe and procedure is below: Smoked Fish Recipe First…catch some fish! This recipe is good for 3 nice Silver salmon: 6 fillets. Ingredients: 2-1/2 cups brown sugar 1 cup kosher salt 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp onion powder 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper In a bowl, mix well the brown sugar, salt, onion & garlic powder, and pepper. Prepare the fillets by removing the pin bones and any rib bones from the filleting job. Make slices perpendicular to the centerline at ~5/8” spacing. Slice down to the skin but not through it. Lay the fish in a flat tray, flesh side up. Evenly spread the sugar/salt/spice mix over the fish. The salt and sugar will begin pulling moisture from the fish and make a brine solution. Use a large spoon to spoon the brine over the fish periodically. Use the spoon to open the cuts and spoon brine into those open cuts. Do this at ~1/2 hour intervals for 5-6 hours. After the 5-6 hours are up, remove the fish from the flat tray and use your hand as a kind of a squeegee to remove excess brine. Do not rinse the fish off! Place the fillets in a plastic bag and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, place the fish on a rack, flesh side up. The fish need to form a ‘pellicle’. The pellicle has formed when the flesh of the fish has a ‘sticky’ feel. A small fan can speed this up but don’t be in too much of a hurry. It may take a couple hours for this to form. After the pellicle is formed, use a basting brush to baste the flesh with a honey baste that has been thinned with water. At this time, sprinkle fresh ground black pepper to your individual taste on the fish. The fish is now ready to smoke. I smoke it at 150-175 degrees for ~3 hours. I don’t like my fish too dry but I don’t like it cooked either. This stage is up to your own preference. I use Apple Blend pellets by Lumberjack in my smoker. After removing the fish from the smoker, I remove the skin as well as the gray flesh that is found just under the skin. Time now to enjoy! Cracker spread: add a little warm water to cream cheese in a bowl, add a little garlic and onion powder to taste, add diced Jalapeno peppers and crumbled salmon and mix. Use on top of Ritz crackers.