Kevin’s best salmon candy

What is salmon candy? Well, thanks for asking! I’m a bit of a foodie, and I’ve liked smoked salmon since my dad introduced me to it when I was a kid. But it’s sooooo expensive to buy already prepared. So being the foodie that I am, I decided to try making it myself.

It was a huge success, and I’ve perfected it to consistently get the best smoked salmon candy out of every filet of salmon (or steelhead or trout) that I buy.

The best salmon candy, in my humble opinion, is not too strong on the salt, with a little bit of sweetness, plenty of smoke flavor (from real hardwood smoke, not artificial flavorings), and not too wet (like lox). To me, the best salmon candy is on the dry side and the sweet side.

I started my “recipe” experimentation based somewhat loosely on Alton Brown’s advice. I’ll explain the modifications I’ve made below.

My salmon candy is not for sale, but I may give you some for free

I don’t sell my salmon, although I’ve thought about it. I typically just give it away. Yeah, that’s right, I give away what I don’t eat myself to my neighbors and my real estate clients, because for me, food is a love language. Serving and giving away good food is a way I can show friendship and kindness to my friends, family, neighbors, and clients. So if you’re a neighbor and I haven’t given you a 1 ounce vacuum sealed baggie of my smoked salmon, it’s probably because we haven’t met face to face yet, or if we did, I may have been between batches of the good stuff! But we can solve that problem if you drop me an email or text, and I’ll keep you on my to do list for a future batch to drop a packet by to your house.

And no, I don’t require anything in return, not even a listing appointment to tell you how much I might be able to sell your house for. BUT—if you were to want such information, or are able to refer me to a friend or family member wanting to buy or sell (preferably in Meridian, but not necessarily), I would, of course, be grateful!

Now, here’s how I make my salmon candy

• I obtain quality salmon, steelhead, or trout. All of these perform well with this brining and smoking process.
• I skin the filet or filets. I typicall do one large or two large filets at a time, and while salmon skin is very healthy, I’m the only human in my family who appreciates it enough to eat it. I’ll share later how I prepare it as a crispy chip, and I like it, and our dogs like small strips of crispy salmon skin as special treats. But on to the next step in preparing the filets.
• Next, after skinning, I slice a filet into approximately 1″ wide strips at a right angle to the length of the filet. The wide end will be a slightly irregular shape, and the tail (thinner) end will be a different irregular shape. I still prepare them with the batch, but I’ll be honest, I eat them right off the smoker!
• Here’s the dry brine lowdown. A lot of online recipes call for 50/50 salt and sugar and to leave the salmon in this overnight. This comes out way too salty for me. So the mix and time I use is 2 to 1 sugar to course kosher salt, and for the sugar I use half white and half brown sugar. To be clear, if I’m doing two filets, I’ll do 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, and 1 cup course kosher sale. I mix all of this up nicely in a large metal bowl with a wire whisk.
• Now put about one third of this dry brine mix on the bottom of a large Tupperware style plastic container. Then I lay all the salmon slices on that mixture with a half inch between each slice or so. Then I put the rest of the dry brine on top and shake it side to side a little to make sure every part of every piece of salmon is in full contact with it.
• I do not place weight on the salmon like Alton Brown suggests, but if I had a convenient way to do this for the size batches I do, I wouldn’t mind it. But my plastic container and the quantity of salmon I usually do at once typically don’t allow for a brick to go on top to press the salmon like Brown does. Notes that I do place the plastic container in the refrigerator, which also constrains the amount of space I can consume with a brick or other type of weight.
• I never leave the salmon in the brine longer than about 3 hours. I’ve tried various amounts of time, but for me, longer than 3 hours always comes out tasting too salty. I prefer a sweeter smokiness. But you do you, if you are making this yourself!
• Next, you pull it out of the refrigerator, and gently rinse off the salt and sugar, placing the salmon slices onto a wire wrack (or two if necessary).
• Here is where you need to dry off the salmon slices before smoking them. I place the wire wracks on my kitchen island, with a powerful fan sitting on a still to put them in the direct line of the airflow. This keeps both flies and cats away from the fish for the approximately 1 to 2 hours necessary to form what’s called the “pellicle.” The pellicle is the dry exterior of the fish slice that will absorb the smoke better than if the slice was wet with water from having rinsed off the salt and sugar.
• Now comes the smoking. I have a Traeger pellet smoker, and I place my wire wracks of fish into it and set it to smoking mode (mine can also be turned to higher temperatures for other cuts of meat, like leg of lamb, pork shoulder roasts, etc.). I smoke at this level for about 3 hours.
• Next, I remove from the Traeger grill/smoker and place on the kitchen island to come down to room temperature and release any steam moisture they still have. Once room temp and dry, I will sometimes brush a small coating of real maple syrup on top, or sometimes honey. This is not necessary, but reinforces the sweet smoky flavor profile that I like.
• At this point, I get out my vacuum sealer, cut bags to the right size (I have a bulk roll I use and cut from that), and seal up individual servings that have turned out to be approximately 1 ounce each (though not exact). I then usually throw a sticker with my contact information on it so people I give it to know where it came from and how to contact me to (a) request another serving, (b) ask about selling their house at the best price possible, or (c) refer me to a friend or family member who needs some real estate help.

So there you have it. I’ve just divulged my secrets for the Best Salmon Candy ever. I love hearing from neighbors and fans of smoked salmon. If you want to drop me an email or text, please feel free!

Kevin Harper, Realtor
208-249-8893
kevin@1776re.com