This is complete guide on how to smoke fish such as salmon, steelhead, trout or mackerel without a smoker at your home. I am using 3 methods: Stovetop, Dutch Oven and Air Fryer


If you were thinking of making your own smoked fish at home, but don’t have an outdoor smoker or ability to smoke fish outdoors…..don’t look further. In this video I will walk you through 3 simple methods on how to make an amazing smoked fish at the convenience of your own home without need of any specialty smoking equipment.

Ingredients:

Steelhead - 4lb ( you can also use salmon, trout or mackerel )
Kosher salt - ¾ of the cup
Brown sugar - ¾ of the cup
Garlic powder - 1 tablespoon ( you can experiment with other spices of your choice )
Honey ( or maple syrup ) - for glazing the fish
Wood chips - I am using hickory flavor ( you can also use cherry, maple or apple wood )
Liquid smoke - ½ teaspoon ( for Air fryer method only )

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Let’s start with brining the fish.

Take the fish from the fridge. Let’s start by cutting the fish into equal pieces. If you see any bones on the surface, take them out.
Make the brine out of equal proportions of kosher salt and brown sugar. If you like fish that are more salty or more sweet, you can adjust proportions accordingly. Mix in 1 tablespoon of garlic powder. Generously cover the fish with the mixture, close the lid on an air tight container and send it to the fridge for 6-12 hours. I normally do this process the night before.

Why do you need to brine before smoking? It infuses fish with the nice flavors and also prevents fish from drying out during the smoking process.

Tip#1: Not all salt’s created equal. Use Kosher salt for dry brining. It distributes more evenly, sticks better to the food and doesn’t clump like table salt.

Tip#2: Brown sugar adds a nice flavor and helps to add caramelized color to the smoked fish.
However you can substitute it for white sugar as well in a 1:1 ratio.

Take the fish out from the fridge, rinse it well with the cold water, dry it with the paper towel, set it on the rack skin side down and send it to the fridge to dry for about 1 hour.

Tip#3: Drying fish before smoking develops a coating ( aka pellicle ) on the fish which allows smoke to better infuse the fish during the smoking process.

Ok, now the fish are ready for smoking.

Method #1 Air Fryer:

Before smoking we need to coat the fish with honey and liquid smoke.
If you are not familiar with liquid smoke, it is a flavoring liquid used as a substitute for cooking with wood smoke while retaining a similar flavor. It is generally made by condensing the smoke from wood without any food additives.
For this piece of fish use ½ teaspoon of liquid smoke, it is highly concentrated, so you don’t need much.
Now, send the fish to the air fryer at 170°F for at least 1h. It took me 1 hours and 20 minutes for this piece as it is about 2 inch thick. Remember to coat fish again in the middle of the process. When ready, the fish should be at 160F.

Method #2 Using a stovetop smoker made by Cameron.

Glaze fish with some honey. I like to use sawdust chips, which start to create smoke pretty much right away. I am using hickory flavor, but you can also experiment with cherry, maple or apple wood.
Tip#4: use foil to cover the smoker base and drip tray, it will save you some time on cleanup after.

Set the smoker on the stove at medium heat for about 25 minutes. Time will vary based on the size of the fish.


Method #3 Homemade smoker made out of Dutch oven and some foil

In this method we will replicate a Cameron stovetop, with dutch oven and a little bit of foil.
If you don’t have dutch oven, you can also use a deep skillet or a pot.

Take 2 pieces of foil and lay them inside Dutch Oven with some foil sticking out. Sprinkle sawdust wood chips and cover them up with a piece of foil. Now put the grilling rack on top. I am using a trivet from my instant pot.
If you don’t have one available, you can crumble up few pieces of foil and put at the bottom which will elevate the fish inside in a similar way.

Now put glazed fish on top of the rack, fold remaining pieces of the foil very tight, so smoke will not escape and then close the lid of the dutch oven.

Set it on the stove for or 25 minutes or until the fish is 160°F. Due to the very tight lid and foil, there is almost no smoke going outside the dutch oven, which is a plus when smoking in a less ventilated area.


All three versions of the smoked steelhead look and smell amazing.
As far as a taste, we were not able to see the difference…..all 3 options turned out really good. Personally I didn’t expect that air fryer with liquid smoke version will be on par with traditional stovetop smoking. So, I am quite impressed with the results!

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