The Brine Cure

Although many ingredients are sometimes used in the cure to flavor or preserve the fish, most of these are not necessary and may be counterproductive. I do, however, insist on either brown sugar in a dry cure or molasses in a brine cure. The sugar or molasses helps the color as well as the flavor of smoked fish. The measures can be increased or decreased proportionally. Note that these proportions yield a relatively weak brine, as fresh water will dissolve well over 2 pounds of salt per gal