Smoked salmon is hands down the best way to enjoy salmon, in my opinion! Read on to see our favorite way to smoke salmon.

Salmon Controversy

I’m going to say something that is probably an unpopular opinion, but I don’t like salmon that much! As Alaskans, we have access to the best salmon in the world! If you are interested in how we harvest salmon, I have an article about that here.

Every summer we love to catch it but we probably only have it for a meal twice a year. It’s a shame, I know!

However, we do put the salmon we catch to good use. We share a lot with family back in Michigan. What we don’t share, we smoke so we can take it on our adventures! 

This recipe isn’t anything earth shattering. It’s a common way to cure and smoke salmon. People may have different ratios, smoking methods, or a different way of cutting their salmon – this is just the way that has worked best for us.

The Process

This method relies on curing the salmon with salt and cold smoking it. So the smoker isn’t actually cooking the salmon. If that freaks you out, don’t worry, the final texture is a ‘cooked’ texture. 

The process takes a little more than 24 hours, but the process is pretty simple. First slice the fish into ½” slices (don’t cut through the skin). Then cover the fish with the salt and sugar mixture, making sure the mixture gets down into the slices. 

Allow the fish to cure at room temperature for 8-12 hours. The dry salt and sugar mixture will turn into liquid within 30 minutes. I prefer to mix the fish around once or twice over the course of the 12 hours to make sure the fish is evenly coated. After 12 hours has passed, the fish should be darker red and more firm. If your fish looks really raw, you can leave it to cure longer. Larger fish may take more time. Example: silver salmon take longer than red salmon. 

Thoroughly rinse the salmon under cold water to wash off all the salt and sugar mixture. If you don’t rinse well enough the salmon may end up too salty. 

Once rinsed, place the salmon onto baking racks. Aim a fan at the fish and allow it to dry for 12 hours. After 12 hours, the fish should be dry to the touch and almost resemble a jerky type consistency. 

Once the salmon is dry, cut through the skin so you have individual strips of salmon. Next, it’s time to fire up the smoker. As I mentioned above, this recipe calls for a cold smoke. We have a DIY smoker so I’m not sure of the temperature, but it’s likely that you’ll want to use the lowest setting on your smoker. We burn green alder branches (with the bark removed, so it’s not bitter). 

I have done this same recipe and used the traeger, but since the lowest temperature is still very warm, it will end up cooking the fish. If you use a warm smoker, I would guess it could only smoke for an hour or so before the heat cooks the fish. If this is the only smoker available, just keep a close eye on it so the fish doesn’t dry out. 

After the fish is smoked, we cut the strips to uniform size, vacuum seal, and freeze! We love to take these on our adventures or use them for charcuterie boards. 

If you’re interested in learning how we get our salmon, it changes every year! Sometimes we have access to a fish wheel, sometimes we dip net, or catch them on a pole. Check out this post to learn more about that.