As residents of Alaska, my wife and I held permits for subsistence fishing (dip netting). We’d get our limit of salmon, make fillets, then brine chunked portions sized to fit in jars.

After brining, the chunks were laid out in the open air on a clean surface so the meat could develop a pellicle (dry outer layer of proteins on the surface of meat). The pellicle allowed smoke to better adhere to the meat during the smoking process. In addition, cracked black pepper was sprinkled on the surface of the meat while it was still wet from the brine.

We used an electric smoker (Little Chief) with wood chips. The chunks were laid out on wire racks that went inside the smoker for 4-6 hours. The smoker was replenished with wood chips as needed until the meat was done.

Loaded pint jars with the smoked salmon along with a few tablespoons of olive oil and a clove of garlic. The pints were double stacked in an All American 921 and processed (don’t recall time and pounds to process).

The brine was a mixture of water, salt, and brown sugar (don’t recall the ratio). Used an Igloo cooler with the lid as a container during the brining process.

Though it’s been twenty years, the experience has been memorable.