Smoking Salmon on a Charcoal Grill

Step 2 Brine the Salmon

Mix the Brine. Take your tub (I use the a removable tray from the fridge and wash it thoroughly. It's large and gets cleaned regularly this way), add clean, cold water, salt and sugars. Stir until dissolved.

Brine the salmon. If you are using side fillets of salmon, you may have pin bones that should be removed. Run your (clean) finger tip against the grain of the fish and youll feel them if present. They are spaced evenly, every ¼ inch or so along the bottom of the fillet. Pull them out with your clean, food grade needle nose pliers. (come on, please buy new needle nose pliers for this job, you dont want god-knows-what on your food. Wash pliers thoroughly and coat with cooking oil to prevent rusting). If you use tail filets, you can skip the bone removal work above. Rinse the fish under cold running water and slip into your tub of brine, flesh side down. Cover the tub with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours, or in the fridge for 6 hours. Ive left it overnight in the fridge without problems, but some people claim it makes the fish more salty.