Lemonade Thyme Cured Salmon
- Recipe by: Mark and Fey, The Grill Dads @thegrilldads
- Difficulty level: Easy
Our brines also work great as a cure for cold-smoked salmon. It’s super simple and will yield the best salmon you’ve ever made. Trust me we’ve heard about your salmon and it’s time for a new recipe.
Ingredients:
- side of salmon (recommend sockeye or copper river)
- ¼ cup The Grill Dads Lemonade Thyme Brine
Instructions:
- Liberally coat the salmon with the Lemonade Thyme on both sides.
- Wrap it up in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 24-48 hours. The time depends on the thickness of the salmon (24 hours for a thinner sockeye filet and 48 for a huge king salmon filet). Make sure to turn it every 8-12 hours.
- Remove the salmon from the plastic wrap and rinse it off.
- Pat it dry and put it back in the fridge on a rack, uncovered, for 4-12 hours to develop a pellicle on the skin (this helps the smoke adhere).
- Light a cold smoke tube (there are plenty of these for a few bucks on Amazon) with Alderwood chips and put it and the salmon in the unlit grill with the lid shut for 1-2 hours (time depends on how strong of a smoke flavor you like). You don’t want to cook the salmon… just impart some smoke flavor. The curing cooks the salmon. If you don’t have a cold smoke tube and want to channel your inner MacGyver you can also accomplish this with wood chips and some aluminum foil. Ask the interwebs for more specifics.
- Place back in the fridge for a few hours. Then slice it and put it on a bagel with onion and capers or flake it off with a fork and make a smoked salmon dip with mascarpone, red onion, parsley and lemon.