I defrosted a Sockeye Salmon that had been in the freezer… then I marinated it in some Rice Vinegar, Soy Sauce, with Cinnamon and Ginger, and a healthy portion of Sea Salt for about three hours.

I stoked the fire, added a few charcoal briquets, and a heathy helping of hickory chips, and let it start smoking.

I put the Salmon on the grill around 4:00. The temp was 120°F and the smoke was flowing. I checked it every 10 minutes or so until about 4:40.

Looks good, doesn’t it?

Grayson woke up right after I took that photo, and was crying, so I got distracted for a few minutes… I took it off the grill at 5:00. I should have grabbed it at 4:45 or so, I think.

It smelled amazing. AMAZING!

I put it in the oven to cool a little while I finished up the peas and corn.

We sat down to eat around 5:30, and while the Salmon tasted like Smoked Salmon, it was just a tad dry. Not bad, mind you, but definitely should have come off the grill a little earlier.

Did a much better job of keeping the fire under control this time, and got the perfect amount of smoke.

More practice is in our future for sure. Tastes too good, and I definitely want to get good at smoking…

So, I defrosted 10 Bratwursts we had sitting in the freezer.

Things were looking good for the first 45 minutes or so, then I added some wood to the coals… and the fire got a little out of control. I went outside to check on things after about 20 minutes, and the grill was over 500 degrees… Needless to say the Brats were a little burnt.

The three I saved were really good though…

Gonna try again soon.