Dry Brine or Wet Brine

One Fish

Active Member
This is most likely beat to heck!!! But what is the best Brine for smoking Salmon?? Wet or Dry?? Spices?? New to smoking fish
 
Prepare for many opinions. You'll be more perplexed after than before you asked the question. Hahaha

I'm a wet brine guy and I get good reviews on my end product. Everyone likes something different and you will have to mess around until you find what you like.

I use 3 quarts of water, 1 cup rock salt, 1 cup of Demerara sugar as my basic recipe.

After smoking is done, I apply liberal amounts of maple syrup to the fish with a BBQ brush and finish with fresh cracked black pepper.

Somebody will find fault with what I do but I don't care, it works for me. :)
 
I do dry brine. Course salt, demerara sugar, maple syrup, garlic salt, onion salt, celery salt, dry mustard and black pepper.
I get rave reviews every party I take it to. My cousin does the wet brine and his is excellent too.
Pretty sure if you have salmon, sugar and smoke it will be great!
 
Little chief smoked salmon deluxe brine
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup non-iodized salt
2 cups soy sauce
1 cup water
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp tabasco sauce
1 cup dry white wine
 
There is no right or wrong - better or worse - but the issue becomes rhetorical when the dry brine turns into a wet brine after a couple hours as the water gets drawn out of the salmon from the salt/sugar.
 
I used a dry brine for years, much like the one that Sir Reel posted. Seemed to work well on red springs and Coho, Sox. People did complain at times that it was salty, or upset their stomach, they wanted it more sugary, blah blah. So I started trying wet brines. It seems to work well with white springs and other fish. You can mix it better for sandwiches, and eat more of it without upsetting your stomach, and less complaints about salt/sugar ratios. Also if you want to smoke it for an hour then bottle and pressure cook, then it also seems more suitable.
 
I used a dry brine for years, much like the one that Sir Reel posted. Seemed to work well on red springs and Coho, Sox. People did complain at times that it was salty, or upset their stomach, they wanted it more sugary, blah blah. So I started trying wet brines. It seems to work well with white springs and other fish. You can mix it better for sandwiches, and eat more of it without upsetting your stomach, and less complaints about salt/sugar ratios. Also if you want to smoke it for an hour then bottle and pressure cook, then it also seems more suitable.
Ya.. Did a dry brine with just salt and brown sugar, then spices before smoking it. Turned out just what I wanted. Not sure of the dif in taste with wet but it seems like a lot more work lol. Awesome though.. Lots of great responses.. Cheers
 
all depends on thickness of fish if it s too saltly if its just pinks or coho(8lb to 12 lbs) its thin so only brine for like 12 hours and you will find it less salty, big springs I brine for 36 hours min...
and also make sure you wash it off and let dry wih a fan on it for 5 hours or so then the "pemclie" (sorry spelling) can take place to better accept the smoke.
I dry brine cause after a hour its all wet anyways my mixture is 4 cups yellow sugar 1 cup of demera sugar and 1 cup of salt mix it in a big bowl I make a lot ....
I use a busboy and lay fish skin side down put on brine 1/2 thick then put another layer of fish and another layer of brine,
next day i flip the top layer over so it can get more brine as you will have a soup of water and brine.

think back in the day natives used air and salt no water as your "trying" to take moisture out for smoking

Good luck wolf
 
Some real simple Candy nuggets:

Dry brine
4 cups golden brown sugar
1 cup coarse salt
Brine time for smoking: 12-24 hours depending on thickness and oil content.
Smoking time: 5-8 hours.


Rinse it very well or it will be unbearably salty. Dry it on racks with a house fan for 1-3 hours to form a good pelicle before you smoke it.

Brush on some maple syrup and crack some pepper on the fish while you are changing the last pan of chips.

You can also BBQ it hot smoke style if you only brine it for 4-6 hours.


Brine times from my personal experience with different types of fish:

Trout) 8-12 hours
Salmon) 12-24 hours
Ling Cod) 12-14 hours
Rockfish) 12-14 hours
Mackerel) 14-18 hours
Tuna) 6-12 hours
Halibut) TBA hoping to catch one next week.
Basa) don't do it, this stuff is terrible...
Pompano) 6-12 hours
 
Last edited:
Wolf knows his stuff for sure. I have seen his operation and it is impressive. I switched from wet to dry years ago and have never looked back. I rinse pretty good before setting up the fan and I haven't had a complaint about saltiness. It takes time to do it right and you have to cover all the steps. Taking short cuts results in a poor or salty product IMO.

Also, a lot of the old time wet recipe's called for a ton of salt. It really isn't necessary. How long does a batch of "good" smoked salmon last lol. We aren't preserving it we are eating it within days!!!

I started using a Bradley years ago and they really do make you look like a hero lol. Good units if used properly. Tons of great information on the net because they are so popular. They are not perfect but if you do your research you can crank out excellent products almost every time. My only hint with them is leave the vent wide open all the time (to get the moisture out) and get the external meat thermometer.
 
Last edited:
I used a dry brine for years, much like the one that Sir Reel posted. Seemed to work well on red springs and Coho, Sox. People did complain at times that it was salty, or upset their stomach, they wanted it more sugary, blah blah. So I started trying wet brines. It seems to work well with white springs and other fish. You can mix it better for sandwiches, and eat more of it without upsetting your stomach, and less complaints about salt/sugar ratios. Also if you want to smoke it for an hour then bottle and pressure cook, then it also seems more suitable.

I've had to go down to 5 to 1 ratio because of the whiners
 
dry brine guy and use big shanks method.
if using dark brown sugar method the fillets will be firm or stiff. if there not its not fully brined yet.
 
I didn't know about the different stiffness between the dark and light brown sugar. Going to have to try two seperate batches next time I do a run...
 
So you guys doing dry brine are washing it before drying? I just take it out of the brine and let it air dry on racks for 2 hours.
 
Yes i wash and let sit on racks with a fan for a min of 4 hours or so when its cold out in fall ill let it sit overnight as its cold enough still with a fan I find the longer it gets that pemicle going the better but thats just my opinion

but wouldnt suggest doing it in summer as its a little too warm for over night

good luck wolf
 
So you guys doing dry brine are washing it before drying? I just take it out of the brine and let it air dry on racks for 2 hours.

no rinse and let air dry for hours. the fillet should be stiff and pectin should be shiny. i used to be a wet brine guy but tried basically this guys idea and like it. then changed it to big shanks recipe. i also changed the way i fillet salmon for smoking to this way as well.

 
Pectin is used for canning jam to "set"
I rinse for one reason its been sitting in fish slime and brine for 48 hours want to quickly wash it away , in no way is it going to effect the brined salmon thats been sitting for 2 days
10 seconds of rinsing of juice isnt going to hurt it or make it any more "wet"
good luck Wolf
 
sorry auto type, lol
wolf how much salt dissolves when you do it? i'm trying to make mine a little salter, i put more salt in last but found no difference.
 
Back
Top