Quick & Easy Homemade Hot Smoked Salmon

The easiest and fastest way, incredibly delicious! Hot smoked pink salmon can be prepared at home by having a smokehouse on hand. Homemade will also do. I personally have never seen a faster recipe — the fish will be ready in literally 40 minutes!
cook time: 1h
Miles Denholm
Quick & Easy Homemade Hot Smoked Salmon

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

142
Calories
7g
Fat
21g
Protein

Ingredients (3 portions)

Basic:

Salt to taste
Pink salmon 1 kg

Recipe instructions

Step 1

Step 1
How to smoke pink salmon at home? Prepare all the necessary ingredients. If possible, take pink salmon chilled. But frozen will do, just defrost it correctly (read about defrosting methods below). We will also need wood chips for smoking: they are sold, but you can make them yourself — just use the bark of birch or any other tree. And, of course, you must have a hot smoker, purchased or homemade.

Step 2

Step 2
Soak the wood chips in water for at least 30-40 minutes.

Step 3

Step 3
Then drain the water and squeeze the wood chips well.

Step 4

Step 4
Gut the fish, be sure to remove the gills: they add bitterness to the finished product. Wash the fish and dry it.

Step 5

Step 5
I use this smoker with a removable lid.

Step 6

Step 6
Remove the grate from the smoker and place hot coals on the bottom. Or you can heat them directly in the smokehouse.

Step 7

Step 7
Place thick foil on top of the coals. Pink salmon is a fairly fatty fish, fat will definitely drip from it, and the fire can flare up hotter than we need. We only need smoke, not fire.

Step 8

Step 8
Place the wet wood chips that we soaked around the foil on the coals and wait for it to start smoking.

Step 9

Step 9
Once this happens, return the grate to its place. And place the gutted fish on top of it. For me it’s pink salmon, but you can smoke absolutely any fish this way.

Step 10

Step 10
Cover the smoker with a lid, leaving the hole open to allow smoke to escape.

Step 11

Step 11
After about 20 minutes, turn the fish over to the other side. Pink salmon cooks quite quickly — 20 minutes on the other side will be enough. I can’t say anything about other fish — check the readiness yourself. It directly depends on the size of the fish and its density.

Step 12

Step 12
Serve smoked fish immediately hot or chilled. This fish can be stored in the refrigerator for about a week. Bon appetit!

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