Best smoked salmon

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 ½ kg salmon fillet(s) with skin
• 200 ml gin
• 230 g brown sugar
• 80 g smoked salt or coarse sea salt
• 2 tbsp juniper berries
• 2 tsp pepper, coarse
• Oil for brushing
• n. B. Smoking chips (Seafood smoking chips)

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 16 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours 30 minutes; Total time approx. 19 hours

simple and delicious

To save space, halve the fillet. Add enough gin to a suitable casserole dish to lightly cover the bottom. Place the fillet skin-side down and pour the remaining gin over the fillet. If necessary, ladle more gin from the casserole dish over the fillet with a spoon. Cover the casserole dish and place in the refrigerator for approx. 30-45 minutes. Meanwhile, crush the juniper berries and cracked pepper in a mortar and pestle. Mix the sugar, salt, juniper berries, and pepper in a bowl. Remove the salmon from the dish, pat dry, and set aside. Clean and dry the casserole dish. Lightly cover the bottom of the casserole dish with approx. a quarter of the seasoning mix and place the fillet skin-side down in the dish. Sprinkle the remaining seasoning mix over the fillet to ensure it is completely covered. Cover the dish and place in the refrigerator for approx. 5-6 hours. Then wash the fillet and pat dry, then clean and dry the baking dish again. Lightly brush the skin-side down of the fillet with oil and place it back in the baking dish, skin-side down, and place it uncovered in the refrigerator for 8-10 hours. If you have a wire rack insert for the baking dish, you can place the fillet on the rack in the dish. Prepare the smoker, light the charcoal (ideally use briquettes, as they give off heat for longer), fill the water bowl three-quarters full with water, close the smoker, and let it heat up to about 135 degrees. Meanwhile, soak 2-3 handfuls of smoking chips in a bowl of water for about 30-40 minutes, then let them drain. Place the fillet on the grill, close the lid, and scatter a handful of the smoking chips over the charcoal. The temperature should then drop to about 110 degrees. The smoker temperature should remain constant between 100-120 degrees. After about an hour, scatter another handful of smoking chips over the coals. If you like it more intense, you can add more chips every 45 minutes. Smoke the salmon for a total of about 2.5 hours. After that, the salmon is ready. It can, or in my opinion, should, be eaten straight away; the salmon will be wonderfully juicy and taste simply divine. Personally, I like it best with parsnip puree. But you can also eat it with salad or just on its own. It’s up to each individual to enjoy it.