Cooking Salmon on the Smoker

Cooking salmon on my electric smoker is my favorite way to cook this great tasting fish. Smoked salmon is a great dinner to serve to your family or friends, but some people are sensitive to smoked meats. Well, this recipe takes this into account and offers a lighter way to smoke the salmon that leaves everyone wanting more.

I usually save my smoking recipes for a large gathering, so I stock up on fresh salmon the day before a cookout. There's no need to marinade the fish since the soft meat easily absorbs spices and flavors during the preparation and cooking phases.

One of the big questions I always face is "What type of salmon do I use?" Whether cooking this recipe on a smoker, grill, or oven, you should use skinless wild caught salmon. The reason is because of how the fish cooks and absorbs flavor throughout the meat.

Salmon with skin on half of the filet only gets its flavors from half of the surface area. The meat nearest the skin is usually more fishy in flavor. There are better recipes to cook skin-on salmon, so don't use salmon with skin on it for this recipe.

To tone down the smoke flavor which can be intense to some people, wrap the salmon loosely in foil so smoke will still penetrate, but won't directly touch the meat. This also helps keep the salmon moist and pushes the flavor deeper into the meat.

Don't worry about leftovers. Either it will all get eaten for dinner or the leftovers won't go to waste. The salmon tastes just as good reheated as it does right after it is smoked.

Enjoy this smoked salmon recipe with your family and friends.

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Cooking Salmon in the Smoker for Dinner

Ingredients:

Two (2) Four (4) Pound Wild Caught Skinless Salmon Filets
One (1) Tablespoon Lemon Pepper
One (1) Tablespoon Mrs. Dash Table Blend
One (1) Tablespoon Grill Mates Montreal Steak Marinade Pouch
One (1) Fresh Lemon
Two (2) Cups of Mesquite or Hickory Wood Chips

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Preparations for Smoked Salmon

Pour two cups of Mesquite or Hickory Wood Chips in a small bowl and soak in water for twenty (20) to thirty (30) minutes. Preheat the smoker to 220 degrees. At ten minutes during pre-heating, pour one cup of warm water in the drip tray.

Cut two long pieces of foil (at least 2 1/2 times longer than each salmon filet) and place them on two smoker racks. Place a salmon filet on each of the pieces of foil, centered on the rack.

Cut one lemon in half and generously squeeze over each side of the salmon filets so juice covers the entire cuts of meat. Mix the lemon pepper, Mrs. Dash, and Grill Mates together in a small bowl and sprinkle over the entire cut of salmon until spices are visible on every part of the meat.

Completely wrap the salmon in the remaining foil and loosely seal it so some smoke will enter the foil and reach the salmon.

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Smoking the Salmon

Add one handful of wood chips into the chip tray of your smoker. Open the smoker and place both prepared racks in the smoker. Shut the door and turn the smoker heat down to 187 degrees to start cooking salmon in the smoker. Temperature while the door was open should have lowered the temperature within the smoker to about this temperature.

Smoke the salmon for 2 hours, adding a handful of chips in every fifteen (15) to twenty (20) minutes for the first hour (for light smoke flavor) or for both hours for a heavier smoke flavor.

At the two hour point, remove the salmon but leave in foil until ready to serve.

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