3 quarts Water

½ cup Salt (non-iodized)

1 cup Brown Sugar

Dissolve salt and brown sugar in water in plastic container. Submerge fish in brine. Cover with lid and put in refrigerator for overnight, 12-15 hours, stirring occasionally.

Remove fish from brine. Rinse gently in cold water for 10 minutes. Pat dry with paper towels. Place pieces on lightly oiled racks to air dry in cool place for additional hour or two . Rub light coat brown sugar onto each piece of salmon.   Sprinkle on cayenne pepper.

Preheat smoker, in this case a Brinkman Smoker. Soak wood ships of your choice (hickory, apple, alder, etc.) in water for 10 minutes. Drain. Place a handful chips on lava rocks. Turn smoker down to low. Place smoker body with racks and lid on top of base. Smoke fish on low for 4-6 hours adding additional handful of chips on rocks depending on taste.  Smoker temperature must reach 145 degrees or above and sustained for at least 30 minutes to kill toxic botulinum spores.

A quart of wood chips would be about right. Do not let chips flare up. This will burn the bottom rack of fish and make the flesh leathery.

Freeze smoked fish in Ziplock bags for up to six months. Store in fridge in Ziplock bags for a week.