Smoked Salmon Success!

BarbieQ

Thanks, Nature Boy, Jim Minion, and RayS! I just took the first batch of salmon off the egg and it came out very, very good. I ended up cutting the salt and the brining time both by 20% and then using the bourbon and Raging River Rub. Dynamite flavor, and not too salty. I am using mostly alder for smoke with a little sugar maple. I did encounter one problem--I had rigged up a 3-tier cooking grid setup and the bottom fillets were a little too close to the fire. A bit crusty on the bottom, but still very good eating. I'll only use the top 2 tiers for the rest of the batches.
Thanks again for your help!
Barb

alternity

BarbieQ,
way to go! Salmon is good esp. alderwood smoked.
I try to keep that temp down down down! and the longer I go and bring the temp up gradually keeps oils from boiling up and pooling on the surface.
your ol pal alt

BarbieQ

alternity,
For future reference, what do you consider to be the optimum temperature for smoking salmon? I kept it right around 190 for this project but I did see a bit of oil bubbling up and there was a little white "curd" on top of some of the fillets. Even so, it took nearly 4 hours for each batch of fillets to reach 140.
Thanks!
Barb