Salmon is one of the most succulent foods to prepare in a smoker. Not only does it take less time in the smoker than meat does, but it is amazingly forgiving. Let me walk through the best smoked salmon method that we have tried and discuss the how and why this one seems to turn out so consistently great for us.
Smoked salmon is an incredibly versatile food. After you have enjoyed it as an entree fresh from the smoker, you can use leftovers on your bagel with capers the next morning. Or, add it to pasta with a white wine sauce or perhaps a cream sauce, the next day. Then use it in a salad for an amazing Salmon Nicoise for lunch, or serve it with crusty bread and creme fraiche and a sprig of dill for a light appetizer.
Before we light up the smoker, though, lets talk the method. There are two types of smoked salmon; cold smoked and heat smoked.
Hot and Cold Smoked Salmon
Cold smoked salmon is the kind you find shrink-wrapped from mail order companies. The smoke is cooled prior to touching the fish, therefore technically, the fish is not cooked. Importantly, the fish’s texture does not change.
Hot smoking is just what you would expect, where the smoke contacts the fish while it is still hot. On a high level, the process for both of these styles of smoking salmon is similar, although specifics and procedures at each step will vary.
In both cases you want to first cure the fish. The curing process is about using a salt application directly on the skin. In cold smoking this is invariably dry, but in heat smoking, you could opt for either a dry or a wet application. After that, you rinse off the salt and allow the fish to dry prior to brining and smoking. It must be dry to develop the pellicle, which is what the smoke sticks to.
The smoking process is where the two styles diverge. This recipe is for a dry-brine heat-smoked salmon.
Overview to Smoking Salmon
- Remove the pin bones from the fish.
- Cure the fish using a salt/brown sugar application – 24 hours in the fridge or an ice-filled cooler. This is a very important step to draw out the moisture prior to smoking.
- Rinse the salt mixture off, pat the fish dry, and air dry 4 hours or overnight, depending upon the size of your fillet. This is the step when the pellicle forms, so thorough drying is important.
- Apply finishing rub (optional) I like to keep this rub simple for versatility. I use the smoked salmon in many dishes from salads to pasta to appetizers, so I tend to keep the final rub clean.
- Smoke at the lowest temperature your smoker will go – between 140 – 175 is best. Baste hourly. Smoke until the internal temperature of the salmon reaches 140. If your smoker’s lowest setting is above 200, you may be done smoking in an hour or possibly less, so keep a very close watch on the fish.
Prepping the Salmon
The first thing you’ll want to do is prep the fish. This involves removing any pin bones. Depending upon where you acquired your salmon, there may not be any, or there may be many. In most cases the pin bones will be found at the fat end of the fillet.
Place the salmon on a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper on your cutting board or work surface. Run your finger along the spine of the fish starting at the narrowest edge. If there are pin bones you will probably start to feel them about halfway down the spine. Remove them with your fingers or a set of culinary tweezers. This could be a time consuming step. If you leave the pin bones in, you may have to contend with them in the end product, which is never fun.
Curing the Salmon
Mix together 1 cup of Kosher salt and 1 cup brown sugar, along with about a quarter cup fresh cracked pepper. Some people opt to double down on the brown sugar, but the salt is really what helps to cure the fish and draw the moisture out. The salt also helps to preserve the fish so that it keeps longer after smoking.
Depending upon the size of your salmon, you’ll want to cure the salmon in a receptacle inside a cool location. If these are smaller fillets, you can cure in a plastic storage container in the fridge. If you are fortunate enough to be smoking king salmon, you can cure the salmon wrapped in aluminum foil an ice-filled cooler.
Spread a layer of your salt mixture on the bottom sheet of your aluminum foil. Place the salmon skin side down on top of the layer of salt mixture on the foil. Cover the top of the fillet generously with more of the salt mixture.
If you have a second fillet, you can actually layer it right on top of the first one, covering it also with more of your brine mixture. When all fillets are completely covered with your salt mixture, seal the aluminum foil. Place the foil wrapped package in a large glass baking dish in the fridge (or cooler) for 12-24 hours, or overnight. If you have a small salmon fillet, a few hours curing might be sufficient.
Weight on top of the fish is said to help the skin absorb the brine, so if you can, add some bricks to the top of your aluminum foil package.
The Pellicle
After your salmon has cured overnight in the salt mixture, when you unwrap it you will see a lot of moisture pulled out into the baking dish or container. Thoroughly rinse all of the brine, salt, sugar and moisture from the salmon. Pat it dry.
Now the salmon should rest and air dry for between 4-8 hours, or for very large king salmon filets, overnight. Using a fan helps. As the salmon dries, the proteins in the muscle tissue which have been drawn out by the salt brine start forming a tacky coating on the surface of the fish.
This tacky layer is known as the pellicle. It is composed of proteins and is very important for smoking. The pellicle is what the smoke sticks to. Also, according to some sources, this drying process which draws out the protein from the muscle also reduces the amount of albumin which will show up once heat is applied.
Albumin is a protein which comes to the surface and coagulates into a white substance when heated. But when the salmon is cured and dried properly, and then heated more slowly, a smaller amount will seep out. Why does this matter? When the albumin rapidly seeps out, your smoked salmon could become drier.
Don’t worry though if you see some albumin seep – a small amount is totally fine and normal and shouldn’t affect flavor.
The Smoke
You can add a finish brine prior to the smoke at this point. I like to keep the salmon clean and simple. A little seasoned salt or brown sugar is all that’s needed – or if you prefer, try this Brown sugar cumin rub.
Most people prefer mild alder wood for salmon. I would also recommend Applewood or other fruit chips. Because we have a plum orchard, I often use plum wood in the smoker, which has worked out fine for salmon.
You’ll want to smoke the salmon skin-side down. There are a few methodologies for the temperature. After all of the prep work to get to this point, it would be a shame to rush the smoke. However, if your smoker can’t get below 200 degrees, Your smoke could go pretty fast. At 225, expect to be finished in about an hour, depending upon the size of your fillet. Cook until the salmon has an internal temperature of 140.
If you can get the lower temperature, try smoking at 175 for several hours. You will have an extremely moist salmon with very little albumin seep.
This is a great blog. Thank you for the very informative post. Enrica Fax Kazim
Wow, thank you. I didn’t know there was so much involved in making salmon such a special delicacy. Can’t wait to try this!