Smoking Fish with no Smoker?

[Ruler]

I remember hearing somewhere that it's possible to smoke salmon without a smoker by using your grill. I personally don't have a gas grill, but charcoal. My sister has a propane grill and I'm sure I can bribe her into letting me use it. :) My questions are, has anybody else done this, how'd it turn out, and how do you do it? (Please keep your directions appropriate for somebody who knows nothing about smoking, other than smoked fish tastes really good and is super-expensive in the store. ;) )

[Salmonsmoker]

Ruler,

You can smoke cook (Kipper) a cured or uncured salmon-fillet in either a charcoal or gas grill by putting damp wood chips on a screen on top of the Lava Rocks or hot coals. However, your smoke time will be limited to the cooking time.

I often use this proecedure when cooking Salmon or even pan-fish fillets on the grill - and I use Hickory Bark because it has a strong flavor (to compensate for the short smoke time.). If you have a lot of Hickory smoke rolling out of the grill, it will give the fish a very nice but light smokey flavor.

When making smoked salmon, I normally use cold smoke (under 100 degrees) for the first 3 to 4 hours, and then bring the temperature up to 180 and smoke-cook the fish for the final 10 to 20 min (depending on the thickness of the fillets.) The wood is 1/4 Hickory for the hickory-tang, and 3/4 Red Oak for a more Earthy smoke flavor that I prefer.

Hope this helps,

Salmonsmoker