Smoke Salmon

I enjoy smoking salmon often and am proud of my recipe; however, it would be disingenuous of me to claim that it’s the only effective method out there. There are numerous approaches people have come up with for smoking fish; all are valid methods – I just happen to find mine to work best for me personally.

Jump to Recipe

Keep in mind this is a hot-smoking recipe. Cold smoking, which is the kind of slice-able smoked fish you get in fancy boxes from Scotland is an entirely different thing.

Almost everyone in Salmon Country hot smokes their fish. If you’re unfamiliar with hot-smoked fish, think about those golden smoked whitefish you see in delicatessens; those are hot smoked.How do you eat it? Well, you can just eat it plain, or you can flake it and make it into a smoked salmon salad, you can pound it with butter and make salmon rillettes, serve it in deviled eggs, tossed with pasta… you get the point.

Here’s what you need to get started:

How to Smoke Salmon: A Step-by-Step Guide for Wanted Results

Recipe by Linda WilberDifficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

hour

minutes

Calories

225

kcal

Ingredients

Smokers. I have used both Traegers and Bradleys; both offer great performance. You will need to know the temperature in your smoking chamber, and be able to roughly regulate it.
Wood. While Traeger smokers require wood pellets as fuel, I have long used a Brinkmann Wood-Fired BBQ which uses scraps from almond and fruit trees as its source. Although buying wood is more time consuming and inconvenient than using your Brinkmann, this method yields more precise results – Alder wood being my go-to option when smoking salmon but other options such as apple, cherry or oak might work equally as well.
Salt. Purchase a box from your supermarket. Only use kosher salt as regular table salt contains anti-caking agents and iodide which will give your salmon an unpleasant “off” taste. Diamond Crystal’s fine cut makes for better results!
Salmon craves sweet. Birch syrup is my preferred sweetener when making smoked salmon dishes; its similar to maple syrup, yet derived directly from birch tree sap instead. Super cool stuff! Maple syrup is also delicious – please only use real maple syrup; fake versions don’t cut it! Honey may also work.
At your supermarket, purchase large, flat plastic containers to run two brines simultaneously in an average fridge. They’re easy to keep clean and relatively affordable too!
Rack. Place the brined salmon onto a rack to produce its protective pellicle.
Bastingbrush. If you don’t already own one, get one; flat types work great for painting window trim.

Step-by-Step instructions

Cut small pieces of salmon weighing 1/4 to 1/2 pound each into strips. This recipe works for any species belonging to the salmonid family; I have used it successfully with King, Sockeye and Coho Salmons, Pink Salmons, Dolly Vardens as well as Steelhead Trout (Kokanee Trout) Steelhead Trout and Lahontan Trout (Lahontan Trout).
It can be used with any species of trout or char, as well as farmed Atlantic Salmon that I prefer not eating.