Smoker for salmon

Looking to start smoking salmon and trout and see a number of different models available. What are you using? Not looking to smoke a lot at one time. It was mentioned that I should look for an electric unit but I'm open to something that works good and not going to take all day to smoke. 

Rinse vigorously and that will help with reducing the saltiness. 

Bullman, 18 hrs to brine is a very long time. I go 12 hrs and some say that is  too long.  Also 250 degrees is very hot and most likely why it was dry.  Depending on the size of the fillets, I would go about 5 hrs and about 175 degrees. I dont brine in water anymore, I dry brine them. Just coat them with salt over night and that is it. I dont even bother with brown sugar unless I put it right on the meat after an hour of smoking , or in the fishes belly if I smoke a fish whole.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I ran the smoker over the Labor Day weekend. Brine was two cups salt per one cup dark brown sugar. Brined filets for 18 hours. Smoked a few browns, a king and a rainbow. Best was the browns? Next time I am going to reduce the brining time as the fish were a little salty, and I will be going with a one to one ratio for sugar to salt. The electric smoker set at 250 for four hours worked good, but some filets were a little dry. I will check at three hours next batch. I smoked with alder wood but from all the comments, I will try hickory next time.

Another vote for masterbuilt 

As you can see, most brines start with the same ingredients. Here's mine:

1/2 gallon water (8 cups)

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup salt

2 tbsp garlic powder

2 tbsp chili powder

3 tbsp lemon juice

Try Lightly seasoning with blackened and/or Creole seasonings after rinsing. Adds a nice little kick.

Use Cherry wood at 175°, looking for an internal temp of 145°. Expect 4-6 hours of smoking time. I use a stronger wood like hickory when it's hot out for a better smoke flavor (smoker reaches temps sooner and do not reheat as often when it's hot out).

i also let fish sit and dry on racks after rinsing. A very important step.

I had a masterbuilt, which was good but only lasted 3 years before shorting out. I now have a smokin-it and have had great luck with that one. Electrics are probably the easiest smokers to control temp and allow for a cooler smoking temp than propane.

I use a dry brine of 4 cups brown sugar, one cup pickling or kosher salt, and 15 cloves of garlic (smashed). Brine for 4 to 6 hours and then rinse. I don't like my salmon really salty. I also baste the fish with a brown sugar and maple syrup mixture the last half hour.

I have been smoking salmon on my regular weber grille for years and everyone loves the smoke salmon. Use the simple salt/brown sugar/water recipe mentioned earlier and I brine for 12-24 hours.

I soak chunks of different wood and add them over the top of regular charcoal and then also add some wet chips to give the fish a real great smoke flavor.

I do have a Smokin-It electric smoker for all my other smokes (pork butt, ribs, brisket etc).. These smokers are built like tanks and have a good reputation for quality and support after the sale.  

The brine I use is- 2 1/2 gallons water, 2 lbs canning salt, 1 lb sugar, 1 oz cure, 1 tbls crushed black pepper, 2oz crushed bay leaves and 1 cup brown sugar. I place the bay leaves in a cheesecloth wrap. Place fish in brine 6-12 hours. Rinse and place on racks to air dry 2 hours. Smoke 2 hours @ 90-100 degrees to surface dry fillets. Add wood to create smoke 3-6 hours @ 90-100 degrees. Increase smoker temp to 165 and hold till internal temp of fish is 152. Cool and store in fridge. I vacuum Seal after 3 days and freezes. I have a homemade smoker with 2 55 gallon drums stacked horizontal. Rackes in the upper and a gas hot plate in the lower. Barrels sit in an insulated plywood box. I use apple or cherry wood flakes for fish and hickory for venison sausages. My smoker has a small fan on a speed control in the rack barrel to maintain uniform temp and cut down on total time to process.

I would agree with the electric smoker since it is easier to maintain the temperature when the winds pick up or outside temps start to drop. I use a Bradley Smoker since it has the capability to smoke without heat (cold smoke) items like veggies and cheese. You can decide the exact temp and duration for both the smoke and/or heat. I also suggest the larger smoker since we use it more once we get started and enjoy the end product. The recipe posted below is a good start. I would not soak in the water due to a big mess from previous experience. Take all the ingredients, mix, and apply generously like you would for a dry rub.  Very Good. Feel free to contact me.

I use the standard old brine recipe......

1 gallon water

2 cups kosher or canning salt (no iodine)

1 cup dark brown sugar

mix until salt and sugar are dissolved, brine from 18 to 24 hours, in a refrigerator.

when u pull the fish from brine, quickly rinse in fresh cool water, otherwise the come out VERY salty.

Then I like to l lay fish on a rack for a couple of hours, with a fan on low, to let the pellicle form. It also help bring the temp of the fish up from ice cold to room temp and shortens the length of cook time.

The Frantz company on 124th and Silver Spring is a local company that sells wood chips and saw dust for smoking to all the big sausage makers. Klements, Usingers, etc.... I was using hickory chips, but have now switched over to hickory sawdust, for a much better flavor. a 40# bag of either is $18.00 cash and carry at Frantz Inc. and will last u a long time.

I'm looking for a brine recipe for smoking some browns and lakers. I have filleted the fish. This will be my first time using the new smoker so looking to try different woods and flavors. I have alder for this batch.

I use a masterbuilt 40 electric that works great. Get one that is bigger than you think you will use. That will leave you options to do more with it.

I'd look hard at one of the Masterbuilt Smokers, they make propane and electric smokers. The digital controls make smoking easy. You can do ribs, chicken wings, hams etc... besides just fish.

Good Luck

SS