Smoked Salmon with Maple Orange Glaze
On September 05, 2022 (Updated May 10, 2024)
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This Smoked Salmon with Maple Orange Glaze is the most delectable, smoky, melt-in-your-mouth salmon you will ever have. While this process requires a little bit of time and patience, it is totally worth it! Believe me when I say you’ve never had salmon quite like this before. It is one process that is well worth the wait.
Smoked Salmon
Hot smoked salmon is a food experience you’re sure to love. It requires some extra love and attention, but believe me when I say it is definitely worth the work and wait. It makes for the perfect weekend smoke project, and I guarantee it’ll be hard to find leftovers once you put this out on the table.
The glaze is a simple combo of maple syrup and orange juice. It seems simple, but a lot of flavor comes from the maple orange glaze, so invest in good maple syrup and orange juice for the best results.
What to Buy for Smoked Salmon?
When purchasing your salmon to smoke, purchase fresh, skin-on salmon if possible. I’ve smoked with both skin on and off, but skin-on is better. Having the skin on helps the salmon hold together during the curing and smoking stages. I also recommend purchasing salmon that has less fat running through the muscles.
Aim to buy wild-caught Alaskan king or sockeye salmon. Farmed Atlantic salmon works just fine, but more fat can mean more albumin (that white build-up on the outside of the salmon) while you’re cooking. Plus, commercially farmed salmon is often artificially colored.
In my opinion, wild-caught salmon has the best flavor when smoking, but I understand that you have to cook what you like best (and what’s available and in your budget)! My kids always prefer the more mild flavor of Atlantic salmon.
Smoked Salmon Brine
Any time you are smoking salmon, you need to brine it first. This recipe is for hot smoking, so the curing stage is different than Cold Smoked Salmon which often sits in a dry salt crust cure for 24 hours. The salt in this brine does this magical thing where it draws out the moisture from the salmon which helps intensify the flavor and season the meat all at the same time.
This brine is designed to infuse the salmon with a little bit of the sweetness from the maple syrup and some bright yummy zip from the orange. It is really pretty unbelievably tasty for how simple it is.
Here’s what you need to make this brine:
- 4 cups cool water
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup kosher salt
- zest of 1 orange
Important note! Make sure you use kosher salt for this recipe, as table salt typically has iodide in it and that can cause some funky flavors. It will also later the concentration of salt in the brine.
How to Smoke Salmon
Making this recipe requires quite a few steps, and each one is essential to ensure your salmon cooks well. Here’s how to smoke salmon in 5 simple steps.
- Brine the salmon. Combine all the ingredients for the brine in a glass container. Gently submerge your salmon into the liquid. Cover, and refrigerate for 8-12 hours.
- Develop a pellicle. Similar to making home-cured bacon, this salmon needs to form a sticky layer on the outside, called a pellicle, to help the smoke cling to the fish. The pellicle develops once the salmon is removed from the brine and sits in the fridge overnight on a cooling rack, uncovered.
- Preheat your smoker and prep the glaze. Combine the ingredients for the glaze in a small bowl and set aside. Preheat your smoker to 165-170 degrees F. I use my Camp Chef pellet grill to get consistent temperatures and good smoke. The most important part to smoking this salmon is maintaining a low temperature (around 165 degrees) while smoking. If your smoker wants to run higher than that, you can place an aluminum tray with ice under the grates (not touching the salmon) and that should help keep the temperature down. I smoked this salmon with maple wood, but any mellow wood like pecan or alder works well.
- Smoke the salmon! This is a hot smoked salmon, so it is going to cook entire on the smoker. Place the salmon skin side down on the grill grates and smoke for 3-4 hours, or until the internal temp reaches 145 degrees F. Brush the salmon with the glaze every hour while it is smoking.
- Eat and enjoy. This salmon can be eaten fresh off the grill, or served cold. Simply flake and eat.
How Long to Smoke Salmon
Getting your salmon up to the correct internal temperature of 145 degrees F can take a few hours. Keep an eye on the progress by using a good internal thermometer. I always recommend cooking to temperature and not to time, so estimate anywhere from 3-4 hours to fully cook this salmon.
I have several thermometers, but my favorite for this is my Thermoworks Smoke so I can keep an eye on both the grill temperature and fish temperature while smoking.
More Smoked Salmon Recipes
Salmon is a favorite dinner in my family; everyone seems to love it, and we rarely have leftovers. If you’re looking for another delicious smoked salmon recipe from Hey Grill Hey, check out some of my favorites below:
Smoked Salmon Recipe
Watch the video below the recipe card and I’ll show you step-by-step how I make this smoked salmon recipe at home. I’m all about helping you make better BBQ, feed the people you love, and become a backyard BBQ hero. You can check out more of my smoking and grilling recipe videos on YouTube, Instagram, or our Facebook Page.
This post was originally published September 2017. It has since been updated with more information and helpful tips. The recipe remains the same.
Smoked Salmon with Maple Orange Glaze
Video
Ingredients
- 2-3 pound salmon fillet cut into individual portions
Brine
- 4 cups cool water
- 1 cup maple syrup
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup kosher salt
- zest of 1 orange
Maple Orange Glaze
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup orange juice
Instructions
- Brine the salmon. In a glass baking dish, combine all of the ingredients for the brine and stir until the salt is dissolved. Gently submerge your salmon portions in the brine, cover, and refrigerate for 8-12 hours. If your salmon fillets are thin, 8 hours should be enough. Thicker fillets will take 12 hours.
- Develop the pellicle. Remove the salmon from the brine and transfer it to a cooling rack positioned over a cookie sheet. Place the salmon in the refrigerator for 8 hours, or overnight to develop a pellicle.
- Preheat. Preheat your smoker to 165-170 degrees F using your favorite hardwood. I used maple for this recipe, but pecan or alder are also great options. You can also use orange wood if you can get your hands on some.
- Make the glaze. In a small bowl, combine the maple syrup and orange juice and set aside.
- Smoke the salmon. Place the salmon on the grates skin side down and smoke for 3-4 hours, or until the internal temperature of the salmon reaches 145 degrees F. Brush your salmon with the maple orange glaze every hour while smoking.
- Enjoy. Once your fish has reached 145 degrees F, remove the salmon from the smoker. Serve immediately if you want a hot dinner or chill and serve cold in a salad or sandwich the next day.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Great recipe! Made it and vacuum sealed it for dinner on a river trip last week and it was a huge hit. About to make it again to eat over the next couple of weeks.
Have made this twice already. The first time was for dinner….delicious but the cold leftovers the next day were even better!!!! Put in on a bagel with cream cheese and enjoyed it as much as cold smoked salmon (nova).
Thanks
Thanks so much for coming back and leaving a comment!! So happy you enjoyed it for dinner and breakfast!!
What is the plus of making this in a smoker
Vs a oven being you don’t use wood chips
To actually smoke it?
There are several different types of smokers, not all of them use wood chips. The smoker I used in this recipe uses wood pellets. If you made this in an oven, it would just be baked salmon, instead of smoked salmon.
What flavor did you use for pellets
I like to use maple wood, but any mild wood will work great!
Yeah, I made it with applewood. And it was OUTSTANDING!
what exactly are the ingredients of the brine?
4 cups cool water
1 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup kosher salt
zest of 1 orange
full cup of syrup or are you only using 1/2 for the brine and saving 1/2 for the glaze?
Hey Jeff- the ingredients are exactly as written. 1 cup in the brine, and then there is an additional 1/2 cup maple syrup in the glaze (the glaze ingredients are listed just below the brine ingredients). Hope that helps!
Rather than cut the Salmon into serving size pieces wouldn’t it work as well to smoke the entire Salmon?
It can work as a whole filet for sure. I love the smaller pieces because I like that yummy glaze on more sides of the salmon pieces.
It’s definitely better cutting into even portions. I noticed when leaving fillet as a whole more of the flavor was around the edges. When cut into portions more of the flavor penetrated the salmon.
I have done this salmon multiple times. Every time is the talk of the party. Great for vacuum seal and last at least a month in the fridge. Cold, hot or in a spread, just a fantastic salmon
Thanks so much for your kind words!! I’m just thrilled you liked the recipe!
Do you rinse after the brine process and before the put in fridge to form pellicle?
Hey Tim- I don’t find it necessary to rinse, but it definitely will reduce the saltiness overall if you do rinse.
How long can this keep in a zip lock in the fridge or freezer. Thanks
Hey Jim- this should last 3-4 days in the fridge. Frozen it would last much longer, probably 2 months in a regular freezer, 6+ months in a deep freezer.
do i keep water in my smoker like i do with my beef
Hey Gary- I don’t think the water pan is necessary for this salmon. You will be basting regularly and that will really help to keep the salmon moist.
Hi! I’m getting ready to make this Maple Orange Hot Smoked Salmon. I did have a question about the Pellicle process. Should it be covered in plastic wrap or just go in without any covering on the wire rack? Due to the size of the fish, I’ll be using my secondary refrigerator that’s not used as much so I’d preferred to cover the fish.
Hi AJ- it’s supposed to be uncovered to allow the air to circulate around the fish and create a dry, semi-tacky surface. This helps the smoke cling better to the salmon. If you keep it wrapped, it will never dry quite enough to get tacky.
I had mine on a drying rack and covered it with parchment paper which allowed the air to circulate because I was using my garage refrigerator. It turned out wonderful!
Hey I’m new at the smoking thing love to try this one. What type of maple syrup works best?
Not the butter flavor kind. If you can find real, pure maple syrup that’d be my pick.
This is the third thing i have ever smoked. It came out awesome. Everyone loved it. Thank you for great instructions.