I used my go to dry brine recipe.
4 Cups Brown Sugar
1 Cup Kosher salt
20 Cloves of Garlic (pressed)
I like to cut the fillets into 1 - 1 1/2" wide strips. Because thats about the average thickness of the salmon fillets that I catch in the fall. Leave the skin on never remove the skin. In my opinion the fish can dry out too quickly and then your left chewing on a tough chewy hunk of garbage.
Dredge the fish in brine.(all you need is what will stick to the fish)
Brine for 48-72 hours. Thats how I do it!
Overhual it twice a day, or more if you have time.
I like to use a baster and baste the fish a couple times a day, with the juice in the container, as well as overhauling. I think it makes a more evenly brined end product.
Rinse the salmon GENTLY so you dont rinse all the brine off. I fill my container, like you can see in the first pic, and slosh the water around for about 10 seconds, twice. You want to leave enough drine on the fish to act like a glaze and develope a real nice pelic.
Dry the fish by PATTING with a paper or cotton towel, dont rub it. You can also fold the towel over to cover the fish, top and bottom, and gently press on it to remove most of the moisture on the fish. Then let it sit in the open air and dry untill there is a pelic or tacky layer covering the fish. Sometimes the fish dont want to dry very fast and you can use a fan to help. There is no set time for this to happen, because of temp and humidity, the fish can sit at room temprature for several hours without worrying about it spoiling.
Smoke at 100 - 125* untill the fish gets to the level of dryness that you like. I used apple wood and smoked the fish for about 12 hours on this batch. Theres no set time for this because every fish has a little different fat content and everyone has their own idea what the fish should be like. I always have a sample piece at each end of the smoker and nibble on it a little when I check it. Some folks like to heat the fish to 140* to finish it, I usually only do that when the fish is fresh and has never been frozen.
Love salmon, smoked or grilled.