Scotch Smoked Salmon - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 salmon fillet, 2-3 lb skin on
2 cups water
1/2 cup scotch
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons canning salt
3 -4 sprigs fresh thyme
3 -4 lemon slices, sliced thin
7 -9 peppercorns
fresh ground pepper
vegetable oil

Preparation

To make marinade, warm 1 cup of water to more easily dissolve the sugar and salt. Add the dark brown sugar and canning salt to the warm water and stir until dissolved. Add the rest of the water and the scotch and stir.
Trim the fish as you like, then curl it, flesh side out, to slide it into a gallon zip-type bag. Place bag and fish in a medium bowl to help hold it while you work with it.
Pour marinade into the bag, then add the thyme, lemon and peppercorns into the middle of the curled fish. This will keep the lemon slices against the skin of the fish and the flesh will not become discolored.
Marinate fish at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
When you're ready to get the smoker prepped, remove the fish from the marinade and allow it to dry on a rack for 30-60 minutes.
After the fish is dry and the smoker is ready, oil the rack from the smoker, generously oil the skin side of the fish and place it on the smoker rack.
Grate fresh pepper over the fish, covering it lightly.
Smoke 2-2 1/2 hours at approximately 215\u00b0F.
Serve slightly warm or chilled.