I suppose calling this a ‘smoked salt recipe’ might be a stretch for some. There’s only 1 ingredient (2 if you include the smoke – and I do) and there is little prep work involved. It is indeed very easy to make and requires very little skill.

But I’ve learned a few tricks that I think are worthy of sharing.

To make smoked salt you need a cold smoker (we use a BBQ and an A-MAZE-N Pellet Smoker). The BBQ isn’t lit (thus the ‘cold’ smoking) and wood pellets smolder after being lit by a blowtorch then blown out). It’s awesome.

But our smoker isn’t the ‘trick.’ You can do this with any source of smoke, including a camp fire.

Smoke loves moisture. Water attracts smoke and holds it’s flavor really well (many will smoke water to make smoky ice cubes for cocktails). Salt also loves moisture – it will absorb small amounts of moisture easily. We slightly increase the water content in our salt before smoking it to increase the absorption of smoke. You don’t have to do this but I think the extra minute of work is well worth the effort.

Smoked Salt Recipe

Smoked Salt Recipe (How To Make It)

Prep time: 3 mins | Cook time: 6 hours | Total time: 6 hours 3 mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup coarse white salt
• Wood chips. I recommend non-fruit and hardwood as the flavors tend to be more aggressive; we used Hickory.
• Supplies: A large bowl, cold smoker (described above), small bit of water, parchment paper or glass container

1. Fill the bowl with water and dump it into the sink. This will leave a small bit of water behind.
2. Working quickly, toss the salt into the damp bowl and swirl it around to absorb the water in the bowl.
3. Place the plug in the sink and fill with a small amount of water. Dip your fingers into it and drip the water from your fingers into the salt. Toss the salt to distribute and do a few more times – you will see the salt change texture slightly but stop before liquid forms in the bowl or the salt begins to clump.
4. Light your cold smoker, place parchment or glass bowl on other side of smoker and cover with salt.
5. Smoke for 6 hours making sure to stir the salt once per hour (this till distribute the smoke evenly)

Looking for salt to smoke or want to try smoked salt before making it? Check out our friends at Salt and smoke st Louis and Salt and smoke st Charles – they are doing some great things with hand-harvested salt including making smoked salt and blue cheese salt, amongst other great products.