Well it's that time of the year where my smoker sits on the front porch for a couple of months. That is to smoke a majority of the salmon I catch in the rivers. Sometimes this gets to be a pain in the butt, that's waiting 8-10 hours for the basic brine.

I was playing around a little bit for a quick brine and I found one that works pretty well. It sure tastes good. Not sure on how long the fish will actually last in the refrigerator. Here is what I did.

Mix 1 cup Brown sugar with 1 cup rock salt.
Lay fillets skin side down on some of the mixture and the rest goes on the meat. I marinated the fish for about 3 hours and then smoked it using 2 pans of alder chips for about 8 hours. The salmon turned out great.

"DOES ANYONE OUT THERE HAVE A QUICK BRINE RECEIPE THEY WOULD LIKE TO SHARE"

Steely Dan,
Try skinning the fish, use non-iodized salt instead of rock salt, add a cup of sugar, and a bit of all-spice to your brine. Rub it in and smoke as usual. I use the wet brine personally, but that`s only because I always seem to be able to fillet and allow it to soak in the brine one night and smoke it the next.
(any ideas on the best way to keep it lit outside of a propane torch?)..*L*

Steely Dan,

I use 1 cup rock salt and 3 cups brown sugar and layer mix on the fillets dry. Usually 5 hours in the fridge, wash and pat dry, air dry for one hour then smoke. Relatively quick and very easy. Have gotten good results on chum and coho. Good eating!

Doubletake

I smoke most of my Salmon and Steelhead with a very quick and high quality method. Many of the commerical packers also use this hand packed dry cure method. The process includes using the highest quality fish, bled and cleaned immediately after catching. I commerical fished SE Alaska and the fish buyers often could see or smell the difference in a fish that wasn't handled properly (bled, cleaned, and iced within an hour, especially on warm days.) Also, bright fish make the best smoked fish.
To "dry cure" simply sprinkle canning/pickleing salt liberly on fillets skin side down. Cover completely, and allow to cure for one hour, rinse thouroughly, pat dry with paper towels, and air dry for 30 minutes in an area with good air flow (and away from cats!) Then smoke (I prefer Alder wood chips) for 7-9 hours depending on temperature and your heater. I find that I can smoke a fish the same day I catch it, and have it ready to vacuum pack the next AM. You certainly may add spices to the mix, however if you like the taste of Salmon, and it's well cared for, you'll enjoy this simple recipe. Enjoy!

Thanks guys, I will give them all a try. Just go back from the Carbon. Took the dogs for a walk. River came up a bit and had some color. Fish are on the move.

Morton salt makes two good salt products. Morton Tender Quick and Morton Sugar Cure. They are both good and help keep your fish preserved longer. They come in 2lb and 1/2lb bags. Try an Albertsons manager or a (gag) Wal-Mart superstore manager for ordering. I recommend a little mix of both and some apple halves on the fire for temp control.

I experiment based on Luhr's standard recipe and to date the best by far is not what you would expect. I usually use a 1.5" Blackmouth fillet and sliced it into 1"x 3" strips and soaked it for 8 hrs (this isn't quick-cure) in the following brine:
fill 1 qt jar halfway full with warm water
add:
.25 cup Morton's non-iodized salt
.25 cup Johnny's seasoning
.25 cup white (standard granular) sugar
.25 brown sugar
Place on lid and shake until fully contents are dissolved then fill the rest of the way with cold water. As I mentioned previously, soak the fish overnight in the fridge for 8 hrs. In the morning rinse it and lay it out to dry until the pellicle forms. I don't pat dry. Smoke for only 4 to 4.5 hrs using 2 pans of alder. Rotate the fish from the bottom rack to the top half-way through the process. I have also found that the temprature of the smoker is crtical. In the Fall and Winter I monitor the temp of the smoker (I use a Little Chief). You want it on the warmer side, but not hot (it will dry out the fish), so use the box method to regulate the temp in cool weather.
Enjoy - it's realy good this way.