Ingredients
"2 pounds salmon fillet (roughly, or however much will fit on the rack)",
"1/2 cup brown sugar",
"1/4 cup coarse sea salt",
"1 tablespoon black pepper (freshly ground)"
Instructions
Gather the ingredients.
Rinse and pat the salmon dry with paper towels. Pull out any pin bones from the salmon.
Combine the brown sugar, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
Spread about 1/3 of the sugar mixture into a mound (roughly the size of the salmon) in the bottom of a rimmed baking pan .
Set the salmon on top of the mixture, skin side down. Cover the fish with the remaining sugar-salt mixture.
Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
Put the wood chips in a large bowl, cover them with water, and let them soak for at least 30 minutes. Drain them completely. Put the wood chips in a small smoker box that comes with some grills, or simply put the soaked chips in an aluminum loaf pan or even a bowl you fashion out of aluminum foil.
Prepare your grill for indirect heat; the hot side should reach about 300 F. Fill an aluminum pan with about 1 inch of water. For gas grills : Heat 1/2 of the burners and set the pan under the cooking grate on the cold side of the grill. For charcoal grills : Light a fire. When the coals are ready, push them to one side and set the pan on the other side under the grate. For both types of grills: Put the wood chip container over the hot part of the grill under the grill grate.
Remove the salmon from its sugar-salt mixture and rinse off the fish. Pat it dry and set it skin-side down on the cool side of the grill (on the cooking grate that is over the pan of water). Cover the grill and cook until the salmon is fully smoked and flaky, 20 to 30 minutes.
Serve the salmon warm , at room temperature, or chilled and enjoy.
Prep: PT35M
Cook: PT25M
Total: PT780M
Serves: 8
