Learn to make Hot Smoked Salmon at home with a simple stovetop smoker. This recipe transforms wild salmon with a salt and sugar cure into a smoky delight perfect for any meal.
Smoked salmon is one of my very favorite foods. I tried to make hot smoked salmon a few months ago using my wok set up like this. I loved the DIY feel of making it that way but wasn’t thrilled with the results. So I took Cathy’s advice and purchased a stovetop smoker
. I’m very glad that I did as it wasn’t very expensive and I think I’m going to use it a lot.
Hot Smoked vs. Cold Smoked
Salmon can be hot smoked or cold smoked, and the main differences are in their texture, flavor, and smoking temperature. Hot smoked salmon is fully cooked and has a flakier texture, whereas cold smoked salmon is cured (not cooked with heat), which offers a smooth and silky texture. Both methods offer a delicious way to enjoy the rich, nutritious benefits of salmon, but I prefer the hot smoked version.
How to Hot Smoke Salmon
To make my smoked salmon, I started with a fillet of wild salmon and a dry cure based on salt and sugar (the recipe is at the end of this post). When you rub salmon and allow it to cure like this, you’re essentially making the Scandinavian delicacy called gravlax (although gravlax is generally made with dill, which I didn’t use). So you could eat it without hot smoking it when it’s finished, and it’s quite delicious that way, just so you know.
While the salmon is curing, you want to have it wrapped very well and weighed down. I used a couple of big jars of tomatoes to accomplish this task, but you can use whatever you have around.
After 2 days in the cure, I rinsed the salmon thoroughly and allowed it to sit on a rack in the refrigerator, uncovered, for about 24 hours. The purpose of doing this is so your salmon will form something called a “pellicle,” a shiny tackiness to the exterior of the fish. According to Rulman’s Charcuterie
, allowing the salmon to form a pellicle means the smoky flavor will better adhere to the fish and there will be less chance it will dry out in the smoker.
The concern about moisture loss is a real one when you’re hot smoking with a stovetop smoker because there’s really no way to control the temperature and you don’t want to open the lid too often to check internal temperature. I was worried my salmon would overcook, so I kept the salmon in the smoker for only about 16 minutes until it reached an internal temperature of 135°F to 140°F.
I pretty much devoured the smoked salmon over a couple of days. I ate it on its own, in scrambled eggs, and on open-faced sandwiches, like this one with goat cheese and watercress:
I will be making this recipe again, for sure. And I can’t wait to try other foods in my smoker!
Hot Smoked Salmon
Ingredients
- 1 lb wild-caught salmon fillet
- 2 tbsp Ouzo or similar anise flavored liqueur
- 2 tbsp coarse salt or kosher salt
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 1 tsp black pepper fresh ground
- 2 tsp orange zest
Instructions
- Place salmon skin-side down on a large sheet of plastic wrap in a container large enough hold the salmon. I used a round and deep baking dish; the salmon will ooze some liquid while curing, so make sure your receptacle has sides to contain this liquid.
- Drizzle the salmon all over with the Ouzo, then mix salt, sugar, pepper, and orange zest and rub the mixture all over the salmon (or, rub the salmon first, then drizzle on the Ouzo).
- Wrap the plastic around the salmon (wrap it tight to contain the liquid), then cover the salmon with something to weigh it down: a sheet pan or a dish of some sort; I used a pie dish. Place something heavy on top (I used 2 large cans of tomatoes).
- Place salmon in the refrigerator for about 48 hours, then remove weights, unwrap and rinse very well.
- Put the fillet on a rack atop a sheet pan in the refrigerator. Allow to air dry for about 24 hours, or until the surface is shiny and a little tacky.
- Smoke the salmon in a stovetop or other hot smoker according to manufacturer's directions. I used a Cameron smoker with hickory chips and smoked my salmon for 16 minutes and an internal temperature of 135°F to 140°F. It was perfect.
