Cold Smoked Salmon

This Cold Smoked Salmon recipe uses salt, smoke, and time to transform a fresh fillet of salmon into a buttery, melt in your mouth treat infused with a rich smoky flavour. Enjoy this smoked fish thinly sliced on bagels with cream cheese, in a salad, in an omelette, or on a brunch board.

If you love smoked fish, you are my people! Homemade smoked salmon and cream cheese on a freshly baked bagel is one of life’s pure pleasures. Try it in place of ham on Eggs Benedict or on an open faced sandwich with crispy lettuce, pickled red onions, aioli, and capers.

Cold Smoked Salmon

My mouth is watering while I’m writing this post and I hope as you read, yours will too! One taste of the slightly sweet, salty, and smoky fish and I know you’ll be hooked. However, it isn’t just about the flavour… the silky smooth, almost buttery texture brings pure joy.

Before smoking salmon, it’s a good idea to do some research before you begin. In this recipe, there are several steps that are the key to achieving the perfect taste and texture. These include 1) curing the salmon before 2) smoking it at a low temperature.

My family has been cold smoking fish for decades and there’s no aroma that brings me back home more than wood smoke mingled with fish. We have two preferred methods, each of which results in delicately smoked fish with slightly different textures.

For a light and flaky texture, brine the fish in a wet brine featuring salt, brown sugar, and pickling spices before smoking it. However, in this recipe we use a dry brine featuring salt and brown sugar without the pickling spices. This method creates a buttery, melt-in-your mouth slightly chewier texture.

If you’re curious, I highly recommend buying two fillets and trying both recipes.

Cold Smoked Salmon keeps very well in the fridge or freezer. I recommend using a vacuum seal to store the fish whole or pre-sliced for either method. The fish will keep for a week at fridge temperature or for 3 months when frozen. If you love smoky flavour, you can also try making smoked cream cheese for double the flavour!

How to Choose Salmon for Smoking

Choosing the right salmon is the most critical step in cold smoking. Because the fish isn’t “cooked” by heat, you are relying entirely on the quality of the raw product and the salt cure for both flavour and safety.

Let’s talk safety first. Unlike hot smoking, cold smoking doesn’t reach temperatures high enough to kill parasites. To ensure your salmon is safe to eat “raw” buy “Sushi-Grade” or “Sashimi-Grade” salmon. These terms indicate the fish has been professionally flash-frozen to at least -20°C (-4°F) for 7 days (or -35°C / -31°F for 15 hours) to eliminate parasites.

Flavour wise, the higher the fat content, the easier it is for the smoke particles to adhere to the fish. Choosing high fat species like King (Chinook) Salmon, farmed Atlantic Salmon, or Coho Salmon will yield best results.

When choosing salmon for smoking, look for distinct, tight white lines of fat (marbling) and avoid fillets where the muscle flakes are already starting to separate or “gape.” This is a sign of rough handling or age.

Next, give it a poke. If the flesh is firm and bounces back immediately, it is fresh. Finally, employ the sniff test. The fish should smell lightly of the ocean, if it is overly fishy or smells like ammonia, it’s a no go.

Ingredients for Cold Smoked Salmon

For this recipe, you will need a large ceramic or glass dish (for curing), paper towels, plastic wrap (or vacuum sealer and bags), smoke tube or pellet tray for the barbecue, wood pellets, ice, fridge space, and a smoker or a grill.

• Salmon Fillet
• Kosher salt
• Brown Sugar
• Black Pepper

The dry brine consists of three simple ingredients. Coarse Kosher salt, coarsely ground black pepper, and brown sugar. For best flavour results, choose either cherry, alder, or maple wood pellets for smoking the fish.

How to Cold Smoke Salmon

Cure the Salmon

To begin, mix the salt, brown sugar, and pepper together in a bowl. Next, sprinkle a bit of the curing mixture into the bottom of a ceramic or glass dish. Lay the salmon fillet skin-side down on top, then press the remaining cure mixture over the top and sides of the fillet.

Place the dish uncovered in the fridge for 12–18 hours. Make sure nothing is touching the top of the fish to allow airflow. This step draws out moisture from the salmon. After 12–18 hours, you should see an excess of fluid from the fish. Rinse the salmon gently under cold water and pat it completely dry with paper towels.

Clean the dish, then place the salmon back in it, uncovered, and return it to the fridge for another 12 hours to develop a tacky/hard surface (called a pellicle). This helps the smoke stick.

Smoke the Salmon

Set up the smoker or grill with a smoke tube filled with wood pellets. Light it, and place a tray of ice nearby to keep the temperature below 90°F.

Place the cured salmon on the opposite side of the grill and cold smoke for 3 hours. Keep a close eye on the temperature and refill ice as needed.

Once smoked, wrap the salmon tightly in plastic wrap or vacuum seal it, then refrigerate for at least 24 hours (ideally 48–72 hours) to deepen the flavour and firm up the texture.

Use a sharp knife to thinly slice the salmon and serve smoked salmon cold.

Recipe Tips and Tricks

• Use the freshest salmon possible: For safety and best results, choose sashimi-grade or very fresh salmon, especially if you plan to serve this to pregnant women, children, or immunocompromised individuals. For added peace of mind, you can freeze the salmon before curing. The FDA recommends freezing at -4°F (-20°C) for 7 days to eliminate any potential parasites.
• Don’t skip the pellicle stage: It allows the smoke to “stick” properly and gives the finished salmon that nice glossy sheen.
• Slicing: Use a very sharp, flexible knife to slice your cold smoked salmon as thinly as possible. Cutting on a shallow diagonal helps create those lovely ribbons.

Storage Instructions

Refrigerator: Once smoked and rested, store your salmon in an airtight container or vacuum-sealed bag. It will keep well in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Freezer: Cold smoked salmon freezes very well. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, followed by a layer of foil or a zip-top freezer bag. Label and freeze for up to 3 months. To serve, let it defrost slowly in the refrigerator overnight—avoid thawing at room temperature to preserve the texture and flavour.

Hi! I’m Bernice Hill, the heart and soul behind Dish ‘n’ the Kitchen. It is my pleasure to share easy to follow recipes that are delicious, nutritious, and approachable for the whole family.

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