Salmon is a seafood that goes particularly well with a little smoke flavor. For this recipe, a nice fresh salmon fillet was cut into cubes, smoked with Cherry pellets, and towards the end of the cook they were covered with a Maple syrup and Bourbon glaze as the smoked salmon cubes came up to temperature. Loverly stuff!
Tap/Click above to watch the recipe or scroll below for the steps: Video – ZGrills.com
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Step 1: The recipe starts with a nice fresh salmon fillet chopped up into roughly inch-sized cubes on the cooking board ready for some rub to be applied.
Step 2: A sweet/desert rub was used for this salmon burnt ends recipe, the Uncle Steve’s Sweet Dessert Shake which contains Cinnamon.
Step 3: The pellet smoker was set to 225 degrees and the hopper was loaded with Cherry pellets, again, keeping in line with the sweet flavor profile for this smoked salmon burnt ends recipe.
Step 4: The seasoned salmon cubes then went onto a rack. This is not only an easy way to place the salmon cubes into and out of the pellet smoker, but it will also let the smoke circulate the salmon cubes much better than placing them on a baking tray. The rack then went into the pre-heated pellet smoker.
Step 5: While the salmon cubes smoked away at 225 degrees the glaze was prepared which started with a base of a 3/4 of a cup of good quality Maple Syrup, 2 tbsp of Bourbon, 1 tbsp of Dijon Mustard, 1 tbsp of Soy Sauce.
Step 6: The ingredients for the smoked salmon burn ends continued with 1 tbsp of Granulated Garlic and finally 1/8 of a cup of Light Brown Sugar.
Step 7: The ingredients for the glaze were brought up to a low simmer while being constantly stirred to avoid burning on the bottom of the pan.
Step 8: After 10 to 15 minutes of the glaze sauce simmering away it had thickened up a little. At this point, a knob of Butter was added and then as a final touch, a couple of drops of Pure Orange Extract was added to finish and stirred through.
Step 9: After around 30 minutes on the pellet smoker, the salmon cubes had taken on that nice Cherry pellet smoke flavor. With an internal temp around 130 degrees, they were ready for the glazing stage.
Step 10: Each smoked salmon cube was lifted off the rack with kitchen tongs and bathed in the glaze before going back down onto the rack.
Step 11: Note that a baking tray has been placed underneath the salmon cubes to catch the dripping glaze, it just saves the pellet smoker from getting dirty and makes clean-up easier.
Step 12: Every 15 minutes or so a little more glaze was applied to the smoked salmon cubes as they continued to cook at 225 degrees on the pellet smoker, with the lid lowered in between.
Step 13: After a total cooking time of around an hour, with several blastings with the Maple/Bourbon glaze the smoked salmon cubes were at an internal temperature of 150 degrees and ready to come off the pellet smoker.
Step 14: To serve as an appetizer, the glazed smoked salmon burnt ends were paired with some lettuce leaves and some lightly toasted sesame seeds dressed over the top. Delicious!
Hi, I’m Chris Scott. I started PelHeat.com back in 2007 and I have a background in pellet manufacturing. PelHeat.com is an educational resource on BBQ pellets, pellet grills & smokers. Check out our Pellet Grill & Smoker Database.
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