Tips for smoking salmon on a pellet grill?

I bought a Green Mountain pellet grill last year and am trying to smoke salmon. I'm trying to replicate what I had when I lived in NoCal and had a connection in the Karuk Tribe. I'm sure that stuff was smoked old school style in a real smokehouse, likely over a few days. I liked it because it had a heavy smoke taste and was drier than anything I've had since.

I've experimented a few times with frozen/thawed salmon fillets that were pretty thin before spending real money on some proper thick slabs. All the pellet grill recipes I've found are using higher temps and <2 hr smoke times. I always extend the recommended times and drop the temp a bit but the thin pieces are still coming out either too wet, or approaching jerky status. The thin cuts are likely part of the issue, but I'm trying to get an approximate time and temp nailed down before I buy the good stuff. I have a couple of smoke tubes that I use with Pork Shoulder and those get closer to charcoal based smoke taste.

I was wondering if anyone here had some suggestions or has done this before, getting the desired results I have described.

 

Perhaps not much help for you, but I've had good luck with wild or farmed salmon (and steelhead) with a basic Weber-style smoker using wood chunks. I suspect a pellet smoker should deliver similar results if not better because it can maintain a lower temp consistently over time. I started with online recipes that recommended a salt brine (you can try wet or dry). From there, I let the filets sit at room temp for a few hours. Once they have a sticky surface, they seem to take on smoke flavor more readily. Then I put them right on the grates (I have a water pan that separates the grates from direct flame and can work to keep things moist) and am ready to eat in 3-4 hours. I like brushing the filets with maple syrup (lightly) toward the end of the smoke.

My FIL has an electric smoker (looks like a mini-fridge) that I have been meaning to try with fish. I would guess that a cold smoke process would give me even better results.

 

Thank you. I did some more reading and I think the brine is part of the secret I overlooked. The last ones I did I used something closer to a rub which I knew was a compromise, but I'll probably try a brine with a more significant brine time.

 

For long multiday smoking you need low humidity and to maintain temperature around 90F or less. The primary purpose of this kind of smoking is not really to introduce a smoky flavor but to dry out the outside to allow the fish to last longer. The smoky flavor is a welcome by-product of the process though. It's very similar to air dried prosciutto in Italy where they have dry mountain air. Areas with fish though don't have the same climate so it's recreated artificially by smoking.

You should definitely cure the fish (or brine) before smoking. It draws out moisture and firms up the flesh. Typically you would hang the fish for smoking and if you did this with fresh fish it would fall apart. By the end the surface should be dehydrated but oily and will last in the fridge for months wrapped in paper

Unless you have some ultimate PID temperature controlled and humidity controlled system, I don't think it's possible to do on a small setup. A large shed with a wood fire far from the fish is what is typically required. What I think you should try is hot smoked fish. Delis in NYC do this with sturgeon or sable(black cod). From the recipes I've seen the general guideline is to do it at 160F for 3 hours until the internal temp is ~135F. It works best with fish that have a high fat content

 

Thank you. 160F seems like a good temp and 3 hrs is long enough to give it some decent smoke exposure. I think I'm going to give that a try.

 

I gave this another go earlier this week. I used a decent fresh filet and brined it for 8 hrs. From what I've read, its important to let it sit dried on a rack for a few hours after brining to let a surface form on the fish. I did 1 hour at 150F, and then 170F for a couple hours because it was getting late and I was running out of time. I basted it with some slightly diluted honey every hour. It wasn't perfect because i rushed it, but it was pretty close. A few spots were a little moister than I wanted. Smoke flavor was good. I had it in my lunch every day this week.

I've got another batch on today that I won't need to rush. I'll keep you posted

 

The batch I did last weekend came out pretty good and I eliminated some variables to get closer to nailing this down.

-I used smaller pieces tis time. Most were about 2-2.5 inches in width.
-Overnight brine ~8 hrs
-After rinsing I left the pieces on a baking rack (unrefrigerated) for 3 hrs to develop the surface skin. I was initially worried about leaving it a room temp this long, but the experienced guys claim it's never been an issue.
-150F for 1.5 hrs then 3 hrs at 160F

Still not as dried as the Reservation smokehouse stuff but I've given up on that. I'm not building a smokehouse and I'm not going to put these on the pellet grill for the length of time of a large brisket.

It had a little less intense flavor since I used 1 smoke tube instead of 2. I thought the longer smoke time would make up for having 2, but it didn't. Next time I'll use 2 again and after rinsing I'll do an overnight dry in the refrigerator and then let it set out for 3 hours. Smoke time/temp will be the same but I may go a little longer if needed.