If you love smoked salmon, learning how to smoke salmon in an electric smoker is a great skill to have. By smoking your salmon at home, you get to control what goes into your smoked salmon recipe. You also may find that you can save money by being able to purchase and smoke larger cuts of salmon rather than buying it pre-smoked. Learning how to smoke salmon is an easy and fun weekend cooking project that is perfect for entertaining a crowd. There are also endless varieties of ways you can use your home-smoked salmon. Try serving up Sunday breakfast with some smoked salmon, cream cheese, and bagels for a fun buffet. Or perhaps use your smoked salmon in a fun party dip to enjoy with friends.

Before we look at how to smoke salmon in an electric smoker, let’s learn a little more about this dish and smoking methods.

​Smoked salmon around the Americas

Smoked salmon has its roots all over the world. Native peoples in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska regularly preserved their salmon by drying and smoking it over alder wood.

Smoked salmon is also an essential part of Jewish cuisine. Jews fleeing the pogroms in Eastern Europe settled in Britain and began to preserve Scottish salmon. European Jews also brought smoked salmon with them to the United States.

Temperature matters

While you may think where there is smoke, there is fire, when it comes to smoking fish, including salmon, that is not always the case.

There are two types of ways to smoke salmon: cold smoke or hot smoke.

Cold smoking uses a mixture of salt and sugar, also known as a cure, that flavors the meat and draws out much of the moisture. After curing, the salmon gets smoked at relatively low temperatures, around 80-degrees Fahrenheit or less. While this smoke imparts flavor, it does not cook the fish. When cold smoking salmon, the fish stays in the smoker for a relatively short amount of time.

In contrast, hot smoking flavors the fish with a wet brine. The smoking temperature for hot smoking is over 120-degrees Fahrenheit. The hot smoking method both flavors the fish and cooks it, allowing you to consume it safely. Hot smoking typically takes several hours.

Electric smoker advantage

When smoking fish like salmon, precise temperature control is essential. While you can smoke salmon using a charcoal grill or pellet smoker, learning how to smoke salmon in an electric smoker can give you a bit more control.

Electric smokers allow you to control the temperature inside the smoker precisely. To produce smoke, an electric smoker uses an electric heating element to start the woodchips. When the ambient temperature reaches its threshold, the component turns off.

However, if the ambient temperature gets too cold, the heating element turns back on. This produces a more steady smoke and heat, allowing you to get a great smoky flavor without significant temperature fluctuations.

How to Smoke Salmon in an Electric Smoker: What You Need

Here is what you will need to smoke salmon in an electric smoker.

Salmon

To make excellent smoked salmon, you will need to start with a great cut of salmon.

Fresh or frozen

While freshly caught fish is a great option when smoking salmon, you can also use frozen salmon in your electric smoker.

In fact, according to champion angler fisherman Buzz Ramsey, the freezing process destroys the cell structure in the fish. That allows the fish to take on more flavor from the cure and the smoking process, leading to a more flavorful product.

Wild vs. farmed

While you can smoke any salmon, it’s essential to be aware that not all salmon is the same.

Wild salmon is salmon that is caught in the wild. Wild-caught salmon is incredibly flavorful with a distinct pink-orange hue to the flesh. Be mindful that it tends to be on the leaner side and quickly dries out.

Farm-raised salmon is salmon that is bred and raised in captivity. This salmon tends to be fattier, with a mild flavor. Farmed salmon gets its color from additives to their feed.

Flavorings

Smoked salmon gets the majority of its flavor from two sources: brine and wood chip smoke.

Wet or dry

Salting is an integral part of the smoking process. When you salt your fish, you help impart flavor, and the salt helps to preserve the fish as well.

When preparing salmon for smoking, you can salt your fish using a wet brine or a dry rub.

Wet brines are typically used for hot smoking. A wet brine is a salt dissolved in water, along with any other flavorings. Wet brines may also be poured over the fish during the hot smoking process.

Dry brines are a dry combination of salt and other seasonings that you coat the fish in. Once coated, you let the fish rest in the refrigerator for a few hours or a few days, depending on the recipe. This process helps to draw out excess moisture from the fish.

Wood chips

The type of wood chip you use will determine the smoke flavor in your smoked salmon. Alderwood is a common choice for smoking salmon and is the wood traditionally used by the indigenous tribes of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. However, other light woods like apple, hickory, and oak can produce delicious smoked salmon.

How to Smoke Salmon in an Electric Smoker: Step by Step

Now onto the good stuff: learning how to smoke salmon in an electric smoker! This recipe is originally from Fine Cooking.

Be forewarned that this will take some time to brine, dry, and smoke properly. You want to give yourself about two days for this project. The good news is that most of this time is hands-off, so you do not have to worry about babysitting the salmon.

Assemble your ingredients

You will need the following ingredients for this recipe.

Assemble your equipment

Smoked salmon takes a fair amount of time as well as equipment. Be sure to have all of this handy so that you can cut down on the overall work.

Thermometer

While your electric smoker can maintain the smoker’s temperature, you need a meat thermometer to monitor your salmon’s temperature.

Instant read thermometers are suitable but require you to open the smoker to test the doneness. Whenever you open your smoker, you let out heat and smoke, which may prolong the cooking time.

Alternatively, continuous read probe thermometers stay in the fish and allow you to check on fish without opening the smoker continuously.

​Oven mitts

Have a good pair of oven mitts to take your salmon in and out of the smoker. Good gloves can also protect your hands if you need to add wood chips to your smoker.

Prepare your salmon

Prepare your salmon fillet by deboning and scaling, if necessary. Fishbone tweezers could help remove any stubborn pin bones if your fishmonger missed them initially.

Brine

Prepare the brine by dissolving your sugar and salt in one quart of hot water. Add the rest of the water and cool your brine completely before using.

Submerge your salmon fillet in the brine for at least 8 hours and up to 12 hours. Be sure to keep your brine and salmon cool in the refrigerator through the brining process. Rotate at least once halfway through the brining process to ensure that the fillet is evenly brined.

Dry

After brining, remove the salmon fillet. Pat dry with paper towels and then place on a rack, skin side down. Place the salmon back in the refrigerator, uncovered.

This drying process forms a membrane, known as the pellicle. The pellicle will make the fish look slightly darker, and be somewhat tacky to the touch. The pellicle will help smoke better adhere to the fish, making it taste better. It may take a few hours or up to overnight.

Prepare smoker

Prepare your smoker with the woodchips of your choice, according to your electric smoker’s manufacturer’s directions, bringing it to an internal temperature of 200-degrees Fahrenheit.

If you are worried about your salmon drying out, you may want to include a tray of water to keep the salmon moist while it cooks.

Smoke salmon

Once you have your smoker prepared and pre-heated, add your salmon to the smoker. Close the door and smoke until your salmon reaches 145-degrees internally for at least half an hour. Cooking times will vary between electric smoker manufacturers and the size of the fillet.

​Cool and serve

Once your salmon is done smoking, remove it from the oven. While you can eat it warm, hot smoked salmon is easier to cut after it has cooled. Store any leftovers by wrapping in plastic wrap or butcher paper, and keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

​Serving It Up

Whether you are a fisherman who wants to preserve your catch or an amateur gourmand looking to add to your repertoire, learning how to smoke salmon in an electric smoker is a great weekend project. By using an electric smoker, you can cut down on some of the guesswork that comes with using manual smoking methods.

Do you love smoked salmon? What's your favorite way to serve it? Are you interested in learning how to smoke salmon in an electric smoker? Let us know in the comments!

Chicken breast is the basis of many healthy recipes. Electric smoker chicken breast recipes can help elevate this healthy, yet humble, meat to greater flavor heights.

Smoked chicken can add a rustic flavor to just about any healthy dish. Using your electric smoker to smoke chicken breast is just another fantastic way to experiment with flavor. Smoking chicken is an excellent way to both cook and flavor your meat for a unique taste experience.

Electric Smoker Chicken Breast:

A Recipe For Deliciousness

Is chicken breast meat you want to smoke? Of course! It’s healthy and delicious.

But is it really worth the time and effort?

In a word: yes.

Where Can I Use Electric Smoker Chicken Breast?

While you could easily eat smoked chicken breast on its own, consider some of the other things you can make with it. The smoked chicken breast would add some great flavor to your lunchtime salad or sandwich.

Try a unique spin on chicken soup by using smoked chicken. Or how about a fusion mashup with smoked chicken tacos?

The possibilities are endless!

The Problems With Chicken Breast

The trouble with chicken breast is that it is very easy to screw up. Chicken breast has very little to no fat. While this makes it a great source of lean protein, this leanness makes it not as flavorful as more fatty cuts of chicken.

Fat also melts to lubricate the meat while it cooks. Without fat, lean cuts like chicken breast tend to get dry when cooked.

This dry meat problem can get even worse the longer you cook your meat. To safely cook at low temperatures as you would with electric smoker chicken breast, you need hours.

Not adequately preparing your electric smoker, chicken breast can leave you with a tasteless, dry piece of meat.

Electric Smoker Chicken Breast:

Things To Consider

Before you start researching electric smoker chicken breast recipes, let’s go over what you need to know about smoking chicken breast in an electric smoker.

All About Chicken Breasts

When it comes to chicken breast, you have several options to choose from. Depending on what type of chicken breast you select will help determine what kind of preparation you need for your electric smoker chicken breast.

Got A Bone To Pick

Chicken breasts typically come in two forms: bone-in or boneless. The bone-in version usually comes with the rib bones attached. The boneless version has the ribs removed.

When cooking chicken breast, the rib bones in a bone-in chicken breast act as insulation. It can help keep the chicken moister over extended periods of cooking.

However, since the boneless chicken breasts do not have this insulation, these chicken breasts are more prone to drying out.

Taste Is Skin Deep

Prepared chicken breasts at the meat counter may or may not have skin. Bone-in chicken breasts are more likely to have the skin intact. Meanwhile, boneless chicken breasts typically have the skin removed.

Just like with chicken bones, chicken skin adds a layer of protection. During cooking the fat in the skin melts, basting the meat underneath and helping to keep it moist.

The skinless chicken breast does not have this type of protection and can get tough during the cooking process, if not prepared correctly.

Beyond The Breast

While we’re talking mostly about electric smoker chicken breast here, remember that most of the techniques we cover will work for just about any kind of smoked chicken recipe.

If you’re not a fan of breast meat, try smoking dark meat. Like chicken breast, you can choose to smoke dark meat either bone-in or boneless, with the skin on or off.

For a real treat, try smoking a whole chicken! You can try smoking it intact or use a technique called spatchcocking. Spatchcocking takes out the backbone to let the bird lay flat. That results in a chicken that cooks evenly with lots of skin exposed.

Brine

Brining is an integral part of preparing any meat for smoking. However, it's even more critical for chicken breast due to how lean the meat is.

Moisture And Flavor

Brining does two important things for smoked chicken breast. The first thing it does is add moisture. With little to no fat on the meat, chicken breast can get dry during cooking.

The brining process helps the meat retain moisture during the cooking process. The salt in the brine denatures some of the protein in the meat, allowing it to hold onto more moisture. If the meat were not salted, the moisture would escape during cooking.

Of course, the salt in the brine also adds flavor. Not only can salt add its own flavor to the chicken, but it can also help deliver other flavorings in the brine.

Dry Or Wet

There are two main types of brine you can use for electric smoker chicken breast. A wet brine is a salt and other flavorings dissolved in water. A dry brine is salt with other dry seasonings, sprinkled heavily onto the chicken.

Whether you choose a wet or a dry brine is up to you. Both methods can deliver excellent results.

Wet brines typically take longer, several hours and up to a day or so, to work its magic. Conversely, dry brines are easy to put together and take only a few hours in the refrigerator to work.

Fattening It Up

Chicken breast is popular as a lean source of protein. But when you're making electric smoker chicken breast, a little bit of fat can go a long way toward keeping your chicken breast moist and tasty.

There are two easy ways to add some fat to your electric smoker chicken breast: bard and inject.

Bacon Bard

The first is to bard, or wrap, your chicken breast in a slice of flavorful fatty meat, like bacon, as in this maple smoked bacon-wrapped chicken breast recipe.

As the chicken smokes, the fat from the bacon melts and bastes the chicken, much in the same way chicken skin would, but even tastier.

Shot Of Flavor

Another way to add fat to a chicken breast is to inject it with flavor, literally. Using a meat injector marinates the meat from the inside out.

Using a flavorful fat, like infused olive oil or even butter, can help amp up the fat and flavor in your electric smoker chicken breast recipe.

Mind Your Smoke

With an electric smoker chicken breast, smoke is also a flavoring agent as it's a cooking method. Choosing what type of wood you use is essential when you're making an electric smoker chicken breast.

Fruit

Fruit woods are a popular choice for using with smoked chicken as they impart a sweet, fruity flavor to the meat. Cherry and apple are two very popular kinds of wood.

Hardwoods

If you want to go beyond fruity flavors, there are other smoking woods to choose from. Maple is a sweet wood and pairs well with chicken breast. Hickory and mesquite are also popular, and pair well with Southern and Southwestern-inspired brines and marinades.

Step By Step: Electric Smoker Chicken Breast Recipe

Now that we know what goes into an excellent smoked chicken breast recipe, it’s time to try our hand at it! This recipe is adapted from Fox Valley Foodie’s bacon wrapped smoked chicken breast recipe.

Gather Your Ingredients

For this recipe, you will need:

Prepare Your Brine

First, you need to brine your chicken. Prepare your brine by heating one cup of water and thoroughly dissolving the salt and sugar.

In a large bowl, add the salt and sugar mixture, as well as the remaining cups of water, garlic, and peppercorns. Leave the brine until it reaches room temperature.

Add the chicken breasts, using a plate to weight the chicken down if necessary to ensure it is properly submerged.

Alternatively, you can place the chicken and brine in a gallon sized, zip top bag. Be sure to remove all the air to ensure proper coverage.

Put the bowl in the refrigerator. Leave the chicken to rest in the brine for two hours.

Prep Your Chicken

Remove the chicken from the brine, rinsing under cold water to remove any excess salt. Pat the chicken dry.

Wrap each chicken breast in bacon, securing with toothpicks.

Prep Your Smoker

Preheat your smoker to 275-degrees Fahrenheit and add the smoking wood, per your manufacturer’s instructions.

Smoke It

Once your smoker is preheated, add your chicken breasts to your electric smoker. Smoke your chicken breasts until the chicken reaches 165-degrees Fahrenheit on an instant-read thermometer.

Remove from the smoker and let rest for about 10 minutes before eating.

Serve It Up

Once rested, you can eat your electric smoker chicken breast just as you would other chicken. Try pairing it with some mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables for an awesome, healthy meal.

But that’s not all you can do!

If you love pulled pork, try using your electric smoker chicken breast in this smoked pulled chicken sandwich as a healthier alternative.

Another sandwich worth trying is this great chicken club sandwich -- your electric smoker chicken breast is sure to sing as the star in this club.

For something truly one of a kind, substitute your electric smoked chicken breast for regular chicken in this southwest egg roll recipe. It’s an appetizer your guests will be sure to talk about for months to come.

Electric Smoker Chicken Breast: The Breakdown

Having an electric smoker opens the door to a wide array of different smoked foods. Smoking your own chicken breast on your electric smoker helps to add some added depth to this healthy, but sometimes bland, meat.

Whether you eat your electric smoker chicken breast straight from the smoker or add it to some of your recipes for a flavorful protein boost, this is a great meat to have in your smoking repertoire.

How do you smoke your chicken breast? And how do you eat it? Tell us about it in the comments!

Wood pellet grills have been around for more than 30 years and the manufacturers are still coming up with innovative ways to improve these products. 2018 was an impressive year for the pellet grill industry as customers were introduced to grills that could prepare food at more precise temperatures than ever before.

Whether you like to grill, smoke, braise, or barbecue, you are sure to find the perfect cooker in our list of the Best Pellet Grill Products for 2018.

​There are several factors that can turn a standard wood pellet grill into one of the best. Pellet grills use small pellets of wood to add a smoky flavor to the meat you are preparing. The larger the capacity for wood pellets, the less work you have to do refueling the hopper. Therefore, one great aspect of a good pellet grill is a large pellet capacity.

Traeger grills are known for holding large amounts of pellets so that you can cook an entire meal without ever having to refuel. Some of their latest grills like the Traeger XL Pellet Competition Grill are capable of holding as much as 40 lbs. of pellets at a time.

Other aspects that make a good pellet grill even better include temperature control, easy to use control panel, portability, and cooking space.

Most pellet grills on the market allow you to precisely control the internal heat so that you end up with amazing results every time you use it. There is no more guess work where you have to blindly set the grill at either Low, Medium, or High and hope for the best. The temperature controls work very similar to those on an indoor conventional oven.

When a grill is easy to use, yet it still provides you with competition-quality results, you know you have a great product. Many grillers are new to the technique of using wood pellets as a heat resource, so finding a good grill that is simple to use is a great option for backyard barbecue experts.

The portability of a grill may not be an important feature for everyone. But if you love to tailgate or take your grill along with you on fishing or camping trips, you will want a lightweight grill that is easy to haul and transport from one location to another.

And finally, a large cooking space allows you to prepare more food at once so that no one at your backyard barbecue or tailgate party has to wait around for their food.

Listed below are our top 10 best pellet grill choices for 2018 based on customer reviews, features, and the overall longevity of the product.

We have discussed the benefits of several different types of quality grills for you to choose from. Now it is your turn to decide which is the best pellet grill for you.

Do you need a lightweight and portable grill for tailgating? Or are you looking for a large stationary grill to add to your sophisticated backyard patio? Are you grilling out for your immediate family or the entire community?

Whatever your grilling needs may be, you are sure to find the right cooker in this group of the best pellet grills.

Pellet grills are becoming a bigger deal every passing year – more and more companies are making them and creating new designs for units that don’t use gas or charcoal. The Camp Chef PG24 has its own design, and today we'll look at its layout.

We'll take a look at the price, unique features, customer reviews, comparisons to other grills, and more.

It is also important to keep in mind how many people this product can feed and the amount of food you can cook at once. Therefore, we'll discuss the cooking space as well.

The Camp Chef PG24 is a grill and smoker that provides consistent results every time you use it. The unit has a practical digital temperature readout, and a simple temperature setting system.

Because it uses wood pellets to fuel the heat rather than charcoal or gas, your food comes out with a hardwood, smoky flavor every time.

The product has a cooking area of 429 square inches, a second cooking rack with an extra 141 square inches, and a hopper capacity of 18 pounds. You can cook between 160 and 500 degrees, which is about one hundred degrees higher than a lot of competitor grills like Traeger.

Their system also includes ash cleanout for the pellet hopper, pellet purge system, grease management system, an electronic auto ignition, and a shutdown mode. We will get more into those individual features in the next section of the review.

Here are some of the key features that Camp Chef offers for this particular grill.

Let’s take a look at what other customers thought of this product. We will divide the positive reviews and the negative ones in order to see all the pros and cons of owning this pellet grill and smoker.

This design definitely has a lot of fantastic qualities going for it.

When it comes to getting the grill clean after a cooking session, we did not see a model that could beat the Camp Chef PG 24. Having a whole system that cleans out the ash and debris for you is a huge advantage.

Pricing is definitely a big upside as well. Getting so many fantastic features within the grill for such a reasonable price cannot be overstated. If you are on a budget and looking for a high-quality smoker, this is definitely one worth considering.

One aspect that doesn’t hold up when compared to other models is definitely the warranty. Like we discussed before, having only a one-year warranty for a grill like this is below the standard for the grill industry and does not allow for any long-term issues that may occur with the smoker.

The only other thing we would advise you look out for if you are considering purchasing one of these grills is having it shipped to your house. Because there were some complaints of parts coming in completely broken or bent, it is important to note if you are shopping online for this grill.

The Best Food To Put On A Pellet Grill

Sometimes you have to give dinner a little more flair. If your meals have become mundane, check out these food ideas:

Pulled Pork

There are so many ways you can turn pulled pork into a delicious meal. Place it in between two buns with a dollop of coleslaw, or put it over some chips for bbq nachos—both are crowd pleasers!

Smoked Salmon

You can never go wrong with putting salmon in the grill. You can top it with mango salsa or slather it with bbq sauce. No matter which version you choose, it’ll be delicious.

Beer Can Chicken

This is a fun recipe that’s perfect for cookouts and tailgating. It goes great with loaded baked potatoes and grilled veggies. It’s yummy.

Flatbread Pizza

You don’t generally think of pizza when you think of grilling, but smokers make awesome pizza. This option is perfect for people who aren’t big meat eaters and want to try something different. Throw on your favorite toppings and enjoy!

This product and company is definitely worth your time and money. It’s affordable, a fantastic design, and has wonderful customer service to back it up if any problems arise.

If you have bought this particular grill before, what are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree with the review?

It’s grilling season. And you’re tired of making the same old thing every time you crank up the flames. Something new is needed. Something delicious is demanded. And trying duck is definitely an option. With this how-to, you’ll find that smoking a duck is easy, fast, and results in one of the most delicious meals you’ve had in a while.

Before you get started with smoking that delicious fowl, here are a few thoughts to keep in mind.

To best prepare your duck for smoking, you’ll want to get the duck into the refrigerator about 24 hours before you start the smoking process. Leave the duck uncovered, though, as this will help to dry the skin properly, while not allowing the meat to spoil.

If you don’t have an extra 24 hours, you can use a blow dryer on the duck to completely dry it before getting started.

You’ll need to get together the following items before you get started.

Once you’ve gathered and prepared the fresh ingredients, you’ll roll the lime around on the cutting board to help release the juices. You’ll also cut a couple of holes into the sides of the lime. 

Now, you’ll need to prepare the duck by removing it from the fridge. If the skin isn’t totally dry, engage a blow dryer and get the skin dry.

To help release the fat in the duck, you’re going to poke some holes into the skin.

Put half of the shallots, garlic, and lemongrass into the cavity of the duck.

Next, put the lime in as a mid-point within the duck.

Now, put the rest of the fresh ingredients into the duck cavity.

Now that the duck is stuffed, you’re ready to get the pan and grill or smoker set.

Fill the bottom of the pan with water, close to, but not over the wire rack. This water will help to keep the duck from drying out while you smoke the meat. It will also prevent the duck fat from burning.

Once the pan is full of water, you’ll place the duck on the wire rack.

Once the duck is placed into the pan, you can add salt and pepper to lightly flavor the skin.

Light your chimney of charcoal or other fuel source. Prepare the grill or smoker for indirect cooking.

Add in your cherry wood for that delicious sweet smoke.

Get the temperature up to about 325 degree Fahrenheit. This is higher than usual smoking temperatures. Duck needs this higher temperature to render the fat properly.

Then, you’ll put the duck opposite the charcoal. Position the duck in the pan as far away from the direct heat as possible. You may need to rearrange the pan altogether.

Leave the duck on the smoker or grill for about one hour and 20 minutes. This will enable the duck to cook thoroughly. 

Once the internal temperature of the duck hits 165 degrees Fahrenheit, the duck is done and ready to eat.

As your duck smokes on the grill, we’d highly recommend making one of these amazing barbecue sauce recipes to try out. They’re delicious, fairly simple, and perfect for your new favorite dinner fowl.

Let the duck sit for about 20 minutes before you carve and serve.

For the best smoked fowl this summer, try making duck, then slathering it with one of these amazing barbecue sauces. You won’t regret trying something new, and neither will your family.