Woodfired Hot Smoked Salmon

Woodfired Hot Smoked Salmon

Woodfired hot smoked salmon is truly delicious as it is a real show stopper of a dish. Hot smoking some fish in your oven is a great way to use it because it won’t take so long as setting up a cold smoker. Traditionally you would brine your fish overnight in a salt/sugar mixture with a few flavourings but we’ve found that doing it like this in the oven – a combination of quick brining,  hot smoking and wood roasting  – gives a very similar effect. It seems like something that has taken ages but in reality is super quick to make. In addition it’s just delicious!

We use damp wood chips to add a smokey flavour to our woodfired hot smoked salmon. We add them to the embers and experiment with different woods as they will change the flavours on the fish. In the video we’re using cherry chips but have used maple and oak chips very well too. The woodfired hot smoked salmon once cooked will keep well refrigerated. You can use it for sandwiches (open or closed), in pasta or rice dishes, to make paté, with scrambled eggs. We’ve put lots more ideas at the end of the recipe so do check them out.

In the video we serve it just as a main course with potatoes and salad and a dill dressing. We have also served our woodfired hot smoked salmon as a party pass-around on rye bread with some thinly sliced roast beetroot, cooked in the wood fired oven of course!

Woodfired Hot Smoked Salmon – Ingredients

150g fine salt

150g dark Muscavado sugar

900ml hot water

1 fillet of salmon, about 1kg/2.2lb in weight

1tbsp fennel seeds

Finely grated zest 1 lemon

Good pinch of ground black pepper

2 large handfuls wood chips (eg apple, cherry, oak, beech) soaked in water. We get ours from our friends at Hot Smoked

Useful Equipment Tuscan Grill

4 Mississippi

Door ajar

Woodfired Hot Smoked Salmon – Method

1. First of all, put the salt and Muscavado sugar in a large non-metallic bowl and add the hot water. Stir to dissolve and leave until cool.
2. Light the fire in the oven and develop a good bed of embers.
3. Trim the salmon fillet and take out any bones with a pair of tweezers. Use a sharp knife to make 3-4 slashes on the skin side of the fillet through to the flesh.
4. Put the salmon fillet in the brine and leave for 30-60 minutes. Put the wood chips in another bowl of water and leave for the same amount of time.
5. While the fish and the wood chips are brining and soaking, put the Tuscan Grill in the oven to heat through thoroughly.
6. Wipe the flesh dry with some kitchen paper.
7. Sprinkle the fennel seeds and lemon zest over the top (non skin side) of the fillet and season with the pepper and a little salt. You don’t want to add too much salt due to the fact there is already plenty in the brine.
   

   Sprinkle the lemon zest and fennel seeds over the fish with pepper and a little salt

8. Brush the Tuscan grill lightly with a little oil – sunflower oil is fine.
9. Squeeze dry the wood chips, put them on a peel and use the peel to place the chips on top of the embers. Consequently they will start creating smoke and flavouring the salmon.
   

   Adding the soaked chips to the peel

10. Quickly put the salmon on top of the preheated Tuscan Grill in the oven and shut the oven door. Leave the oven door slightly ajar so the smoke can drift over the fish and escape.
    

    The Tuscan Grill is one of our favourite bits of kit

11. Come back after about 10 minutes to check the temperature with an electric thermometer – you want the temperature to reach 50C/100F. If you need a little longer, just shut the door again and take the temperature in another few minutes.
    

    Not quite there yet!

12. Once the fish is at the right temperature, take it out of the oven and let it cool and use it as you wish – it won’t hang around for long it’s so good!

Woodfired Hot Smoked Salmon – Other Uses

Finally, if you have any of your woodfired hot smoked salmon left, you can use it in a variety of ways. Do try these out and let us know of any others you come up with –

• Chop up the salmon and stir it into scrambled eggs with a tablespoon of snipped chives and plenty of black pepper. It’s fantastic for brunch on a slice of sourdough toast.
• Sauté a finely sliced red onion in some good olive oil and add 100g chopped cherry tomatoes with some of the woodfired hot smoked salmon. Stir all of this into hot cooked pasta with some shredded fresh basil and serve at once. A perfect supper dish for 2.
• Mix equal quantities of woodfired hot smoked salmon with cream cheese and the juice and/or finely grated zest of half a lemon to taste. This makes a delicious hot smoked salmon paté.
• Stir flakes of the woodfired hot smoked salmon through a risotto of leeks, peas and asparagus.
• Use it in a kedgeree with a light curry sauce and a poached egg on top.
• Sandwiches for a posh office lunch or delicious picnic on the go.
• Make a fresh batch as a fabulous gift for a friend.

Once you’ve tried the woodfired hot smoked salmon a few times, try the recipe with other fish such as trout, scallops, prawns, lobster, hake. Also try to change the wood chips and see what kind of flavours you like best from the wood smoke.

We hope you like this week’s Woodfired Weekly – do let us know how you get on

David and Holly

 

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