This version of smoked salmon is easy, hassle-free, and folks love having their own skewer of smoky salmon to eat.
Normally salmon is cooked at really low temperatures around 160-180°F but for these, we are cranking up the heat to normal just to show that we can (and, of course, because we're hungry and need food fast!).
When it's almost finished, we'll brush on a little glaze to add some great flavor.
- Prep Time: 30 min
- Cook Time: 1.5 hours
- Smoker Temp: 225°F
- Meat Finish Temp: 135°F*
- Recommended Wood: Apple
*USDA safe temperature for fish is 145°F however most chefs recommend cooking this salmon to a maximum temperature of 135°F for best flavor and texture.
- 3-4 lb Filet of Salmon
- Olive oil
- Jeff's original rub (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled rub)
- Jeff's original barbecue sauce (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled sauce)
- Skewers, extra long (9 to 11 inches is best)
Please note that my rubs and barbecue sauce are now available in 2 formats– you can purchase the formulas and make them yourself OR you can buy them already made, in a bottle, ready to use.Lay salmon filet on cutting board
It is best to separate the thick side from the thin side. Look at the cross section of your fish and decide which part is thick and which is thin and simply cut them apart as shown below.
Further separate the thick and thin sides into strips that are about 1.5 to 2 inches wide.
To make it easy to remove the skin, make vertical cuts through the fish stopping when you reach the skin. Then slide the knife under the fish at about a 10 degree angle to separate the fish from it's skin. Easy peasy!
Once all of the fish is separated from the skin, separate them into groups of 4 or 5 of the same thickness since you will want each skewer to have similar thicknesses of salmon.
This way all of the fish pieces on the same skewer will get done at the same time.
Place 4-5 pieces of salmon onto each skewer. I opted to use two skewers in each one so that I could flip them over easily if I wanted to. This is completely optional but I do recommend it.
Once they are skewered, place them on a Bradley rack or cookie sheet to make it easy to carry them out to the smoker.
Note: Be sure to see my tip on using parchment paper in the “Smoking the Salmon” section below.
Brush some olive oil onto the salmon pieces to help the rub to stick and to aid in helping the fish to not stick to the grates or whatever they are laying on.
Sprinkle a little of my original rub (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled rub) on the salmon skewers making sure to hit the top sides and bottom for maximum flavor.
You are looking for about 30-40% coverage which means you are not trying to cover the salmon up like you would on ribs but just get a good sprinkle on it.
You can use whatever smoker you have and as long as you can keep it around 225°F, you will be fine.
Get the smoker set up, fired up and ready to go and once it's holding the goal temperature, you are ready to smoke.
Place the salmon skewers on an oiled smoker grate (to help it not to stick) or use my parchment paper trick below:
Tip: lay the salmon on pieces of parchment paper instead of directly on the smoker grates. It completely eliminates the sticking problem. To make sure the paper does not block the flow of smoke, cut the paper into strips about 12 inches long and 3 inches wide and place one under each individual skewer. Be sure to leave about ½ inch between each strip of paper. This allows the smoke to flow properly and still works great at keeping the fish from sticking.
Let the salmon smoke cook for about 1 to 1.5 hours depending on the thickness of the salmon or until it reaches 135°F* in the center of the fish.
Temperature is very important when smoking meat so you really need to invest in a good meat thermometer if you don't already have one.
The Thermapen is a great thermometer to have especially for things like salmon where you may not want to leave the thermometer in the whole time but you want to check it periodically. The Thermapen is a high quality thermometer used by all of the pros and us backyard guys like them as well.
The cool thing is that it reads in around 2 seconds and you can quickly and easily check things like salmon to make sure every piece is perfectly done before removing it from the smoker.
It comes in a variety of colors.. mine is red but hey, if purple, pink, yellow or green is your thing, then you can do that!
About 15 minutes before the salmon is finished, brush on some of my original barbecue sauce (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled sauce) thinned with a little water, fruit juice, beer or even your favorite soft drink. I usually mix 1 part liquid to 1 part sauce to make a nice glaze that brushes on easily and adds a lot of flavor.
Serve the salmon skewers right away.. no need to wait around.
- *USDA safe temperature for fish is 145°F however, chefs recommend cooking this salmon to a maximum temperature of 135°F for best flavor and texture.
- I did not brine or marinate this salmon, but you could if you wanted to. Use my normal brine formula of 1 gallon of water, 1 cup of salt and ¾ cup of brown sugar and place the fish pieces in that for 1 hour.
- And.. because I know that someone will ask, you can use my Texas style rub (Purchase formula here | Purchase bottled rub) on this salmon if you want great seasoning without the sweet aspect. In this case, you may also want to skip the glaze as well.
Please note that my rubs and barbecue sauce are now available in 2 formats– you can purchase the formulas and make them yourself OR you can buy them already made, in a bottle, ready to use.
***Note: you get the Texas style rub recipe free with your order!
If I could give these recipes away, I would do that. I really want you to have them! But, then, this is how I support the newsletter, the website and all of the other stuff that we do here to promote the art of smoking meat.
Read these recent testimonies:
I recently purchased both recipes. The files did not come thru right but Jeff was prompt to get it fixed. I tried them both last weekend and they were a huge hit. I followed his burnt ends recipe to the letter and my neighbors thought I was some master chef! Thanks Jeff! -Susan T.
Thank you for the great advice. Followed your rib recipe and everyone loved them. Used your rub and sauce. On point! -Charles W.
Love the sauce and rub recipes. So far I have used them on beef ribs, pork ribs, and different chicken parts. Can't wait to do a beef brisket. Texas rub is great as well! -Peter S.
Love the original rib rub and sauce! We have an annual rib fest competition at the lake every 4th of July. I will say we have won a great percent of the time over the past 15 years so we are not novices by any means. However, we didn't win last year and had to step up our game! We used Jeff's rub and sauce (sauce on the side) and it was a landslide win for us this year! Thanks Jeff for the great recipes. I'm looking forward to trying the Texas style rub in the near future! -Michelle M.
I tried the rub on a beef brisket and some beef ribs the other day and our entire family enjoyed it tremendously. I also made a batch of the barbeque sauce that we used on the brisket as well as some chicken. We all agreed it was the best sauce we have had in a while. -Darwyn B.
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Printable Recipe
Hot Smoked Salmon on a Stick
Ingredients
- 3-4 lb Filet of Salmon (fresh, wild caught is best)
- Olive oil
- Jeff’s rub recipe
- Jeff’s sauce recipe
- Skewers extra long (9 to 11 inch works best)
Instructions
Prepare Salmon
- Cut salmon in half lengthwise separating the thick part from the thinner part.
- Further separate lengthwise into strips that are 1.5 to 2 inches wide
- Make cuts every 2 inches or so vertically through the fish stopping when you reach the skin
- Slide the knife blade between the fish and the skin to separate the skin from the fish
- Place the pieces of salmon onto skewers making sure to put pieces of similar thickness on the same skewer
- Brush olive oil onto the salmon to help the rub to stick
- Sprinkle Jeff's rub onto the salmon to add a nice layer of flavor and seasoning to the fish.
Smoking the Salmon
- Place the salmon skewers onto oiled smoker grates
- Smoke fish at 225°F for about 1 to 1.5 hours or until it reaches 135°F* in the center.
- Use a thermometer to check the temperature of the fish after about 45 minutes or sooner if the fish is a little on the thin side.
Serving the Smoked Salmon
- When the fish has reached 135°F*, remove it from the smoker and serve immediately.
Need to look into letting your fish form a pellicle. Very important step in smoking fish. It comes out so much better.
Hi Rick,
Just wondered if you ever had an issue with fish smell in your oven after cooking fish / hot smoking salmon and if that has any impact?
jeff, thanks for the web version and the new printable version you have added at the bottom of the recipe page. it has always been a hassle to print your recipes in the past but this makes it a lot faster. i have bought your rub and sauce recipe in the past and have also bought for my son and son in law. the thermapen thermometer is fantastic. i have also bought those for my kids as well. they make great stocking stuffers. we all think its great. i do use a pellet smoker and with a little tweaking to temp and time your recipes are great ideas for the weekends. keep up the good work and as always, look forward to your emails.
thanks, Rick