Brine for smoking salmon

Hi everybody. I smoked a salmon fillet yesterday in a electric smoker and used a brine that I googled. It called for salt plus soy sauce and to my tastes it was really overly salty. It had a good smokey flavor from using alderwood chips but it was still overly salty. Brought some to work and everyone seemed to like it (Or they were being polite). Any body have a brine recipe they would like to share? Thanks.

My friend uses a brine of kosher salt and brown sugar, Never soy sauce( well once, but that was the last time) I have seen said recipe on the internet...

Ratio as follows.
3 Maple syrup
1 soy sauce
1 worchestershire sauce
1/2 garlic (pressed)
1/2 bbq seasoning. (mine has no salt or sugar in it)
dash hot sauce
 
Dry off salmon with paper towel before brining. I've done it up to two days. Wash off and dry before smoking.
 
I use this and people love it.
 
DT

Sounds good-Davwud-I was not sure what else was put in the brine my friend uses, but soy sauce and salt alone would be awful...they are avid salmon fishermen...

Soy and Salt is a double whammy of Sodium! UGH!

I have never used a wet brine.
 
I make a simple dry brine and let it do the work of brining and flavoring the salmon.
 
Brown sugar (I like dark for the flavor it imparts)
Kosher salt (non - ionized)
Minced Garlic (fresh over the jar form)
Cayenne Pepper
 
Mix the sugar and salt in about a 4:1 ratio
Garlic 10ish cloves
Pinch of cayenne
 
Mix it all together in large non metal bowl
score the salmon on the meat side but not through the skin
cover the meat side of the fish with the brine and work it in the scores
place in non metallic storage container
cover and place it in fridge for 6-8 hours
 
The sugar and salt are hydroscopic and will draw out moisture from the fish and the brine will turn into a brown "syrup"
 
after brining time wash the filets gently getting all the globs of stuff off
then smoke as you have been.
 
The longer you leave this brine on the firmer the fish becomes and possibly a bit saltier too.
 
a vac packer is ideal for keeping smoked salmon

From:
http://www.smoking-meat.com/july-2010-smoking-salmon.html
Brining the Salmon
Brine recipe
1 gallon of cool water (bottled is best)
1 cup of kosher salt
1 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of lemon juice (fresh squeezed is best)
2 TBS of Jeff's naked rib rub
 Pour 1/2 gallon of water into large plastic or glass mixing bowl (non-reactive). Add salt and stir until water is returned to clear. Add brown sugar and Jeff's rub and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add lemon juice.
Place fish in large flat container that is about 3 inches deep and pour the brine over the fish with remaining 1/2 gallon of water making sure fish is completely submerged in the liquid. Use a zip top freezer bag full of ice cubes to keep the salmon submerged if necessary.
Brine fish in refrigerator for about an hour per pound of fish minimum. The fish I just smoked was right at 2 lbs and was in the brine for about 2 hours and 15 minutes
 

I wish to thank you all for your time and your excellent resposes. And since Sprouts still has Coho on sale for 6.99 a pound I got some more and will try some of these. It never ceases to amaze me how many folks on here have these wonderful methods for nearly everything. I will let you all know how my next batch turns out. Thank you all once again.

Well you guys sure came through. In between dodging wildfires I was able to smoke some salmon using the brine recipe that was posted by Foodbeme and CajunKing. To my utter amazement they were both gone by the time lunch was over yesterday. Once I learned that it is best to wait until the pellicle is formed there's no stopping me now.

Glad we could help you.  I love smoking salmon and it is so much cheaper than buying it already smoked.