If you arenât eating smoked salmon, it may be time to add it to your diet. Smoked salmon is packed with nutrients, vitamins, and omega-3 fatty acids, all of which will boost your health and lower your risk of cancer, heart disease, and cognitive decline.
Here’s the main difference: smoked salmon is cured and then smoked, whereas lox is only cured, typically in a salt brine and typically for longer periods of time, but not smoked. Smoked salmon is preserved with a combination of salting and smoking, so the flavor can be slightly salty and slightly smoky.
Cons of Smoked Salmon
Smoked salmon is high in sodium. A 100-gram serving has 672 milligrams of sodium. The same amount of fresh salmon has only 75 milligrams.
Eating too much sodium can significantly raise your risk of stroke and heart disease. According to the World Health Organization, you should try to limit your sodium intake to 2,000 milligrams per day. The American Heart Association suggests an even more modest limit of 1,500 milligrams per day.
Itâs especially important not to eat too much smoked salmon if you have a cardiovascular condition.
It may raise your risk of cancer. Too much smoked meat can put you at higher risk of certain cancers, such as colorectal cancer.
It may have harmful bacteria. If you have a weak immune system or a sensitive stomach, you might want to avoid eating too much smoked salmon. Cold-smoked salmon in particular may have the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, which can lead to listeriosis.
To avoid listeriosis, you can try hot-smoked salmon. Unlike cold-smoked salmon, which is smoked at 50 F to 90 F (10 C to 32 C) for about a day, hot-smoked salmon is processed at at least 145 F (63 C) for more than 30 minutes. This isnt hot enough to cook the salmon, but it is hot enough to kill bacteria, making it safer to eat.
I prefer to smoke salmon with its skin on, but I’ve done it with skinless pieces and it works fine.
How do you eat it? Well, you can just eat it plain, or you can flake it and make it into a smoked salmon salad, you can pound it with butter and make salmon rillettes, serve it in deviled eggs, tossed with pasta… you get the point.
There is no reason it would not work with chum salmon or any other char or trout species. And yes, it works with farmed Atlantic salmon, but I never eat the stuff.
When you are ready to start, you will need smallish pieces of salmon about 1/4 to 1/2 pound each. Any salmonid fish will work with this recipe. I’ve done it with king salmon, sockeye, coho, and pink salmon, dolly varden, plus kokanee, steelhead and Lahontan trout.
I smoke a lot of salmon, and I am proud of this recipe, although it would be the height of arrogance to say that what I do is the end-all, be-all of salmon smoking recipes. Lots of people smoke their salmon in lots of ways, and many of them are good. But I’ve been smoking fish for many years, and I’ve developed a system that works well.
How to Cure and Smoke Salmon | Mad Scientist BBQ
FAQ
Does salmon have to be cured before smoking?
Is smoked salmon cooked or cured?
Can you eat raw smoked salmon?
Can you eat ready to eat smoked salmon?
Can you cook salmon cured or smoked?
Salmon is very good when cured or smoked. But we’ll be combining the two methods to make the best salmon you’ve ever tasted! Place the whole salmon fillet in a shallow baking dish, preferably glass or ceramic. Pour the alcohol over the fillet. If you need to cut the fillet in half and stack them, that is fine.
Is smoked salmon good for you?
Salmon is a source of high-quality protein, magnesium, and selenium. In addition, it provides healthy fatty acids for the body. It contains large amounts of omega 3, which prevents cardiovascular diseases, has anti-inflammatory properties, and prevents certain types of Cancer.
Should smoked salmon be refrigerated?
Contrary to popular belief, smoked salmon is not safe to keep for long periods at room temperature and it should be refrigerated. There are some types of smoked salmon that are stored and sold at room temperature but it is always a safer option to keep it cold in the refrigerator.
Can you smoke salmon at home?
The process allows the meat to be kept at a safe temperature for cooking without cooking it too quickly. Another option for smoking salmon and other types of meat is the cold smoking process. This can be done at home as well, but it is important to know how to do it properly so it can be done safely.