Hot Smoked Sockeye Salmon

We are big fans of salmon in this house, and were even before I went on the keto diet.

Usually I’ll just do a simple marinade - if anything - brush with a bit of sesame oil, and top with some sesame seeds and/or brown sugar substitute. Bake it in the oven for a bit - perfection!

We’ve gotten back into smoking lately, and with that ... obviously we had to try hot smoking salmon.

Here’s the thing - what people generally think of when they think of “smoked salmon” is a cold smoke salmon. You know, the thin slices, usually accompanied by cream cheese?

It’s a cured salmon product with the smoke flavor imparted through a cold smoking process - smoked without actually cooking it.

Cold smoking salmon gives it a texture more like sushi - raw salmon - than anything you’d take out of your oven.

What we were looking for was all of that smoky flavor, but as meal sized portions of cooked salmon - so hot smoking it was!

This easy smoked salmon recipe doesn’t take a long time to make - most of the time involved is from the brining, so just waiting a few hours for THAT magic to happen.

It’s definitely worth the wait - this is the best smoked salmon we’ve ever had! Definitely a staple in our house, and I bet it’ll become a favourite in yours!

About the Nutrition Info

The fat content of salmon not only makes it fantastic for smoking, it makes it an ideal protein for those on the keto diet, like me.

As written and photographed, I used a brown sugar substitute, but you can definitely use actual brown sugar if the carbs aren’t a concern for you. You can use it 1:1 for the amount I use in the recipe.

For those who ARE tracking carbs, a bit more info:

When reading the nutritional information, know that 11.5 Grams of the stated carbs per serving come from sugar alcohols, so the recipe is actually 4.5 grams of net carbs - sort of!

The recipe software takes all of the ingredients into account, which gets a bit weird when it comes to a brine.

While the fish absorbs some of the brine, it doesn't absorb, say, every last carb involved with the whole lemon that is factored into the nutritional info!

Ingredients

Fresh Salmon

You’re investing a bit of time and effort into this, so you’ll want to start out with the best salmon you can.

We generally use sockeye salmon, Atlantic salmon, Chinook salmon, or Alaskan salmon - all good choices, and these ones tend to be the most readily available to us. Coho salmon is another option.

We lean towards using wild salmon when we can, but really... any good salmon will work!

I usually buy a good sized salmon fillet, and cut it into individual pieces myself. We like having the control over the portion sizing.

I prefer to use thicker fillets, so I don’t buy an entire fillet of salmon - the end is too small to bother with!

We buy our salmon boneless whenever possible, as neither of us like messing around with removing the pin bones.

Finally, smoking salmon works best if the salmon skin has been removed. I’ll generally cut it off myself, but I’m used to that.

If you’re not, it can be worth investing the extra dollar or two to have your fishmonger do it for you.

The Brine

Rather than dry brining, I like to make a wet brine for my smoked salmon. I find that wet brine gives the best results for texture, so I prefer that to dry brine... but YMMV.

Super easy to make, this smoked salmon brine helps the fish retain moisture through the smoking process, and also brings flavour and a little sweetness to it.

You will need:

Kosher salt
Brown Swerve (or brown sugar if not keto)
Black Pepper corns
Garlic cloves
Bay Leaves
1 Lemon

That said, you can definitely tweak this to your preferences. Add a sliced red onion, maybe some garlic powder or crushed red pepper flakes. Some people like a splash of soy sauce, and maple syrup is fantastic with salmon - for those not avoiding carbs!

Just try and keep the salt to liquid ratio consistent with the recipe. You can add a bit more sweetness or salt if you like, but I wouldn’t go any less on either of them.

Smoked Salmon Brine Recipe

This is a quick step by step guide to the brining process, with pictures - see the bottom of the post for the full recipe card!

Measure 2 cups of water into a medium pot, add remaining ingredients (aside from rest of water & salmon!), stir to combine.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat, add remaining cold water, stir to combine.

Allow to cool to room temperature - warm water will start to cook the salmon, you don’t want that.

Using a sharp knife, carefully remove the skin from the salmon - if it hasn’t already been removed - and cut the salmon into individual portions.

Place salmon pieces into a large freezer bag, cover with brine.

Push out most of the air, seal the bag, and put in the fridge for 4 hours.

While you CAN go for a shorter time, I find that 4 hours is enough time for the salt mixture to fully penetrate the meat.

Note: I put the bag into a loaf pan, just in case of leakage, etc.

Once the 4 hours are up, remove the salmon from the brine, pat dry with paper towels.

Place salmon on a plate or small baking sheet / sheet pan, return to the fridge - uncovered - for 2 hours.

This allows the surface of the salmon to develop a bit of a pellicle. This is a thin “skin” that forms. This helps the smoke flavour “stick” to the surface of the fish, and locks in the moisture.

Hot Smoking Salmon

Equipment

For best results, you’re going to want a smoker that allows you to have a lot of control over the heat. For best results, you want to maintain a low temperature - 200 degrees F.

Low heat allows you the time for the smoke flavour to develop, without overcooking the fish the way a higher temperature would.

It’s the best way to ensure a good texture!

So, as long as your smoker allows you to maintain that lower temperature, the actual type of smoker doesn’t matter. Electric Smoker, a Pellet Smoker / Pellet Grill / Traeger Smoker, a Charcoal Smoker, even a Big Green Egg - whatever works for you!

Ours is a Propane Smoker.

All smokers are going to be slightly different in terms of how they operate, so I recommend reading any included directions, if you’re not already familiar with your smoker and setting up the smoke box.

Wood Chips

For this recipe, I like to use a mildly flavored hardwood chips, as those are usually the best wood types to use when you want the flavour of a meat - or brine - to come through.

Usually we’ll use a fruit wood - Apple Wood Chips or Apple Wood Pellets , Cherry Wood Chips - or Cherry Wood Pellets , usually - sometimes we’ll use the Jack Daniel's Bourbon Barrel Wood Chips .

That said, you can use any kind of wood chips / wood pellets you like.

See my Crispy Smoked Chicken Wings post for a ton of information on the various varieties of wood types, and the kinds of flavours / intensities of smoke that they impart.

Technique

Preheat your smoker to 200 F, fill your smoker’s water pan with hot water. Get your smoker going and the smoke... stabilized? Is there a better term for that?

You don’t want to put the salmon in during the initial strong white smoke, you want the lower intensity, almost wispy smoke for this.

Heavy white smoke tends to cause a lot of soot, in our experience.

Sooty fish is not tasty fish!

Generously oil your smoker rack(s), arrange your salmon pieces on the racks, leaving space between each. I like to put the (formerly!) skin side down.

If you’d like, you can sprinkle a little extra brown sugar substitute / brown sugar on the top of the salmon pieces. (We didn’t, this time).

If you have any known hot spots - for ours, it’s the very back of the smoker - avoid placing salmon in that area.

Smoke at 200 degrees F (or thereabouts!) for an 1 - 1 ½ hours, until it reaches the desired texture / smoke level.

You’ll want the internal temperature of the salmon - measured with a meat thermometer - to reach 145 F.

Note: Cook time will vary wildly based on the size of the salmon pieces (thinner fillets will cook faster, thicker will take longer), and the consistency of the heat in the smoker.

Remove salmon from the smoker.

Serve hot, or cool and chill in an airtight container - or on a plate, covered with plastic wrap - until use.

More Low Carb Fish & Seafood Recipes

Looking for more low carb or keto fish recipes? I’ve got you covered!

Keto Spicy Salmon Poke Bowl
Low Carb Keto Chirashi Bowl
Keto Paella
Tuna Poke Bowl
Fajita Chicken Kebabs
Grilled Cilantro Lime Shrimp
Keto Clam Chowder
Salmon Crudo
Low Carb Shrimp Curry
Keto Crab Cakes
Keto Fish Cakes & Tartar Sauce
Pesto Shrimp Palmini
Keto Jambalaya
Low Carb Spinach Feta Salmon Pinwheels
Keto Sushi
Seared Scallops with Dijon Wine Sauce
Keto Coconut Shrimp
Keto Cod au Gratin
Baked Sesame Ginger Salmon [Keto]

... But wait, there’s more! Check out my Keto Seafood Recipes section for even more low carb seafood recipes!

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