Wood chips, such as oak, apple, or hickory (approx. 100g)
Ingredients
1kgsalmon sides/filletskin on
100gsoft brown sugar
50gcoarse sea salt
1tbspfreshly ground black pepper
Neutral cooking oilsuch as rapeseed or vegetable oil
Instructions
Before curing the salmon, make sure the fish is pin boned and scaled.Combine the sugar, salt, and pepper, then add a layer to the bottom of a baking pan large enough for the salmon.
Place the salmon in the pan, skin-side-down, then top with the remaining sugar, salt, and pepper. Leave to cure in the fridge for 4-10 hours.
Rinse off the dry cure ingredients and pat the salmon dry.
Generously brush the salmon with a neutral cooking oil to help the smoke coat the salmon even better.
Before smoking, soak the wood chips for at least 30 minutes, before draining completely and placing in either a smoker box or a suitable heat-proof pan or dish.
To smoke the salmon, prepare your charcoal or gas BBQ for indirect heat, with the hot side ideally reaching around 150C/300F. Fill another pan with around an inch of water and place under the rack of the cold side of the grill.
If using a charcoal BBQ, push the hot coals to one side of the grill, place the wood chips over the hot part of the grill and the pan of water on the cool side, both under the rack.
If using a gas BBQ, heat half of the burners and also set the pan of water under the rack on the cold side of the grill, while adding the wood chips to the hot side, over the gas burners.
On either heated BBQ, place the salmon on the rack of the cold side – over the pan of water – skin-side-down. Cover the BBQ and smoke slowly for around 40-60 minutes until flaky. (If using a cooking thermometer, the internal temperature of the salmon should reach 150F).
Eat at room temperature or cool, and store in the fridge for up to a week.