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How To Smoke Salmon on The Traeger Grill

A beyond-the-basics brine of shredded beet and zested & juiced blood orange. Finish off with a glaze of pomegranate and maple syrup for the best hot-smoked salmon. Works for whole fish or fillets equally.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: North America
Keyword: beet cured salmon, hot smoking, salmon, smoked salmon, Traeger Grill
Servings: 1 salmon
Author: The Peasant's Daughter

Ingredients

  • Whole salmon. Gutted and gilled. Or salmon fillets skin on
  • Enough fresh water to fully cover and submerge your salmon
  • 1 tablespoon of kosher salt per 1 cup of water
  • 2 beets per salmon fillet grated using a cheese-grater, or 2-4 beets (depending on size of fish) per whole salmon.
  • 2 blood oranges juiced and zested
  • 2 tablespoons of coconut amino acids or soy or tamari sauce per whole salmon or fillet
  • Pomegranate syrup or molasses see recipe here for basting
  • Maple syrup for basting
  • Toothpicks 3-4 per salmon depending on size
  • I use hickory woodchips most of the time, but for fish Traeger recommends mesquite, oak, alder, and their signature blend.

Instructions

To Determine the Amount of Water Needed:

  • You only need enough fresh water to fully submerge the salmon, no more. You can weigh the water too, but this is how I do it.
  • Using a 1 cup measure, fully submerge the salmon in fresh water.
  • The amount of cups you used is the amount you need for your brine.
  • I like to discard the fishy salmon water and start with a fresh batch for making the actual brine.
  • In a large enough saucepan on medium heat, add your kosher salt into a few cups of water, and allow it to fully melt.
  • Add the salty water into the rest of your water as you measured in the above steps. Stir until fully incorporated.
  • Add the soy sauce/tamari/coconut aminos (if using), grated beets and zested and juiced blood oranges.
  • Allow the water to fully come to room temperature — IMPORTANT — do not use hot brine on your salmon, it will precook the fish.
  • When the brine solution has cooled down, fully submerge your salmon and add a few teaspoons of whole black peppercorns.
  • Place your salmon  in the refrigerator to brine anywhere from 8 hours to overnight. Overnight is best.
  • After the salmon is sufficiently brined, remove them from the solution and discard the liquid.
  • Rinse your salmon under cold running water to remove the brine from the surface. Failing to do so will result in an overly-salty fish.
  • Pat the fish dry.
  • Using 2-3 toothpicks per salmon (if smoking whole fish), stick them in the fish cavity to keep it propped open while drying and smoking.
  • Place the salmon on a rack to dry from 1-4 hours. This step is crucial in developing sticky the pellicle which helps smoke adhere to the flesh. I usually go for 2 hours at cool room temperature, but the refrigerator is probably best.
  • Preheat your Traeger on the ‘Smoke’ setting for 5 minutes.
  • Baste the salmon inside and out with an equal mixture of pomegranate and maple syrup using a pastry brush and place them, with their chest cavities propped open, directly on the grill.
  • Set your timer for 1 hour and every hour baste the salmon with more pomegranate and maple syrup and check to see if the flesh is flaky.
  • Depending on the size, the smoking will take anywhere from 1.5 hours to 4.
  • Do NOT surpass 4 hours unless you are looking to make salmon jerky.
  • Do NOT let the temperate get above 200/220 Fahrenheit, and if it does place a bowl of ice water inside the smoker.

Notes

You can also use only pomegranate molasses or only maple syrup for the basting.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!