Start with the best (Spring, Chinook, King,) deboned salmon fillet you can find.

Cut into portions that will easily fit onto a smoker rack.

A Bradley 4 rack smoker will easily hold 2, 15 to 20 pound fish.

Lay the salmon portions onto newspaper skin side down.

Pour vegetable oil into your cupped hand and rub liberally all over the flesh.

Add the cure, coat the salmon with the cure mixture heavier on the thicker portions making sure to coat all the fish.

Sprinkle seasoning salt, garlic powder, onion powder, lemon or seasoning pepper onto the flesh.

Put the salmon into a cooler flesh to flesh and let it cure overnight . The temperature should remain under 50 degrees F’.

The next morning coat the rack with cooking spray and place the salmon evenly onto the racks skin side down.

Sprinkle some coarse pepper and parsley onto the flesh.

Place the racks of salmon into the Bradley Smoker and start smoking with Alder or Maple bisquettes. Do not add any heat for the first 2 to 3 hours.

Slowly increase the heat over the next 3 hours to 140 degrees F’.

Allow the salmon to cook at 140 for 1 hour. The combine time in the smoker should be no more than 7 to 8 hours. Do not overcook your salmon!

Turn off the smoker completely and leave it to rest and cool down to room temperature before you attempt to remove the salmon. This will make it that much easier to remove from the racks.

Place the portions on a piece of card board and wrap in foil for storage. If you are going to consume the salmon for a while you can freeze it.

Store it refrigerated for up to 10 days.

The cure is made up of 2 cups of coarse salt,  2 cups of white sugar, and 5 teaspoons prague powder. This should be enough cure for 25 pounds of salmon. Mix the cure up very well. Prague powder can be found online or in butcher supply stores.

The salmon is best served cold with or without cream cheese on crackers. Adding a few capers is optional. I usually remove the skin, and cut into 1” cubes. Experience has taught me to offer this to all the adults before the kids get to it.