Smoked Salmon Candy

Preparation

1. Slice salmon horizontally into ½ “ thick slices.
2. Mix sugar and kosher salt together.
3. Cover the bottom of a flat bowl or Tupperware container large enough to hold half of the slices in a single row, with a thin layer of the sugar & salt mixture. Place a single layer of salmon strips on top of the salt/sugar mixture.
4. Add another layer using the rest of the salmon strips and then completely cover the salmon with the remaining sugar/salt mixture. The idea here is to completely bury the salmon in the salt and sugar.
5. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes but no longer 3 hours tops. The salmon will become too salty if it remains in the mixture for too long. I left mine for 1 hour and the end result was salty enough to preserve the salmon but not so much that the salty flavor overwhelmed.
6. Rinse each strip of salmon quickly under cold water and pat dry.
7. Arrange salmon strips on a wire rack and refrigerate uncovered for at least 4 hours or overnight. This allows the surface of the salmon strips to dry out and form a pellicle. The pellicle is a slightly hardened surface that will allow the smoke to adhere to the salmon strip once the smoking process begins.
8. Mix the maple syrup and pepper flakes together, brush onto all sides of the salmon strips and lay the strips out on the grill.
9. Close the lid and set the Intelligent Temperature Control (ITC) to 180 degrees F. Leave for one hour.
10. Baste the salmon strips with the syrup, close the lid and turn the temperature up to 200 degrees F and continue to smoke the salmon for another hour.
11. Baste the strips one last time and continue to smoke for 1 – 2 more hours. The longer smoking time will yield a drier salmon jerky.