Smoked salmon is one of the most delicious cured fish around. With its characteristic salty, smoky flavor and beautiful orange-red color, this smoked delicacy is a treat on your table. But where should you go when a smoked salmon craving hits? Here are the best places to get your hands on quality smoked salmon.
Buying Smoked Salmon
One of the easiest ways to get smoked salmon is to simply buy it pre-made from a grocery store or specialty fish market. Here are some good places to find high-quality, pre-smoked salmon cuts:
Grocery Stores
In the seafood section of many large grocery stores, you can find vacuum-sealed packages of sliced smoked salmon. A lot of big grocery stores, like Kroger, Safeway, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s, carry smoked salmon from brands like Ocean Beauty and Trident. You want salmon that has been cured with salt and sugar, not a bunch of strange ingredients.
Fish Markets
Local fish markets and seafood specialty stores offer in-house smoked salmon varieties that are extremely fresh. Many smoke their salmon daily right on the premises. Popular chains like Whole Foods and Bristol Farms have excellent in-house smoked salmon but local fish shops are often best.
Online Mail Order
For premium quality smoked salmon delivered right to your door, check out online specialty suppliers like Honey Smoked Fish Co, Acme Smoked Fish, Ducktrap River Fish Farm, and Pure Food Fish Market Mail order gives access to small-batch producers from Alaska to Maine. Prices are higher but so is the quality.
Costco or Sam’s Club
For smoked salmon at wholesale club prices, Costco and Sam’s Club both regularly stock large vacuum-sealed packs of quality smoked salmon slices. Kirkland and Member’s Mark are their respectable house brands of smoked salmon worth trying.
Making DIY Smoked Salmon
Do you want to try smoking salmon at home? Homemade hot-smoked salmon can be very tasty if you prepare it a little and use the right tools. Here’s what you’ll need:
Curing Ingredients
A basic dry cure of brown sugar, salt, and black pepper is ideal for salmon. A wet brine also works. The cure firms the flesh and boosts flavor.
Smoker
You will need a smoker of some kind, like an electric smoker, a charcoal smoker, a pellet grill, or even a kettle grill set up for low-level smoking with wood chips. It’s easy to smoke salmon at home with pellet grills like Traeger.
Wood Chips/Pellets
Flavored wood chips or pellets provide the smoky flavor. Alder or apple wood work very well with salmon. Quality wood pellets designed for smoking give the best results.
Whole Salmon Side
Buy a fresh, skin-on salmon side from a trusted fish market or grocery store seafood counter. Wild-caught Pacific salmon like sockeye is best.
Digital Thermometer
A leave-in digital meat thermometer allows you to easily monitor the internal temp of the salmon as it smokes. Remove from heat at 145°F.
Once you have the essentials covered, smoking salmon at home is a very straightforward process. Simply cure the salmon, let it form a pellicle overnight, and then hot smoke at 225°F for 2-4 hours until the internal temp hits 145°F. Let rest, then slice and enjoy!
Top Brands of Smoked Salmon
Want to buy your smoked salmon instead of making your own? Here are some of the top smoked salmon brands available at many grocery stores and fish markets:
- Trident
- Ducktrap
- Acme Smoked Fish
- Marine Harvest
- Nordic Smokehouse
- Old Soul
- Ugly Fish
- Whole Foods Market
- Bristol Farms
- Publix
- Costco/Kirkland
- Safeway
- Wegmans
Within these major brands, there is a wide variety of smoked salmon options from traditional Nova Scotia lox, to peppered, garlic, maple glazed, and other unique flavors. Trident, Ducktrap, Marine Harvest, and Acme are consistently solid choices for quality and value.
Where to Buy Smoked Salmon in Grocery Stores
Most larger grocery stores carry at least a couple options for high-quality pre-smoked salmon. Here are the sections to browse when smoked salmon shopping at popular chains:
-
Kroger – Refrigerated seafood case. Private Selection is their premium house brand.
-
Safeway – Seafood department refrigerated cases. O Organics line recommended.
-
Whole Foods – Seafood department counters and refrigerated cases. 365 Everyday Value brand.
-
Trader Joe’s – Refrigerated seafood section. Look for their house brand.
-
Wegmans – Seafood and prepared foods sections. Check Wegmans house brand.
-
Publix – Fresh seafood refrigerated cases. Their house Publix brand is very good.
-
Albertsons – Refrigerated seafood counters and prepared deli. Wild Harvest is a good house line.
Again, smaller specialty seafood markets and fishmongers will offer the greatest variety, freshness, and quality. But for quick, satisfying smoked salmon, major grocery stores have you covered in their seafood sections.
4 ounce and 8 ounce available
The Nova style smoked salmon in our Traditional Smoked Salmon Retail Packs comes in 4 and 8 ounce portions that are easy to carry.
This cold-smoked salmon is delicious and one of our most popular with chefs. It’s made with just seaweed, salt, and sugar. These small batches are cold-smoked for 6 hours over apple and hickory wood by our smokemaster. The cured taste and texture are like fresh sashimi. Along with our high-quality ingredients, the cold smoke process is what gives our food its great taste, texture, and color. Cold smoking refers to a lower temperature and longer smoke. Youll find that this process creates a well-balanced, luscious, and bright smoked salmon. We ship frozen to preserve the natural fresh flavor.
All orders are shipped via UPS Next Day Air. If a future delivery date is chosen, your order will ship the day before the selected date. If an order is placed after cutoff (2pm ET), your order will ship the next available shipping day. For example, orders placed after 2pm ET on Thursday will ship on the following Monday for Tuesday delivery. Our shipping department is closed Friday-Sunday. We do not offer Saturday or Monday delivery.
Please see our Shipping FAQ for more info here.
This is How I get PERFECT Smoked Salmon EVERY Time
FAQ
Can you buy smoked salmon at the grocery store?
What is considered the best smoked salmon?
Is supermarket smoked salmon healthy?
How do you buy good smoked salmon?
Where to buy smoked salmon?
Unfortunately, what you gain in convenience is lost in quality. While store-bought options are fine in a pinch, the best place to buy smoked salmon is online. Customers who purchase fish directly from independent producers and sellers invest in a more transparent product.
Is smoked salmon safe for kidneys?
Smoked salmon is safe for the kidneys, as long as it does not exceed the renal load, that is, the amount of recommended daily protein.
Can you eat smoked salmon online?
Smoked salmon has limitless potential. You can eat it right out of the package or add it to any meal. But some types of smoked salmon are better suited to certain applications than others. This is one reason why we try to diversify our offerings when you buy our smoked salmon online.
What is the best smoked salmon?
Please fix it, Echo Falls. Aside from that, though, this is the best smoked salmon if you like firm, flaky, not-too-fishy hot smoked salmon. It has a wonderful sweet, smoked flavor that totally rocks, and there are big chunks of peppercorns on top to add some spice. Put this on a brunch board and let guests flake it onto bagels or crackers.