Smoked Salmon with Maple Orange Glaze
On September 05, 2022 (Updated September 27, 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.
I made this for the first time for a New Year’s Eve dinner and it was a huge hit. I doubled the recipe thinking I would have leftovers. Nope, prime rib and brisket leftover but the salmon was the talk of the dinner. Everyone wanting the recipe. First time on site, big fan now, will be a loyal follower and subscriber. Keep up the good work, you are appreciated out here and Happy New Year!!!
Do you season the salmon at all before placing on the smoker?
The brining process takes care of that!
I made this dish for my parents yesterday. Total success.
It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if this recipe appears in the next edition of Webster’s under the word, “perfection”.
This is a wonderful recipe! I make a smoked salmon every year for the Artists’ Brunch at our local art festival and I have been looking for a really good recipe. Yesterday I had some friends over and tried this recipe, everyone we thoroughly impressed! It is not a delicate recipe (I cured it for 2 days and dried it for 3 days just because that is when I had time to do it). I used a Weber gas grill with the smoking box and it turned out perfect! I might like a little more smoke so next time I’ll use the Weber charcoal grill and substitute real wood for charcoal. So amazing…THANK YOU!
Made this a few months back and took some to work. Had 2 co workers offer to pay me to make more for them. Let them know to just get me the salmon and a piece for me and we would be good. Mentioned I was doing another batch this weekend, and the “free salmon” rolled in. Currently have 6 lbs in brine for tomorrows smoke!
This recipe was great even when everything went wrong. I was making this my first attempt at smoking any fish on my pellet smoker.
I began the brine yesterday but realized I didn’t have oranges or brown sugar. Not a great start. Went to the store, got brown sugar. Forgot the orange. Figured I’d use a splash of Cointreau that was in the cupboard. Forgot to put that in the marinade. Clearly all those things were my fault, yet this was only the beginning.
The smoker wouldn’t start because of a fault that Google said was due to the smoker needing a software update. After an hour figuring that out the smoker wouldn’t start at all. An hour later I figured out it was the igniter (in case you didn’t notice, I was having a rough day.)
At this point my wife got home and dinner hadn’t even started so we went out to eat. Came home and decided I’I would try grilling this wild.salmon that had been marinating in maple syrup and sugar water. I had been soaking cedar planks for the occasion but had taken them out of the water when I thought the smoker would work.
I did two bastes on the fish when the grill was very hot. Then I thought I smelled burning. Turns out the planks and most of the grill were on fire. I killed the heat and hit the back of the grill with a hose to prevent my shared fence from catching fire. Chalked it all up to bad luck and let it sit for about 15 minutes.
I opened the grill, trash bag in hand, to throw everything away and saw the salmon looked delicious. I grabbed my thermometer and it was still.at 154. I brought it in and we both really liked it. It was a bit… cedar-y from the burning plank but I forsee an omelet tomorrow.
I can’t wait to do this recipe the right way next time 🙂
Holy cow! That’s a long day there for sure! I’m glad you still liked the end product though.
We are doing about 25lbs coho salmon and steelhead. Only problem I see is the basting cause our smoker is touchy with keeping temp if we’re opening the doors to baste. We usually smoke it and then slap on the maple syrup till fillets stop soaking it in.
Also, we cool ours off on table with fans and AC going for couple hrs. You think this is an alright technique?
Yeah that sounds fine to me!
Hi there. This looks awesome. We catch lots of Kokanee here, smaller and oilier Salmon. I will try this recipe in my Bradley Smoker. The boys are out catching the fish right now. I am new to smoking and really appreciate your explanation of the different stages and the results. I have a better understanding now. Thanks again.
You’re welcome! Please, come back and let me know how that turns out!
If making this, I see that many people like it cold the next day, but is there a way to warm up leftovers without getting soggy and weird textured??
Not really. The best way I can think of is to warm them at a low temp in the oven.
Is the maple syrup pure maple syrup?
Yes!