Tomorrow I will be smoking a 14 pound whole salmon that came from a local Asian market. I have not done a fish that large and would appreciate recommendations from the smoking community.

The plan is to smoke it whole. The backup plan is to cut it into fillets, but I would like to avoid that if possible.

Brine it!

I agree with Bentley.  MMM, I love smoked fish.  I have never done anything that big whole though. Good luck, I am sure it will turn out good if the temps are low and not over cooked.

Why smoke it whole? When I do smoked salmon I cut each piece the same size and brine for 24 hours then air dry and smoke low and slow for 8-10 hours depending on thickness.


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Are you trying to get actual smoked salmon or just cooked salmon with a smoke flavor? Whole salmon do not do well for smoked, if it's smoked that you want, do as recommended above, filet, slice into 4-6" pieces, brine, rinse, dry for several hours on a rack and smoke at low temperature for 3-5 hours. For cooked salmon, I'd still split into two slabs and remove the bones, baste with a mixture of butter, minced garlic, lemon juice, brown sugar and a splash of orange juice, cook slabs skin down on frog mats at low temp. to an IT of 125-130°, do not over cook. This may sound like a low IT, but take it from a 50+ year salmon fisherman, this is the right IT.

Why smoke it whole? When I do smoked salmon I cut each piece the same size and brine for 24 hours then air dry and smoke low and slow for 8-10 hours depending on thickness.


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Whole is very common in the Chinese community. We have someone that lives with us that does a lot of Chinese cooking. She bought the fish and asked me to smoke it.

She has cooked some very good whole fish, normally the type we would cook as filets. She already took the head and tail last night for dinner. Those are delicacies. She has educated us on the most tender and flavorable parts of a fish, some of which, we throw away in the US.

I found a video from a guy in the Netherlands that does a whole Salmon. We are going to use his recipe. I will try to get pictures.

Sounds very interesting.  Can't wait to see the results.

She already took the head and tail last night for dinner. Those are delicacies. She has educated us on the most tender and flavorable parts of a fish, some of which, we throw away in the US.

How many of us keep Walleye cheeks?  I suspect that Al (ZCZ) did when he fished the Minnesota Crow Wing chain.

She already took the head and tail last night for dinner. Those are delicacies. She has educated us on the most tender and flavorable parts of a fish, some of which, we throw away in the US.

How many of us keep Walleye cheeks?  I suspect that Al (ZCZ) did when he fished the Minnesota Crow Wing chain.

Cheeks are one of the delicacies. That is why the head is valued.

I never want the head and tail removed from a fish I am cooking if I can avoid it.  They cook much better if they are attached.  At least that is what I found with large trout!

Halibut cheeks are the bomb.

I never want the head and tail removed from a fish I am cooking if I can avoid it.  They cook much better if they are attached.  At least that is what I found with large trout!

Trout is my favorite fish. I always cook them whole. Fortunately, Cosco carries whole trout. It is not a popular fish at this time. I had a butcher tell me that folks think it is too fishy.

Native trout are good but difficult to find. Most trout is stocked from fisheries. On rare occasions we would catch a native Golden Trout in the Sierra Nevada back country.

Most of what we would catch was rainbow trout from fisheries and dropped by airplane into the lakes.