Looks good. What recipe did you use? There’s one that’s all over the internet that I tried a few months ago and it came out looking exactly like that. It was amazing. Come to think of it I believe QAnon97 posted the recipe I used.
I winged it, lol. A friend and his wife were up for several days and he says he's smoked plenty and eaten plenty so I figured I'd have a judges for the finished product. No coaching involved.
I read a dry brine is preferable over wet so I used just dark brown sugar and kosher salt 4:1 to keep it simple for my 1st try.
I brined it, wrapped, in the frig for 4 hours.
Then rinsed and dried it and didn't want to take a chance stinking up the frig to dry it, so I put it in front of a fan for 6 hours.
I smoked it in the kettle at 235° with 1 cherry and 1 apple chunk to 138, brushing it every now and then with maple syrup.
His words, "you nailed it."
Then it was grilled salmon with fettucini and a fresh basil pesto and tomatoes capresi for dinner. Dutch crumb apple pie with vanilla ice cream for dessert.
Thanks for reminding me. It was damn good day of eating
And after putting plastic wrap on the plate, then the fish, then the brine I read a tip to spread the brine evenly on the plate 1st and then put the meat side down onto the brine. Then wrap. I might try that next time.