How To Smoke Salmon

By Polly Hamilton
How to smoke salmon:

Many people love the taste of smoked fish, and especially smoked salmon. However, it can be a very expensive thing to buy. If smoked salmon is something you like often, you should build your own smoker and do it at home! It is very simple; you just have to follow the steps illustrated below. There are four main steps to smoking salmon: brining or salting; curing; drying (to form a pellicle); smoking. Remember that smoking is not about cooking, smoke temperatures should always be keep to a low level. Remember to always be food safe, especially around fish. You must store smoked salmon safely, e.g. in the fridge. Just because it is smoked does not mean it is preserved.

How to smoke salmon: the smoker:
You can buy commercially made smokers, but these can be expensive. Another common idea is using old refrigerators; just make sure it is safe. There is plenty of information on the internet and in books about how to make a smoker using D.I.Y. It's often the best option because many people don't smoke salmon often enough for a bought one to be worth the money.

How to smoke salmon:salting:
Buy (or catch) the desired amount of salmon that you wish to smoke. If you are buying salmon, make sure it's in fillets. If you're catching the salmon, make sure you know how to fillet it! Once you have some salmon fillets at home, wash and pat them dry. Place your fillets skin down in a appropriate sized tub. Sprinkle non-iodized salt over your fillets to cover them then about ¼ of brown sugar per fillet (rub brown sugar in). Repeat this process if you need more than one layer of fillets. Leave the salmon fillets for around three to four hours in a cool room, but not the fridge.

How to smoke salmon: curing and drying:
Fill the tub with cold water and rinse your salmon fillets. Re-fill with water and let them set for 10 minutes. Drain again and cut your fillets into desired sized strips. Place them back in the tub and leave to dry overnight. The best idea is to leave a fan going on cold and low overnight. If you don't do this the air won't circulate and your strips won't dry. And covering with a tea towel is not enough. And you can't cover with tin foil, etc, because the strips need to breath. The best option is something of the nature that you would put over your fish pond, only with much smaller holes. You really need to keep the flies out!

How to smoke salmon: smoking:
This is difficult to describe in an article, especially because every smoker is designed differently. But here are some tips for methods. You want to keep the temperature between 90 and 100 degrees F. Any hot and you'll cook your salmon strips. Experiment with different types of wood to see what flavor they generate. Quite often removing the bark makes for a more pleasant tasting smoke. Use a spray bottle to stop your logs from flaming, this will cook not smoke your salmon. Spray any flames to bring them back to a smolder. You need to leave your salmon for 6-12 hours depending on two things: how strong you want the flavor to be and how dry you want your salmon to be. Once you have finished smoking your salmon, leave it in the smoker for 2-3 days with the fan going. This will dehydrate the strips a bit and refine the smoky flavor.

See Also:
More info on how to smoke salmon

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