Not only do I have smoked fish recipes I also explain how to easily hot smoke fish below. Fishy taste, gone.
You will be looking for food to hot-smoke. If you have a smoker, that’s great, but you can easily do this with a grill. Let’s get this thing started…
This fresh salmon recipe is made the night before for the flavors to m – it is so worth it. It also makes a great breakfast or lunch on a bagel.
SALMON SPREAD ON GARLIC TOASTS
1 cup hot-smoked** salmon, (see below) roughly chopped
1/4 cup bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 brick (8 oz) cream cheese, room temperature
jalapeno pepper, finely chopped (or to taste)
1 garlic clove, minced
juice from one lemon
1/2 oz baby dill (or to taste)
Whip the cream cheese and the lemon juice together until fluffy. Add the jalapeno pepper, garlic and dill; mix well. Fold in the salmon and bacon lightly until combined. Cover and chill overnight in the refrigerator.
The next day, get the mini french bread slices and butter both sides; sprinkling one side with a little garlic powder. Bake at 425 degrees for 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until light brown and toasted. Let cool and serve with salmon spread.
**Hot-smoked is a method of cooking – the fish is not hot. It is dry-cured and smoked. See below.
Hot Smoked Fish Recipe
Hot smoked fish recipe below. It’s a few steps but it is so worth it. Hot smoked salmon is not fishy tasting and a real treat. Like I always say: Don’t buy it when you can make it.
How to Hot Smoke Salmon
Dry Cure
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon kosher or sea salt + 1 teaspoon (no table salt)
1 TBS freshly ground black pepper
1 TBS grated lemon zest
fresh dill weed (optional)
Rinse and pat dry 2 lbs of salmon fillets and place in a glass dish skin- side down. Mix 1 tablespoon of kosher salt (reserve 1 teaspoon) with the remaining ingredients together and sprinkle over the fillets. I gently push the cure into the fillets, cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.
Indirect Smoking Supplies
charcoal
square foil pan
water
3 to 4 cups wood chips (apple, cherry, hickory, etc)
The next day, a couple hours before you want to smoke the fish, you soak the wood chips in water. A half-hour before you are ready to cook; prepare the grill (or smoker). Take the grate off and place a double-layer of charcoal on one side of the grill and light. Let them burn until they are gray on the outside and red-hot on the inside.
When the charcoal is ready, sprinkle 1/2 of the soaked wood chips on the hot coals (it will smoke). On the other side of the grill, place the foil pan and add one cup of water. Place the grill grate back over the coals and pan.
Scrape most of the dry cure off the fillets and sprinkle with the reserved teaspoon of salt. Place the salmon skin-side down on the grill over the foil pan with water. Open the top and bottom vents on the grill and cover with lid. Smoke for 10 minutes.
Take the grill grate off again and add the remaining soaked wood chips on the coals. Cover again with grate and cook until the fillets are firm to the touch and barely cooked; approximately 5 to 10 minutes more. Be certain to check firmness often because if you overcook it the salmon will be dry.
Place on a plate and cover immediately with foil. Allow to rest for ten minutes. Remove foil and discard skin. It’s ready to eat hot or use it when it’s cooled down in the salmon spread recipe above.
I have more than smoked fish recipes, please check out my favorite fish recipes below.