Stove top smoked salmon at home? Really? I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to tackle that project when I saw a recipe at Williams-Sonoma. I figured they were trying to sell me a $200 smoker (for the low, low price of $100). I’ll admit a bright-shiny stove top smoked salmon device sounds like fun, but honestly I avoid gadgets that do one thing and one thing only – even if they do that one thing really well. Yes there are exceptions, so don’t gripe at me. I have an ice cream maker, but I figure it makes ice cream and sorbet. Though I can see how you might think I’m threading the needle with the wrong color thread (or whatever).
However I was pleasantly surprised that williams-sonoma.com dedicated valuable content space explaining how to improvise a contraption from items you already have around the house. Things like a cast iron pan and a metal rack. You could also use use 2 multi-purpose baking pans sealed with aluminum foil I read. Though I found my salmon fillets to be too thick to follow this procedure.
I’ll admit that I improvised their improvisation a bit to suit my needs and I purchased specialized hardwood chips. I doubt the wood chips in my garden were intended for anything other than mulch. Don’t ah-ha! me. For your information I not only use the wood chips to retain soil moisture, but I throw them at squirrels too.
Stove Top Smoked Salmon
I found the whole project much more straightforward than I expected. The results were luscious and delicious too. Of course if you’re particularly persnickety or very, very lazy you can go ahead and purchase the specialized pan because making stove top smoked salmon will very likely scorch your pan (even when it’s lined with foil). Not permanently, but it will take a certain amount of elbow grease to get it clean again. This matters less with a well-used, well-loved, well-cured cast iron pan than it does a baking pan or a stainless skillet, but the clean up will be no small task in any case.
The other caveat is this: Start your exhaust fan and open a window (or two or three) because things get smoky. I had to take the battery out of the smoke alarm because it thought that my stove top smoked salmon project was a very bad idea. GREG
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper (divided)
- ½ teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 ½ — 2 pound center cut salmon fillet (skin on, pin bones removed)
Directions
Season the salmon: In a small bowl, combine the sugar, salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Place the salmon on a plate and spread the seasonings over the flesh of the fillet, applying them more heavily on the thickest parts. Cover and refrigerate 2 to 4 hours. Bring to room temperature before continuing.
Set up the smoking pan: Choose a deep cast-iron or stainless-steel fry pan sized to hold on wire rack can that it rest on the rim of the pan. Cut a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil 18 inches wide and 3 times as long as the width or diameter of the rack. Center the foil in the pan and press it against the surface. Sprinkle a large handful of fine hardwood smoking chips in the middle of the pan and set the rack on top.
Rinse the fillet and pat dry. Cut the fillet into 4 equal portions and place on rack without touching, skin side down. Sprinkle evenly with brown sugar and remaining black pepper. Bring the edges of the foil up and crimp together to form a tent over the fillets, allowing some room above the fillets for the smoke to circulate and leaving a very small vent at the top.
Smoke the salmon: Turn on the stove exhaust fan and open some windows. Heat the pan over medium-high heat until smoke begins to emerge from the vent. Reduce heat to medium-low, crimp vent closed and cook the salmon for 10–12 minutes. Open the foil to check for doneness; the salmon should be opaque throughout. If necessary, reseal and continue to cook until done. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Smoked Salmon Salad with Pineapple, Chard and Chili-Coriander Sauce
Print This Recipe Yield 6–8Source Adapted from the Lemonade CookbookPublished
Ingredients
- ½ cup fresh lightly packed cilantro sprigs cilantri sprigs
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoon Sambal Oelek chili paste
- 1 clove garlic (peeled and minced)
- 1 teaspoon peeled and minced fresh ginger
- 1 green onion (whites and greens, sliced)
- ½ teaspoon coriander seeds
- ¼ cup canola oil (or other light flavored oil)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 — 1 ½ pound smoked salmon (skin removed and torn into bite size pieces)
- 1 bunch Swiss chard (stems removed and leaves cut crosswise into bite size strips)
- 1 cup diced fresh pineapple
- ½ cup toasted cashews (roughly chopped)
- ½ cup lightly packed cwhole cilantro leaves
Directions
Make the chili-coriander sauce: In blender combine cilantro, mirin, vinegar, chili paste, garlic, ginger, green onion, coriander seeds, oil, salt and pepper. Process on high speed for at least 1 minute, scraping the sides as needed, until the seeds are well ground. Pour into a small jar. Set aside, covered and refrigerated, up to 5 days.
In a large bowl toss the salmon, chard, pineapple, together with about ½ cup of the chili-coriander sauce (or to taste). Spread the mixture out onto a serving plate. Garnish with cashews and whole cilantro leaves. Serve immediately.
Great post, Greg. Stumbled and shared it. Have a great weekend, dude!
Yours is the second post in a month to convince me that I should have a stovetop smoker. So, alright, I will get one. Because I want my salmon to look like yours.
This salad sounds delicious. I just may purchase the smoked salmon at the deli, though. I’m intrigued by the inclusion of pineapple and sambal oelek.
We have been home smoking for years and to be honest, I cannot recall what got us started. We do it on the BBQ, far less smoky inside plus I feel I have more control over how much heat I wish to add into the BBQ (or no heat at all and just use the smoke). I actually purchased a contraption from a US family company called Smoke Daddy 8″ cold smoker which comes with an external smoker housing and a pump to push the smoke through quickly. Most BBQs have existing holes for various attachments, we simply threaded the smoker tube through one of these existing holes. JT finds the pump a little redundant because he can get the smoker pushing a ridiculous amount of smoke into the BBQ without it, so now the pump sits gathering dust. To be honest, you could probably jimmy-rig the entire thing to work just as well for less than a hundred. If you’re interested, I can take pictures and email them to you, the assembly is quite simple. I like this method because I can smoke a whole wild pacific salmon at once (cold, or a bit of cold and hot) and it keeps the smoke out of the house!
The swiss chard recipe sounds delicious. I love that you took it toward the Asian flavours, it must have been delicious with the smoked salmon! And the colour is spectacular!
I really resist single-function gadgets too. Unless it’s something I use all the time — like an electric kettle, for example. So I’ve never gotten into stove-top smoking because, well, I always thought I needed a stove-top smoker! Definitely have to improvise something so I can try this — your salmon looks gorgeous! And we love growing Swiss chard in our garden. And yes, we use our mulch to throw at squirrels too! And rabbits. 🙂
Sometimes improvised improvisations are the best improvisations, like yours for Stove Top Smoked Salmon. Truly genius and your salad looks divine! The perfect salad to cure the winter blues, for sure. Thank you for sharing, Sir Greg!
The smoke alarm gets me every time! This however looks like it is worth it!
This looks good! I’ve been meaning to try this method since I purchased an outdoor burner. My indoor ventilation is horrible 😛
I wanted to smoke salmon on the stovetop, but my hubs vetoed the idea!
This is gorgeous. We had dinner guests last night and served salmon baked in the oven.
It’s my fav, wild sockeye, but it ended up too dry.
Wish I had overwritten the veto and smoked it!
Your salad sounds terrific and I’m definitely going to make it. There is a “but” though, I think I’ll smoke the salmon outside on the grill. 😀
Your salmon is cooked to perfection! I eat a lot of salmon for lunch, but I usually take the lazy way out and buy it smoked or roasted. I’m going to try your set up and do my own very soon!!! Thanks!
What a terrific idea! I never even considered smoking indoors as an option. Your salad sounds divine!
We smoked salmon in culinary school and I loved it. I have seen smoking pans for around $50 at Bed, Bath & Beyond but I must have been distracted by all of the other gadgets in the store as I still don’t own one. 🙂 This recipe makes me motivated again.
Wow, that is impressive indeed, I never would have thought stovetop smoking was even possible! I actually disable our smoke alarm quite frequently, it gets cranky when I’m searing steaks or even just make stir fries…I’ll need to give this a try! P.S.: Thanks for the warning about the cleanup, always better to know what you’re getting yourself into. 🙂
Most impressive! I doubt I would ever have the energy to try this but the results look and sound pretty wonderful.
I love the idea of smoking my own salmon but I’m thinking about doing it outside because I can’t stand the lingering smell of smoke.