How to Smoke Kokanee Salmon Like a Pro

Kokanee salmon also known as kokanee trout or inland sockeye salmon is a landlocked form of sockeye salmon found in lakes across western North America. Kokanee is renowned for its bright orange-red flesh and rich, flavorful taste. When properly smoked, kokanee salmon takes on an even deeper, smokier flavor that is absolutely delicious.

If you are an avid fisherman lucky enough to have caught your limit of kokanee you may be wondering what is the best way to smoke it. Smoking fish allows you to enjoy the taste of fresh kokanee year-round, while also preserving your catch. With the right techniques smoking kokanee at home is easy, fun and yields incredibly tasty results.

In this comprehensive guide, we will cover everything you need to know about how to smoke kokanee salmon, including:

• Benefits of Smoking Kokanee Salmon
• Equipment Needed
• Prepping the Fish
• Making the Brine
• Hot Smoking vs Cold Smoking
• Step-By-Step Smoking Instructions
• Storage and Serving Tips

By the end of this guide, you’ll be a kokanee smoking pro ready to create delicious smoked salmon from the comfort of your own home. So let’s get started!

Benefits of Smoking Kokanee Salmon

There are many great reasons to smoke your freshly caught kokanee salmon, including:

Flavor Improvement—Smoking salmon gives it a wonderful, smoky, robust flavor that you can’t get any other way. The fish takes in the smoke’s aromatic compounds, which give the food a lot of flavor.

Preservation – Smoking cooks the fish while also drawing moisture out. This helps preserve the salmon by inhibiting bacteria growth. Properly smoked kokanee salmon can last up to a month refrigerated.

Versatility – Smoked kokanee is delicious in so many ways. Enjoy it on its own, in dips, on salads, in pasta, on pizza and more. It also makes a great appetizer.

Make Use of Your Catch – If you’ve had a successful kokanee fishing trip, smoking allows you to fully utilize your catch so none goes to waste.

Why do it yourself: There’s nothing better than smoking your own salmon and eating the results of your hard work. It’s deeply satisfying!.

Equipment You’ll Need

Smoking salmon is a fairly straightforward process, but you will need some specialized equipment:

• Smoker – This is obviously essential. You’ll need either an electric or charcoal smoker. We recommend electric for easy, set-it-and-forget it smoking.

• Smoking Wood Chips – Wood choices like alder, apple, cherry, maple and hickory work very well. They each impart a slightly different flavor.

• Brining Container – A large plastic or glass container is needed to brine the salmon. A 5 quart container or large Ziploc bag works well.

• Meat Thermometer – This allows you to monitor the internal temp of the fish to ensure it’s fully smoked.

• Cooling Racks – Once smoked, you’ll need a rack to allow the fish to cool while maintaining its shape.

• Knives & Cutting Board – For prepping the raw salmon.

• Ingredients for Brine – See brine ingredients below.

That covers the basic gear you’ll need. Optionally, you may also want to use cedar smoking plank, which can impart a lovely flavor. Now let’s get those salmon prepped for brining and smoking!

Prepping the Fish

Before the fish can be smoked, it’s important to prep the salmon properly:

• Fillet – First, fillet the salmon into nice, evenly-sized strips of boneless meat. Cut away any bloody spots.

• Rinse – Rinse the fillets under cold water and pat dry with paper towels.

• Remove Pinbones – Use pliers or tweezers to remove any tiny pinbones for a boneless fillet.

• Slice – For smoking, it helps to cut the fillets into thinner strips, about 1 inch wide.

• Skin On or Off – We recommend smoking with the skin on to retain moisture, then removing skin before eating.

Once prepped, it’s time to make the brine that will give our salmon great flavor.

Making the Brine

Before smoking, the salmon needs to be brined or cured. This helps flavor the fish while also drawing out moisture to aid in preservation. Here is an easy brine recipe:

• 1 gallon water
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf

Combine all brine ingredients in a container and stir until salt and sugar fully dissolve. Submerge salmon strips into the brine, cover and refrigerate for 6-12 hours. For more flavor, brine up to 24 hours.

Hot Smoking vs Cold Smoking

There are two main techniques for smoking salmon – hot smoking and cold smoking:

Hot Smoking

• Smokes at higher temp, usually 200-250°F
• Cooks the fish completely
• Yields fully cooked, ready to eat salmon
• Takes less time, usually 2-4 hours

Cold Smoking

• Smokes at lower temp, 60-90°F
• Fish is not fully cooked
• Yields raw salmon that must be cooked before eating
• Takes much longer, up to 24 hours

For beginners, we recommend using the hot smoking method. It’s faster, easier and produces safe, delicious smoked salmon ready to enjoy right away. Cold smoking is more advanced.

Step-By-Step Smoking Instructions

Ready to fire up your smoker? Follow these steps for perfectly smoked kokanee salmon.

1. Remove Salmon from Brine

After brining, rinse the salmon fillets under cold water to remove excess brining liquid and pat dry.

2. Prepare the Smoker

If using electric, preheat to 200-225°F. For charcoal, prep your smoker as needed to reach this temp range.

Add your choice of wood chips – we recommend apple, alder or cherry wood. Follow your smoker instructions for loading chips.

3. Load the Salmon

Place salmon skin-side down onto smoker racks. Make sure fillets aren’t overlapping.

If desired, you can also place fillets on top of a cedar plank for additional flavor.

4. Smoke the Salmon

Close the smoker and allow salmon to smoke for approximately 2-4 hours. This will vary based on your smoker temp and thickness of fillets.

Maintain a constant temperature around 225°F. Add more wood chips as needed to continue smoking.

5. Monitor Temperature

Use a food thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the thickest part of the salmon.

When it reaches 145°F, the salmon is fully cooked and ready!

6. Rest and Cool

Remove salmon from the smoker and allow to rest 10 minutes before handling.

Transfer to a cooling rack and cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.

Once cooled, the smoked salmon is ready to enjoy!

Storage and Serving Tips

Smoked salmon tastes amazing when fresh, but also stores well in the fridge or freezer. Here are some storage tips:

• Store smoked salmon in an airtight container up to 2 weeks refrigerated.

• For longer storage, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and freezer for up to 2 months.

• Thaw frozen salmon overnight in the fridge before serving.

• Flake off and discard the salmon skin before eating.

• Serve smoked salmon on crackers or bagels with cream cheese, in omelets or baked into casseroles.

• Use in pasta, salads, pizza and more for amazing flavor in any dish!