Whiskey Smoked Salmon

Start by preparing your salmon rub. Mix the sugar sea salt, dill, peppercorns and whiskey in a wide, shallow bowl.

Rub the mixture all over the salmon. Now place the salmon in the bowl skin side up. Cover with foil and place some weight on top of the foil. I just use some tins that I have in my pantry. Or cover a brick in aluminum foil and place that on top. Put the salmon in the fridge for 24 hours.

Before you get ready to smoke your salmon, take it out of the fridge and clean it by rinsing it off with water under a running tap. Once all the marinade has been removed place your salmon in a bowl of water. It needs to be fully submerged. Put a weight on top of it if needed, so it’s fully submerged.

Now refrigerate it for another hour or so. You cannot leave this step out. If you do your salmon will be way to salty. Before you start the smoke process slice off a tiny bit of the salmon to make sure it’s not too salty. If it is, add fresh water into the bowl and let the salmon soak for another 30 minutes or more.

Now you need to cold smoke your salmon. We use an old egg carton (this can be any type of small container made of cardboard, possibly the inside of a paper towel roll, cut in half) that we fill with smoke/wood chips. Light one end, place the salmon in the top part of your smoker and cover. Leave it until the egg carton has stopped smoldering and smoking. (Or you can just follow the instructions on your smoker). In our smoker this takes at least 2 to 3 hours.

Take the salmon out of the smoker and check for pin bones. These will now be very easy to remove. Just use your fingers or tweezers.

Serve thinly sliced with some crusty bread and if you must some gravad lax sauce. And obviously a glass of Talisker!