Homemade Smoked Salmon

Combine sugar, dill, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over both sides of salmon. Place the salmon on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Soak wood chips in water for 30 minutes; drain. Brush the sugar mixture off the salmon (discard the sugar mixture) and pat the fish completely dry with paper towels. Open the vents of a charcoal grill completely. Light a charcoal chimney starter filled halfway with briquettes. When the briquettes are covered with gray ash, pour them onto the bottom grate of the grill, and then push them to one side of the grill. Scatter the soaked wood chips over the hot coals. Adjust the vents as needed to maintain an internal temperature of medium (350- 400 degrees F). (If using a gas grill, place the soaked wood chips in a foil packet; poke several holes in the packet. Place the packet directly on the burner on one side of the grill. Turn on the gas on that side to medium, 350-400 degrees F. Keep the other side unlit.)

Once the grill is billowing smoke, use tongs holding an oil-soaked paper towel to oil the grill grate over the side without the coals (or the unlit side of a gas grill). Place the salmon, skin-side down, on the oiled grate. Smoke the salmon, covered, until it flakes easily with a fork and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 140 degrees F, 20 to 30 minutes.